Kanbun Uechi Sensei and Jasmine Tea
Jasmine is probably one of my favorite teas. I enjoy sitting down with a cup to review email, read my current book (typically on marketing); or just to chat with my wife.
Turns out Jasmine Tea has a history with Uechi-ryu Karate as well. As related by Toyama Sensei (last student of Kanbun Sensei); Jasmine Tea was a popular drink for post workout discussion. When I visit Okinawa I also get the chance to sit and chat with classmates while sipping Jasmine Tea.
Truth is I like it. Jasmine has a mild, pleasing taste. Truthfully I do not know if the tea we drink today tastes the same as in Kanbun Sensei’s day…. either way it helps to create a connection between then and now. Sitting down with classmates going over history, technique, upcoming events ….. bringing people together with a common interest.
A simple cup of tea. Click the image to get your tin!
August 12th, 2008 at 1:59 am
Last night (Sunday August 10, 2008), the Makibashira Dojo opened its doors for the first (and not last) Bodhidharma’s tea house. This time it was for the celebration of Obon.
Who was Bodhidharma (also know as Tamo)? He was a Buddhist monk that followed the Silk Road back into China. But his travels had other impacts as well. During his adventures he wound up in southern China, a whole other story onto itself. While there, he spent many years meditating in a cave. One day during his meditations, Bodhidharma fell asleep. This was inexcusable! So to be sure that he never again fell asleep while meditating, Bodhidharma cut off his eyelids and tossed them outside the cave’s mouth. To this day, all paintings of Bodhidharma show him with an intense stare, and no eyelids.
Bodhidharma’s act had a lasting impact. The eyelids landed in a patch of fertile earth, taking root and growing into the first tea trees. Monks gathered the leaves and made a drink out of them that helped them to stay awake during meditation. To this day, Buddhist monasteries still utilize Bodhidharma’s gift. One monk is assigned to a teapot, and offers his drowsy brothers a fresh cup of tea.
There is a grand history with the act of tea drinking and the martial arts.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
In relation to Karate, legends of Boddhidharma and the Shaolin temple are artifacts from fiction and have nothing to do with karate’s origins.
For an excellent discussion on how this particularly indelible myth came to be, see:
Guo, Elizabeth and Kennedy, Brian. Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals: A Historical Survey. North Atlantic Books, 2005.