Karate Kiai means ‘spirit shout,’ and it is the deadly scream that karate practitioners utter when chopping an opponent’s head off. Well, maybe I overstated that a bit, grin, but there is a truth to the karate shout that is unarguable and leads to some rather rare and mysterious knowledge. I am referring to the subject of Kotodama, which means ‘Word spirit.’

The notion behind a Karate kiai is to commit all of ones energies into one moment, one karate technique, and thus to enhance the power of the strike. The idea of scaring a somebody is somewhat secondary, but not to be discounted. Both of these concepts lead to rather interesting belief systems and mysterious realities.

Kotodama is generally directed at the notion of creating soothing sounds, which sounds can engender a more spiritual feeling in a person. There is, of course, the flip side of this subject, the bad word belief, in which a sound is used to harm somebody. Either way, the study of kotodama results in the notion of kotomuke (soothing speech to bring peace), and kotoage, which is a way of invoking magic.

My first experience with the power of words comes directly from a decades long study of the martial arts. This gave direct contact with the power of shouting at an opponent and weakening him. In one case I used the power of the karate kiai to shout at an attacker…and he turned around stumbled down the street, shaking, hardly in control of his body.

Experiences like this, which were brought about by the faithful practice of karate forms with correct emphasis on Karate kiai, brought me to a profound appreciation of the subject. Of interest in this is the speech mannerisms of salesmen and mentalists, and others of that sort. Observing how such people conducted themselves, the tones they used, the pitch of sound they used, brought me to the realization that we are talking about the subject of vibrations.

Vibration is generally understood to be the source of the universe. Between the notion of an Eternal Spirit and the solid life of objects (of which the universe is made), is vibration. This concept holds true on the atomic level of protons and electrons, and on the gigantic scale of spinning galaxies and whole universes.

What we are more interested in, however, are the vibrations we can make in our day to day lives. Is it possible to cause a vibration which can move the universe? The answer to this is as simple as the phenomena of an opera singer projecting a tone that cracks a glass.

The method for achieving this ability, while rather indistinct, is just as clear cut. First, one has to understand, through the simple living of virtues, that they are a spiritual being, and that they can create vibrations which not only shatter glass, but which can rattle objects on shelves, and, more easily, cause comfort or discomfort to the hearing of fellow human beings. Second, one has to find and follow rather exact disciplines to create this ability…but the result is that a simple Karate kiai can become Kotodama, can become a mystical spell or chant to kill or cure.

Al Case recommends the practice of a Karate Style or a similar martial art to find the reality of the karate kiai, and to start the journey to an understanding of Kotodama and other such abilities. Mouse to Monster Martial Arts to find out more.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 at 10:38 am and is filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.