Seattle University Branch, U.S.A / June 2010 - Contributor: Luke Hightower

Introduction to the Seattle University Branch of Shorinji Kempo -

Several months ago on a dreary Saturday in October two WSKO Black Belts made their way to the front of the room in Seattle University's Casey Atrium. Little did they know that as their Gis brushed against the seats they were also passing some of their future students. Their presentation commenced with an explanation of Shorinji Kempo and its significance in our world though in short time they broke into the lightning fast techniques they have collectively studied for many years. Shortly after their demonstration was complete they announced their interest to host a Shorinji Kempo club right there at Seattle U; the seed had been planted.

Almost exactly one week later the elder of these black belts attended the most recent Sesshin offered by the local Soto Buddhist community, which I was involved with as well. The Sesshin was composed of several rounds meditation while facing a wall. After enduring a few of these rounds I felt liberated and brave enough to approach this seemingly dangerous person; that is Hiroshi Onaka Sensei who is now Branch Master of Seattle University as well as Seattle Branch.

"So what's this Shorinji Kempo thing all about?" I casually asked. "Oh let me explain," he responded, less dangerous sounding than I anticipated, "There are three types of technique which in a way resemble how we eat. First we have hard techniques which are like our teeth breaking up the food, the soft techniques are like the lips which keep the food in your mouth and the third style of technique deals with pressure points which are like the tongue that experiences the flavor of the food." This was the first time I had heard this analogy though not the last. While explaining this, the Black Belt had sat with his legs folded flat beneath him.

"So what kind of pressure points do you learn in Shorinji Kempo?" I asked while unknowingly setting myself up to be the punch line of what was to come. "Aaaagh!, I shouted as he clenched my ankle bringing me to the floor. "Hahahah" he laughed to himself, "Would you like to help us start a club!" "I suppose there's going to be a lot more of that, eh?" "Oh of course, but we must share the pain so all can learn, right?" The seed had been watered.

A few weeks after their demonstration, Dr. Jason Wirth invited Onaka Sensei to present about "Zen and Martial Arts" in his Buddhist philosophy class. As much as we exercise our body and rehearse technique to advance our practice we must keep in mind that at its route Shorinji Kempo comes from the Zen tradition. When considering Shorinji Kempo from a philosophical perspective we have to wonder whether or not the potential violence that could come from martial arts is permissible in light of Zen practice. For the most part it seems like any sort of fighting is result of anger, greed or hate. However we have to take a closer look at this especially considering the Shorinji Kempo meditation chant, "If I cannot rely on myself to whom else could I turn?"

During his presentation Onaka Sensei touched on this point very well which I can briefly paraphrase. Imagine someone is coming towards you with a dangerously unstable look in his eye. What do you do? It may seem like the question is: Do I fight or flee? However Shorinji Kempo and Zen Buddhism will both agree that there is a third option, simply step out of the way. In Shorinji Kempo we are taught to move away from our center-line (attacking-line) in virtually every technique. But we have to ask, how is this third option a better choice than the others? Buddhism begins with the revelation that it is when we consider ourselves as permanent things in the world that we begin to suffer. So the decision to instigate or prolong a fight comes from anger and the decision to flee without being able to rely on you comes from fear. Onaka Sensei's presentation demonstrated how practicing Shorinji Kempo is in fact so much more than just learning techniques; it can exercise our wisdom.

To create a club at Seattle University it takes the power of two faculty members, one club advisor, five students, one constitution and nine or ten other pieces of paper. If it wasn't for the aid and encouragement of all of these people then Shorinji Kempo at SU would have never taken flight. In particular we want to send a special thanks to our club advisor, Dr. Jason Wirth, who also helped produce the event in October where Shorinji Kempo made its way to our campus for the first time.

With the cooperation of the faculty and five interested students we were finally able to come to know these Black Belts as Onaka Sensei, 6th degree black belt and his student who has an equal amount of genuine desire to learn Shorinji Kempo, Tsuneoka Sensei, 3rd degree black belt. It must also be mentioned that Jun leads our class at SU and is absolutely crucial to success and safety of our group of budding martial artists. Both understanding teachers, both seriously qualified practitioners and both genuine people, our growing little club owes a tremendous amount to them so let our appreciation be known!

As of now, some 7 months later, the seed has grown into a full blossom as we are ten members strong: Alex Bennion, Evan Loeb, Doug Rudeen, Luke Hightower, Zack Kamla, Lauren Saiki, Nigel Stanford and Taka Fujiwara led by Junichi Tsuneoka and Hiroshi Onaka.

Thank all of you inside and outside of the dojo who are the fuel and fire behind Shorinji Kempo at Seattle University!

Gassho,

Luke Hightower, 1st President of Seattle University Shorinji Kempo Club

 

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