Isshinryu no Gokui to Isshinryu no Megami - Connections

"A person's heart is the same as Heaven and Earth while the blood circulating is similar to the Sun and Moon yet the manner of drinking and spitting is either soft or hard while a person's unbalance is the same as a weight and the body should be able to change direction at any time as the time to strike is when the opportunity presents itself and both the eyes must see all sides as the ears must listen in all directions while the mind must grasp all the tactual data not seen on all sides and not heard in any direction." - Isshinryu no gokui or Isshinryu Karate Koan

The symbol, Isshinryu no Megami, does depict heaven and earth, i.e. the three stars reside within the heavens above and the sky in this form creates a view port to that heaven and the stars. The earth is alluded to as below the turmoil of the water, the ocean. Since the symbol is used for those who practice the system of karate or Isshinryu the person, being non-specific to male or female, is represented by the goddess in the symbol. It, the goddess, is comprised of both hard and soft which is yin-yang or in-yo in Japanese.

You can reach a bit in symbological fashion that the closed hand, being hard and being yang, is also representative of the male or man often a part of several of the gokui but also underlying the other gokui to connect the practice to person's or humans.

You can look to the turbulance of the water as representative or symbolic of the blood circulating, i.e. the ebb and flow of the water causing the flow itself in a turbulent fashion which is also symbolic of the ebb and flow, the in-yo, the yin-yang of life itself which is in constant flux, as is the water, and changes from yang-to-yin in a circular, apparent but actually spirally helix motion, manner as the changes of the yin-yang symbol.

Again the hands represent the hard and soft which is also symbolized in the references to spitting and drinking which are both hard and soft yet as the same time one yet two as they both are dependent on one another in a singular manner but cohesive as both are born of the human, person, mouth which is also symbolic as taking in sustenance as we would take in instruction to learn while expelling the toxins of the body as our outward breath expels carbon dioxide, a poison to humans, like we try to expel those incorrect and bad habits often attained in less than diligent wholehearted practice and training. We can look to drinking and drinking in knowledge and spitting as spitting out the garbage of instruction.

We see the face of the megami and connect the above to this symbolic aspect of both the gokui and the megami. Now take the time to connect the remainder of the gokui in a separate form then bring it all back into a wholehearted cohesive form.

The turbulent waters and the position of the arms and hand tell us symbolically of the importance of balance and if the hands or body are misused then the turbulence of the water will drown us in hate, despair, anger, and defeat. We would sink like a weight into the water and drown.

The water movement requires us to constantly change our Kamae to keep balanced and leaves us the feeling that it is all transitional in nature as the movement of the water and the person to keep balanced. Our ability to either strike or not strike is the balance of both the open and closed hands of the megami. As we are moved and move according to the moment which is influenced by the movement of the water and the air, i.e. the dark skys and apparent wind also causing us to adjust on the fly, we change our directions looking for opportunities to avoid and apply our abilities. We move with the nature of earth and heavens to see everything, to hear all sounds even those hidden by the water's turbulence and the skies/winds howling to achieve readiness and proper kamae.

We feel when the darkness is darkness the movement of nature with the water and the wind to achieve a tactile connection to the earth, the water, the sky, the wind and the turbulent moments to achieve proficiency, etc.

All this and more are represented in this symbol to give us a means to grasp things from all sides and any direction to feed the mind and allow the mind to learn, adjust and to change accordingly. To seek the journey of perfection within our system, our art and our lives.

This is the doorway provided by the symbological aspects of the Isshinryu-no-megami and the Ken-po Goku-i, warranting recognition of its importance and implementation into training and practice. These and others are "the connections."