Shizen Karate-Do - Thoughts On "The Way"

By Thomas Pressimone

 

A few notes and quotes, some in the form of riddles, concerning traditional karate-do meant to jiggle the mind a bit. Some will understand this and some won't. True traditional karateka, or budoka will understand while others may at times be confused. Among the ones who don't understand there may be a few who choose to seek out hints in the writings here and dig deeper. 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Pressimone
• Release date: Nov 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223351917

Thomas Pressimone

Tommy Pressimone, born in N.Y. in  January 1957 was first introduced to karate around 1969 and was immediately hooked. However back then karate training in his area was scarce and he wasn't learning much. Getting hold of any reading material he could find and practicing wherever he could he continued on. However his training was sporadic and he was pretty much only learning to kick and punch. Then in1982 he found a traditional Shotokan dojo run by Miyazaki Toyotaro sensei and got serious. His life was changed. This is where he learned there was more to karate and where it originated and his journey began. He is thankful to his teacher and his dojo for it was there that the seed was planted that led to his growth and where he is today. Over the years he kept trying to connect with where karate came from. This led to researching Okinawan karate and that continued throughout his years of training. These days his practice is much different from the Shotokan he learned. Different meaning it follows more of an Okinawan way. His research took him back to the karate that Funakoshi first brought to Japan from Okinawa and that is where he is now; a more traditional version of karate than the more modern Japanese version of Shotokan. More "Funakoshi karate." He still practices all the kata within Shotokan however the kata he practices are older versions that Funakoshi sensei taught before modern Shotokan was formed. His training is about Budo karate and has nothing to do with sport or competition. Preferring to keep his karate simple and natural he doesn't concern himself with common karate bragging rights such as tenure or rank believing these to be unimportant and misleading. Being a karateka or a "budoka" is about continued improvement and he believes that time or rank have no bearing on how much you know believing that after all these years he still has much to learn. His training has become simple and very personal as his journey continues. He maintains his personal dojo in his home which he refers to as Shizen or natural. This reflects his belief in keeping karate natural and simple and about the constant battle to improve ones self. He maintains that true karate, "dentou" karate is about self defense; defense of both the inner as well as the outer self. It's not about perfecting ones movements but rather perfecting ones attitude.

Book preview

Intro

Hello and welcome. What do we have here, and what about me?  What we have here is nothing much really.  This blog is just a series of notes and small quotes along with some riddles about karate-do.  Just some random thoughts that run through my mind concerning the life long endeavor of true karate.  What about me? Who is Tommy Pressimone and what about his karate?  Well there’s nothing much to tell really. I like to think what I practice is traditional karate and strive to keep it that way; simple and unassuming, natural (shizen) and quiet, so I haven’t much to tell. I try to maintain the spirit of shoshin, or the beginners mind, and never let the amount of time I have been training fool me into thinking I know very much. So I will not fill this space with notes about me, accomplishments, rank etc. as none of this has anything to do with true karate-do in my opinion. There’s not much to tell anyway.  I try to find balance in my training and work hard to keep my inner self strong and on a path of continued improvement balancing it with my outer karate. The outer karate of self defense balanced with the improvement of inner self and character development.  

Shin gi tai is the connecting/blending or balancing of mind, technique and body and this is a big part of my training.  I constantly re-test myself, many times moving backward again before moving forward. In keeping with the beginners mind I am constantly working to improve, which is a never ending battle.  I don’t worry about the belt around my waist as it has no bearing on my actual training. My only concern is the constant struggle to fit into the belt as I often find myself lacking. Just having a black belt for many years or rank etc. doesn't make you a black belt. It takes