The Zen-Chu Meditation Flag

By Robert T. Tuohey

When I began in the martial arts, nearly 40 years ago, the Zen-Chu meditation flag was a common sight in Japanese dojo (and even the Korean dojang had a version). Today this tradition seems well-nigh lost. In this article, then, I’d simply like to re-introduce this valuable training tool.

Background

Historically, the Zen-Chu (Zen meditation) flag finds its origin in the kendo dojo of the early 1900’s. At that time, the official emblem representing the armed forces of Japan was the “Rising Sun” flag, and many an officer was a kendoist.

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Following a time-honored practice of inscribing oaths, mottos, and pledges on banners, so too these kendoists began to copy significant phrases onto the rays of their flag. (It should be noted that most usually the flag was tacked to the wall, and not hung loose).Expressions such as “The Spirit and Soul are One”, and “Train with Utmost Sincerity” are examples.

By the 1920’s karate had migrated from the islands of Okinawa to the mainland of Japan. In its original form, karate was an informal art, handed down via one-to-one instruction. In becoming a public martial art, however, clear standards and definite structure were needed. Nearly all modern karate formality, in one way or another, is adapted from kendo and judo. For example, the grading system, training uniform, classifications of stances, striking, and so on, come from these two martial arts. Thus, the Zen-Chu flag found its way into the karate dojo (particularly Shotokan and Goju-ryu).

Purpose

Alright, enough with the history lesson ~ what’s the thing good for?

Simply, the short, point-blank phrases serve to sharpen the spirit and mind of the student. In the short-term, we’re talking the training session ahead, in the long-term, life.

My Zen-Chu Flag

What’s written on any Zen-Chu flag is a highly personal matter, and thus will vary widely. I present my own merely as an example.

At the center I’ve written, in kanji (Japanese characters), KARATE ZEN.

This, for me, is the key concept. Karate = Zen = Life. All else revolves around this.

Moving now to the top, at about one o’clock, we find the kanji for SEISHIN (Spirit). All activity, animate and inanimate, proceeds from Spirit. The philosopher Schopenhauer

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termed this Will. In the Christian tradition we read that “the spirit of God hovered over the waters”, and thus began creation (Genesis, 1).

The next kanji reads MAKOTO (Truth). It is in this direction, also called Reality, which the Human Spirit must move.

The next two characters are OSU. This is a verb meaning “to push forward”, “to exert effort”. Anyone who has received training in a Japanese martial art is familiar with this term. It is commonly used as a greeting to fellow students, and also as an exhortation to greater effort. Personally, I think of OSU as “Bring it on!”

Next we find REIGI (Courtesy). Simply said, it means respecting the rights of others. Today, it seems that few people respect anything. Part of the dignity of strength is courtesy, and the martial artist always remembers this.

The fifth kanji are JISEI (Self-discipline). Again, easy to understand; we all know what it means. The difference is that the martial artist actually does it!

These first five lines of my Zen-Chu flag are my personal adaptation of the dojo-kun (training hall oath) of the Shotokan karate system. To wit:

First, to strive to perfect one’s character!

First, to seek the truth!

First, to develop will-power!

First, to be courteous!

First, to refrain from recklessness!

The same in Japanese (starting from the left, read downward):

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HITOTSU! JINKAKU KANSEI NI TSUTOMURU KOTO! HITOTSU! MAKOTO NO MICHI O MAMORU KOTO! HITOTSU! DORYOKU NO SEICHIN O YASHINAU KOTO! HITOTSU! REIGI O OMONZURU KOTO! HITOTSU! KEKKI NO YU O IMASHIMURU KOTO!

From this base, the flag becomes even more individualized.

IRON WILL. Get going! Keep going! Next project!

Activity without purpose, however, is no more than movement. What’s needed is a plan, reasoning, LOGIC. I think of CHESS as the best example of this.

The author, exercising a bit of logic.

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If LOGIC is Yang, then IMAGINATION is Yin. Here I subscribe LITERATURE.

The kanji reading KI is next. The positioning (slightly off-center at the base, and upside-down) indicate to me the mysterious quality of the “Life-Force”.

Back to reality! CONDITIONING! Strength! Endurance! Flexibility! Co-ordination!

HIT-POWER! Beneath which, in Japanese, MAKIWARA. Funakoshi Gichin, the founder of Shotokan, wrote, “The condition of the fists is always maintained by regular practice with the makiwara.” When I hit something, I damn well want some result. OSU!

Funakoshi Sensei, working the makiwara.

Moving up, we read KATA = KANZEN (Form is Perfection). Kata is the heart of karate-do. Via these encyclopedias of technique and strategy, the art is passed from one generation to the next, and the individual karateist is linked to the art for life.

TODAY IS NOW! Get going! Plan your work then work your plan (Peter Urban, Sensei).

MIZU NO KOKORO (A Heart like Water), a Zen saying. Bruce Lee, in various writings, remarked, “Be like water!”

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SATORI. Nirvana. Enlightenment.

MU. The Void. Return to Emptiness.

Conclusion

The Zen-Chu Meditation Flag is a tool, somewhat similar to the Jungian mandala, in that it serves to clarify and focus the creator’s energies. Also, like the mandala, the Zen-Chu Flag is very much a reflection of the individual.

For those inspired to make their own Zen-Chu Flag, all that’s needed, material-wise, is the flag itself (easily ordered via a number of on-line companies, costing around 30 USD total), and a thick black magic-marker of the “permanent mark” type.

However, do not rush into the making! Carefully plan how you would like the flag to look by making several sketches on good 8x10 papers, slowly revising the lay-out over a period of days. When sure you have what you want, lightly pencil in the letters on the rays, taking care for evenness and uniformity of size. You should even practice with the magic-maker on paper first.

Make your Zen-Chu Flag with great care: It is not only a reflection of your martial arts philosophy, but your life philosophy!

OSU!

Notes

1. Regarding flag stores, you might start here:

http://www.united-states-flag.com/japan-rising-sun.html

2. For some more history on the Japanese flag:

http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/jp.html

http://www.japanorama.com/hinomaru.html

http://flagspot.net/flags/jp%5E.html

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