Karate Essence, ‘Ethical Philosophy’, Shoshin/Beginners’ Mind
- tdmckinnon0
- 15 hours ago
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Karate Essence
Ethical Philosophy
初心
Shoshin: Beginners' Mind
By T.D. McKinnon Hanshi Editing by Zoё Lake
‘Shoshin is the quintessential mindset for learning. With Shoshin, there is an openness and eagerness, a sense of curiosity and a lack of predetermination. No matter the level of study, with Shoshin, there are always many possibilities.’
Table of Contents
Beginner’s Mind
Reflection of Broader Values
Applying Shoshin
Political Faux Pas
Kase Sensei & Shoshin
Conclusion
Beginner’s Mind
‘Shoshin’, (初心), is a Zen Buddhist concept that translates to ‘Beginner’s mind’. To quote the Zen master, Shunryo Suzuki:
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few. A true beginner’s mind is open and willing to consider all pieces of information, like a child, getting excited as they discover something for the first time.”
Of the five spirits/minds of Budō, this element, which makes the most sense, took me the longest time to feel comfortable and natural with. I tended to be impatient, overthinking and, consequently, complicating things. When all I really needed to do was clear away all preconceptions… and simplify.
Reflection of Broader Values
Respect for Shoshin reflects the broader Japanese values, like perseverance, respect, and a lifelong course of self-improvement.
Shoshin is simply the best way to approach any learning experience. Even when studying at an advanced level, one should strive for an attitude of openness, eagerness and a lack of preconception. One should listen without comment, regardless of how much you think you know of the subject. Observe as if you know nothing, learn as a child learns, and get excited about new discoveries. Shoshin, like all of the concepts you discover on your journey of Karate-Do, will help you to lead a more rewarding life. Shoshin is the quintessential mindset for learning.
Applying Shoshin
As karateka, one of the ways in which we promote the grace of Shoshin within ourselves is through the ritual of Mokuso prior to training. The literal translation of Mokuso is ‘eyes closed’; however, in the dojo, it has further connotations: to meditate or contemplate quietly, thus separating your Karate training from the outside world. I give this guiding instruction to beginners for Mokuso:
“Concentrate on your breathing; breathing diaphragmatically, think of nothing but slowly filling and emptying your lungs as you empty your mind of the day’s clutter.”
By emptying your mind you are making room for learning, or absorbing, like a child or a complete beginner. Shoshin is a concept far less literal than it is metaphorical, not to be confused with simply forgetting everything.
As we develop knowledge and expertise, we should disavow the tendency to narrow our focus, which risks filtering out the things we think we already know, by concentrating on details we consider we don’t know. The danger here is that we may block out information that disagrees with what we consider we already know; unconsciously sifting out any conflicting ideas in favour of information which conforms to our previous experience and previously held philosophical viewpoints.
Political Faux Pas
Entering the dojo for the very first time, students from varying demographics – age, sex, socio-economic, body composition, up-bringing, life skills and experience – with a little guidance, begin quite naturally with an approximation of Shoshin.
In these so called enlightened times, it is considered politically incorrect to mention the difference between the sexes in regard to anything. However, for the purpose of clarifying the concept of Shoshin, please excuse this political faux pas.
Firstly, let me clarify: ‘every student begins with Shoshin… more or less.’ I will generalise here when I say, male beginner karateka and female beginner karateka start at slightly varying states of Shoshin because of their contrasting life-experiences. In my own teaching experience, the male beginner generally already has some set, physical responses when hearing the words ‘punch and kick’ et cetera; and fighting (physically) is a concept to which they are more likely to have had a modicum of experience. I’m not saying that this is a good thing or a bad thing, just that it amounts to a difference in the natural state of Shoshin of the male and female karateka as they begin training.
Having taught the martial arts for more than half a century, I feel qualified in making sweeping statements. Further to that, the following broad avowal: ‘Female beginner karateka, generally, learn quicker to execute techniques more accurately than their male counterparts. I believe this occurrence to be due to the degree of Shoshin they begin with. The male’s prior familiarity usually means that they have some incorrect habits to first unlearn.
