Fact Checking Karate History

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I would even add to this a need to fact check the actual teachings of a system, style and discipline. Like fact checking the teachings as the regard to self-defense. Here is what I have come to understand and half-way believe about such histories especially when the presenter validates it in ways that seem to me questionable. 

Consider the following thought process:

Tatemae (façade towards the public) [建て前]: “Face; official stance; public position or attitude (as opposed to private thoughts); ceremony for the erection of the framework of a house; tea ceremony procedures; tea ceremony etiquette.” 

This strictly Asian perception of Asians is why I tend to not completely accept accounts of karate when they involve personal interviews, etc. It comes down to the belief in harmony, a social belief that bleeds over into the personal life of the person, where one can use what ever means acceptable to the individual to keep harmony intact especially in social settings. 

Tate-mae is about public thoughts that keep social harmony over the private thoughts of each person. It is public over private position on any subject or question. Often, if asked a question or if a subject of sensitive nature or if a subject the person just does not wish to discuss they first remain silent and let things happen as they will without his or her direct influence. This is especially so when the communications will cause disharmony in the individual or when the communications will cause disharmony to the respected other presenting the subject and so on. 

Many of the historical stories told by the first generation practitioners of almost all martial arts and karate teachings all are affected by tatemae of the Sensei. Many of the histories are built on personal interviews with a bunch of questions that we Americans must have to understanding any discipline and/or subject while the Asian’s expect one to observe and learn without all the disharmony of such communications. If pressed continuously and consistently they will then tell you what you want to hear in order to remain in a harmonious state of being and truthfully, they didn’t really care all that much to keep us Americans, others, in the loop as to the karate world of Okinawa. 

Many of the things we have come to think and believe are of the karate world if you find through stories to be information given in personal interviews and followed by insistence in questioning and pulling information you will find it all subjected to this tatemae concept. 

So, I would pose the question to all of us in the martial arts and karate communities to find out what it takes to properly fact-check our systems and our history because all of it has a strong influence on the what, when, where and how of practice, training, understanding and application of martial arts and karate with emphasis on aspects that deal with conflict and especially violence - social and asocial, emphasis on asocial. 

Some tips you can use now:

• First and foremost, do the research, analysis and then synthesize your own list to fact check your martial arts, karate and historical/modern data of the discipline you study.
• Understand and accept that many sources tend to take pieces of accurate information then package it according to personal beliefs so that it appears factual.
• Assume every story, fact, interview, video, etc., is chock full of agenda driven information that requires some form of separate unbiased referenced and validated, validation. 
• Watch for style/system/personal bias and other group dynamic type of factor.
• Look for references and then validate and fact check those references.
• Check about us tabs and links on source sites and look up other sites for more information about your sources. 
• The use of bad web design as well as authors who use things like “ALL CAPS” to emphasize their articles and information as a sign that the source should be verified and/or read in conjunction with other sources. 
• Collect as many sources on the subject of your research then compare, analyze and then synthesize answers. Once you get your answers then fact check agains other sources as a means of fact checking. 
• Realize in this community of martial arts and karate that there are little to no translated facts and documents to support almost all things karate and martial arts. 
• If the subject and topic you are reading, studying and researching tends to make you angry it is a good enough reason to keep reading about the topic or other sources to make sure the author is not trying to purposefully make you angry in order to generate and validate their own beliefs and the beliefs of their followers. 
• It is best to analyze multiple sources of information and then submit them to as many practitioners of all levels as well as get a wide a variety of viewpoints that all members can analyze, theorize and confidently discuss to come to conclusions that may lead to facts and factual data worth synthesizing into studies, teachings and practices. 

This and other results of your own research should provide you the means of discovery and resulting factual information to make your system and efforts more accurate and exacting and appropriate to teaching, studying and practicing martial arts and karate.

The question always comes up, “What if there are no sources, no valid references and you only have the word of Sensei, etc., what do you do then?” Well, then it comes up to your faith in your Sensei, your beliefs and your self-analysis of what you do, practice and study especially in martial arts and karate of a commercial nature. 

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Is it real, or is it "Memorex?"