Nikola Mijatov

Far from plain physical conflict, Japanese martial arts today represent a profound philosophy of life. However, in its early beginnings, the basic principles were exactly based on the overcoming of the opponent with all means available, where the consequences that the opponent could suffer were not regarded as significant. The paper critically analyses the development of a new, revolutionary, ethical principle of non-injuring the opponent that had significantly influenced the formation of martial arts, the techniques as well as philosophy. The philosophical bases can be traced back to Confucius and Mencius, but the first step towards the foundations of this principle was made by Miyamoto Musashi with his philosophy of conflict. Nevertheless, the philosophy of Musashi failed to make a profound impact on martial arts back then: the society of medieval and early modern Japan was not yet ready for the complex ethics of combat. Three centuries later, Jigoro Kano tapped from the same ethical principle when he created Judo. His steps were followed by Gichin Funakoshi, who created Shotokan Karate. Finally, the peak of the ethical principle of non-injuring the opponent can be found in Morihei Ueshiba’s Aikido, whereupon not only was the philosophy of martial art formed by this principle, but it was established that the techniques of self-defense themselves have for their purpose the overcoming of the opponent as well as the non-injuring phenomenon – the unique zenith of martial arts mastery.

Keywords: Miyamoto Musashi, Judo, Aikido, Karate, Ethics, Martial arts

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