However, swings and roundabouts… arguably, one of the single most important concepts to grasp in Karate is Kime! The following paragraph is one of the descriptive explanations I use when introducing Kime:
“If you have never accessed Kime; I believe that Kime, like Ki, is akin to tapping into the universal energy in little bite-sized pieces. I have found that, at the point where it is appropriate to punctuate your technique with Kime, you should inflict your intent, explosively! That feeling is, almost, like getting angry for a nanosecond at that point of intended impact.”
In my experience, the male beginner karateka gets his head around that concept quicker; and that, I believe, may have something to do with hormones. However, all that being said, by the time that Shodan (first Dan Blackbelt) is achieved we largely have a level playing field.
As adults we may have a tendency to allow our prior knowledge to block us from seeing things anew. Shoshin, like all those esoteric concepts we utilise in Karate-Do, is a state of being that is difficult to articulate to anyone who has not trodden the Budōka path or taken the way of Karate-Do. Once understood, however, Shoshin is a treasured state of mind for studying anything.
Kase Sensei & Shoshin
I remember attending Kase Taiji Sensei’s seminar in the 1970s, in Glasgow, Scotland. Sometime during the course, while we were doing a lot of basic blocking techniques, he was trying to stress the importance of good, strong basics. Some of us were obviously not getting it, or at least not to his satisfaction.
“Very important to have ‘Shoshin’ in all your learning,” he said several times.
I understood, eventually, Kase Sensei to mean that it was essential to learn everything – even basics when you are more advanced – with the beginner’s mind, to find the specialness, the newness, and the importance in the simplest things.
Kase Sensei also regaled us with a story about a time, in Paris France, when he was confronted by a knife wielding, thug. It happened one evening as he was going for a stroll, taking in the Paris sites.
At that time, Kase Sensei did not have good English; he had been living in France for some years, and I don’t know how good his French was, but he had a strange way of speaking with a mixture of heavily Japanese/French accented Pidgin English. However, with the aid of mimicry and simulation, he certainly got the story over.
For those who don’t know Kase Sensei, I would describe him as a 4 x 4; quite short, he was almost as wide as he was tall, and I can imagine that a would-be mugger would not see any potential danger in him.
Kase Sensei couldn’t make out exactly what his assailant was saying but he understood the drift of the situation; he was to hand over his wallet. He decided not to comply.
When he made no reply and no move to comply with his attacker’s demands; frustrated, the man tried to stab him in his ample belly. With a classic Soto-uke, actually more a Soto-ate, similar but more emphasis on striking, Kase Sensei smashed the mugger’s arm at the elbow and then, while he wrenched the broken arm across his ample chest, he delivered a devastating Yoko-empi to the jaw.
While Kase Sensei did receive a cut on his right lower forearm, “Cut...” he said, showing us the scar, shaking his head as if it was nothing, “I break ‘is arm...” he continued, indicating with gestures that told us he had snapped the elbow in the opposite direction, “And ‘is...” and grabbing his own jaw, shaking it, he added, “Shatter!”
Looking at us, catching my eye, as indeed he did everyone in the group, to make it a personal message… he said, “Always train hard… Always train until you believe, and trust yourself. That belief, that trust, both in your skills and that you will act and react appropriately, is your ‘Mushin’.”
I did understand the importance of ‘Mushin’, but until that seminar with Kase Sensei, I hadn’t realised the importance of ‘Shoshin’. I had become bored with basics, which I thought I knew, until Kase Sensei taught me the importance of ‘Shoshin’. Shoshin saved my life on more than one occasion!
Many years later, on the other side of the world, in Sydney Australia…
I’m working as a bouncer in a nightclub, when I see an argument ensuing between a male and a female and I’m on my way to investigate when the guy draws off and punches the woman… “Hey!!!” I shout, as I run towards the incident but, with the pounding music and the place bustling, my shout is muffled and lost.
By the time I get there, holding her with one hand, he has punched her three more times by the time I smash my forearm down on his arm, forcing him to release his hold on her, and I manage to push the girl away from him. Suddenly there’s a knife in his hand and, without the slightest compunction, he viciously stabs me in the stomach! Well… he tries. I smash his elbow the wrong way and shatter his jaw in a dozen places.
