One of the Master Gichin Funakoshi’s top students, Masatoshi Nakayama was born in 1913 into a family of kenjutsu instructors of the samurai tradition. He studied kendo until he entered Takushoku University where he began his karate-do training under the legendary Funakoshi. The following is an excerpt where Nakayama discussed the soul of karate-do:

Let me tell you this, Master Funakoshi often recited an old Okinawan saying: "Karate is the art of virtuous men". Needless to say, for students of karate to thoughtlessly boast of their power or to display their technique in scuffles goes against the soul of karate-do. The meaning of karate-do goes beyond victory in a contest of mastery and self-defense techniques. Unlike common sports, karate-do has a soul of its own. To be a true master is to understand the soul of karate-do as a martial way. Karate-do has grown popular these days, and its soul is apt to pass from our minds. We must strive to strike a balance and I believe that if the practitioner trains with the right spirit, then the balance can be reached. Don’t forget that in karate there is no initial movement.

It is said that karate has no initial move or sente. That is an admonition to practitioners not to launch the initial attack and concurrently a strict prohibition against thoughtlessly using the techniques of karate. The masters of karate, especially Master Funakoshi, strictly admonished their pupils with those words again and again. In fact, it is not going too far to say that they represent the soul of karate-do. The idea of no initial attack in karate is embodied in the kata. As far as I know, there are 40 or 50 kinds of kata and each begins with defense or uke. You may argue that since karate was born as an art of self-defense, it is natural that it has no initial move. That is certainly true, but if you immediately conclude from the words. “There is no initial move in karate.” That you can freely counterattack, you have not yet fully grasped the soul of karate-do. The underlying meaning of those words is much deeper. In addition to refraining from attacking first, practitioners of karate are required not to create an atmosphere that will lead to trouble. They also must not visit places were trouble is likely to happen. To observe those prohibitions, the practitioner must cultivate a gentle attitude toward others and a modest heart. That is the spirit underlying the words. “There is no initial move in karate.” And that “Spirit is the soul of karate-do.” One master says, “Karate is based on attempts to avoid any trouble, so as not to be hit by others and not to hit others.”

The soul of karate-do is the wish for harmony among people. Such harmony is based on courtesy, and it is said that the Japanese martial ways begin with courtesy and end with courtesy. Such is the case with karate-do. Master Funakoshi collected the kata of his forerunners and then systematized them into 15 kinds of kata for practice. One, called kanku, symbolizes the wish for harmony, the soul of karate-do. Unlike any other pattern, it begins with an action unrelated to defense and attack. The hands are put together, palms outward, and the practitioner looks at the sky through the triangular hole formed by his thumbs and fingers. It expresses self-identification with nature, tranquility, and the wish for harmony. The practitioner of karate must always have a modest heart, a gentle attitude, and a wish for harmony. Karate is truly the art of virtuous men.