Doshin So
宗道臣
Japanese martial arts teacher (1911–1980) who in 1947 founded Shorinji Kempo in Tadotsu as a system uniting technique and education.
Quick Facts
JapanBiography
Doshin So was a Japanese martial arts teacher and the founder of Shorinji Kempo, which unites technique with philosophy and the education of the person. He was born in February 1911 in present-day Mimasaka in Okayama Prefecture as Michiomi Nakano. Wikipedia gives 10 February. He died in May 1980, on 12 May according to the Oxford Shorinji Kempo club.
According to the federation website, at seventeen he went to China and trained with Wen Taizong, a master of the line of the Shaolin monastery on Mount Song. The Japanese encyclopedia Nipponica says that in 1936 he received formal certification at the Shaolin monastery. He returned to Japan in 1946.
He founded Shorinji Kempo in October 1947 in Tadotsu in Kagawa Prefecture. The principle of the system became the unity of technique and philosophy, kenzen ichinyo, and its aim, according to the official website, the education of people for a peaceful society rich materially and spiritually. He introduced a centrally administered system of membership and certification. The historian Donn Draeger, according to Wikipedia, questioned his claim of succession in the Chinese line.
After his death the organization was led by his daughter Yuki So and later his grandson So Koma. According to the Nippon Budokan handbook, Shorinji Kempo is active in 40 countries and regions, and the 2023 world championship attracted about 3,000 participants.
Early life
Doshin So was born in February 1911 in Okayama Prefecture, in what is now the city of Mimasaka, with the birth name Michiomi Nakano. The official Shorinji Kempo website gives only the month, Wikipedia 10 February. According to the Shorinji Kempo club in Oxford, he was the eldest son of a customs official, and after the death of his father he was sent to his grandfather in Manchuria. At seventeen, according to the official website, he went to China, and the Oxford club gives eighteen.
Training and teachers
The official website of the federation says that in China he trained in various martial techniques with Wen Taizong, a master continuing the line of the Songshan Shaolin monastery. The Japanese encyclopedia Nipponica, according to the Kotobank portal, says that in 1936 he was given formal certification at the Shaolin monastery. According to the Oxford club he returned to Japan in June 1946.
His training in Hakko-ryu jujutsu is disputed: according to Wikipedia, the headquarters of Shorinji Kempo has no records of the training and Hakko-ryu records only a few visits.
Contribution and innovations
He founded Shorinji Kempo in October 1947 in the city of Tadotsu in Kagawa Prefecture, the Oxford club gives 1948. According to the Nippon Budokan handbook, after the war he decided to dedicate his life to the education of people, and the principle of the system became the unity of technique and philosophy, kenzen ichinyo. He also introduced a centrally administered system of membership and certification. The official website lists among his teachings the principles rikiai funi and jiko kakuritsu jita kyoraku.
According to the Oxford club, the organization Kongo Zen Sohonzan was created in 1951, the Japan Shorinji Kempo Federation in 1953 and the World Shorinji Kempo Organization in 1974. The Bournemouth club gives the creation of an international federation in 1972.
Philosophy and principles
According to the official website, he wanted to create a peaceful society rich materially and spiritually. The Nippon Budokan handbook gives as his teaching spending half of one's effort on one's own happiness and half on the happiness of others. The official website links courage with strength, compassion with kindness and a sense of justice with wisdom.
Legends and documented facts
According to Wikipedia, the historian Donn Draeger questioned the claim of So to succession in the Chinese line, and we have not verified the book in the original. The official website of the federation does not speak of the granting of certification at the Shaolin monastery as disputed.
Wikipedia mentions an invitation to China in 1979 and a lawsuit of the Shaolin monastery against Shorinji Kempo, but gives no source for either, and we have not found one either.
Legacy
He died in May 1980, according to the Oxford club on 12 May of heart disease. After his death the organization was led by his daughter Yuki So, and the third leader became his grandson So Koma, president of the federation. According to the Japanese encyclopedia, in 2006 the federation had about 2,900 branches in Japan and branches in 31 other countries, and it is a member of the Japanese Council of Budo. The Nippon Budokan handbook gives activity in 40 countries and regions and about 3,000 participants at the 2023 world championship.
Teachers, students and family
Associated Martial Arts
Kata and forms
Quotes
Half for one's own happiness, half for the happiness of others.
半ばは自己の幸せを 半ばは他人の幸せを
Attributed