The initiating circumstances were completely different to Kase Sensei’s incident, but the knife attack and the defence and counterattack, Soto-ate and Yoko-empi, and the resulting injuries were exactly the same. I too was cut on my right wrist; as a result of the right hand being the hikite; the pulling hand.
I actually thought that I had perfected the circular grabbing and retraction motion with my hikite, and had avoided being cut; I never even noticed it until my assailant was well and truly unconscious. However, there was no denying the blood spurting from the 2⅟2 inch slash on my wrist. I too sport a memento from the incident in the form of a scar on my right wrist.
Conclusion
Embracing Shoshin (the beginners’ mind), improves creativity and problem solving skills, allowing new ideas to emerge.
Implementation of Shoshin into your life, promotes a mindset and culture of continuous learning, for life.
Practicing Shoshin helps to maintain curiosity and mindfulness in all interactions, and in all relationships, deepening connections and reducing conflicts.
Shoshin encourages acceptance of living in the moment, leading to greater ‘peace of mind’, for life.
Lastly, Shoshin leads one to a more ‘value fulfilled’ life experience.
Thank You to the Readers
As always, thank you for following the ‘Karate Essence’ and I hope you will all take value from the new 2026, ‘Ethical Philosophy’ Blog posts.
Thank you also for continuing to support my latest book, ‘A Budōka Odyssey’. The reviews continue to be excellent!
Top reviews from Australia
Reviewed in Australia on 8 April 2025
Verified Purchase
This book is easy to read in short or long sessions - such an inspirational life story of an amazing guy. Well worth the read.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed in Australia on 28 May 2024
Written by a man who has lived the life of a modern warrior. His ability to recognise the lessons and gifts in any situation and the having the humility to seek out those who can help you better yourself are important traits we should all endeavour to achieve not just in our own martial arts’ odyssey but in life.
Top reviews from the United Kingdom
Carl Slee
5.0 out of 5 stars
‘A Fascinating Book’
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 October 2024
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A fascinating book, and not just for those interested in martial arts. Although if you are, this is one of those rare books that will help in not just the development of karate skills but in the facilitation of those psychological states (rarely discussed) of the true karateka.
From early childhood to the present day, Shihan McKinnon shares his adventures as, Truant, Soldier, Nightclub bouncer and Bodyguard as well as Business man but always as a fighter. And in this book he shares with us the ‘gifts’ and ‘Lessons’ that come from such a ‘life worth lived’.
A rare book, in that I found myself re-reading pages, chapters or passages over and over to further understand how such insights related to my own life. And this is the ‘gift’ of this book, I think that each person, whatever gender, age or interest will find something at some point within it, that is very personal and that will reverberate for them, long after reading.
Thank you Shihan
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 July 2024
I have to say that I found this book to be compulsive reading. For someone who was born and raised in the West of Scotland I was immediately drawn to T.D. McKinnon’s Scottish roots. He writes in such a concise and realistic manner. As someone with no knowledge of karate and martial arts, I have nevertheless found the main themes of the book easy to follow and this has made me review experiences drawn from my own life. The concept of ‘gifts and lessons’ applies to all life, not just karate. I would recommend this book to anyone, particularly those who are deeply involved in a sport of any kind, and who is striving to be the best person they can be. Read, learn and enjoy.
Thank you for this book, T.D. McKinnon.
Top review from the United States
Minimal shopper
5.1 out of 5 stars
‘A Fine Man Shares a Life of Budō’
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2024
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At over 500 pages there is a lot of content in this autobiographical journey. A quick overview is as follows:
Author Shihan TD McKinnon has had ALOT of fights in his life; starting under the age of 6! He tells the narrative of his life through all those fights and what he learned about himself and life along the way. I appreciate that he doesn’t make self-defense fighting seem glamorous and one sided. He talks about injuries, dangers, and making alternate choices to physical violence as a reality.
This book emphasizes lessons like ‘never quit’, ‘move on to the next venture’, ‘stay in the moment and learn what you can along the way’. I recommend it for young and old, karate people and non-karate folks. He carries the journey into today with a very relevant subject - training and aging. Take it on your next plane trip, or beach vacation. And if you’re a karate instructor, you can work it into your teaching. This book does not disappoint!
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