Always Maintain Sincerity in Your Heart – A Message from Mabuni Kenzo Soke
Artifact Record
This article documents a framed piece of calligraphy written by Mabuni Kenzo Soke and gifted to me in Japan in 2023.
The piece was passed to me by Shoji Shihan, who had received it directly from Mabuni Kenzo Soke. It is preserved here as part of the Karate Explained historical and lineage archive.
Mabuni Kenzo Soke left a lasting impression on my karate journey long before I received the framed calligraphy that now hangs in my dojo.
In 2023, during a visit to Japan, I was given this piece of Japanese calligraphy by Mabuni Kenzo Soke through Shoji Shihan, a friend and mentor since my first trip to Japan.
What made the gift especially meaningful was the timing. It came twenty years after my first meeting with Mabuni Kenzo Soke in 2003, when I travelled to Japan to train at the source of Shito-Ryu and visit the original dojo connected to the founder, Mabuni Kenwa.
In that sense, this was more than a beautiful artifact. It felt like a quiet reminder of how lineage, friendship, and karate practice continue to unfold over time.
A Gift with Meaning Beyond the Frame
During my 2023 visit to Japan, I was honoured to receive this framed piece of calligraphy written by Mabuni Kenzo Soke. The piece had been received directly from him by Shoji Shihan, who later passed it on to me.
Shoji Shihan has been a friend and mentor since my first visit to Japan, so the gift carried deep personal significance. Like many meaningful objects in traditional karate, its true value lies not only in its appearance, but in the principle it represents.
It is, in one sense, a lineage artifact. In another, it is a teaching reminder — a message preserved in ink.
Twenty Years Later
There is something quietly powerful about receiving this gift two decades after my first meeting with Mabuni Kenzo Soke.
In 2003, I travelled to Japan to train in Seito Shito-Ryu Karate-Do, visit the original dojo attached to the home of Mabuni Kenwa, and deepen my understanding of the art at its source. That visit became one of the most meaningful experiences of my karate journey.
If you would like to read more about that earlier journey, you can do so here: When I Met Mabuni Kenzo Soke.
Receiving this calligraphy in 2023 created a natural bridge between those two moments — not as separate events, but as part of one continuing karate journey shaped by training, friendship, and lineage.
The Calligraphy of Mabuni Kenzo Soke
The Message in the Calligraphy
The phrase I was given with this calligraphy was:
Kokoro tsune ni shinjitsu
This is commonly understood as:
“Always keep sincerity in your heart.”
Japanese calligraphy often expresses ideas in a compressed and poetic way, but the spirit of this phrase is clear. The calligraphy written by Mabuni Kenzo Soke points to sincerity, honesty, and integrity as qualities that should remain constant within the heart of the practitioner.
Kokoro (心) refers to the heart, spirit, mind, or inner attitude.
Tsune ni (常に) means always, continually, or at all times.
Shinjitsu (真実) conveys truth, sincerity, genuineness, and honesty.
Taken together, the message reminds us that karate is not only about what we do outwardly, but about the spirit in which we train and live.
Why This Message Matters in Karate
Karate is often discussed in terms of technique, kata, grading, and application. All of these are important. But traditional karate has always asked for something deeper than outward performance.
It asks for integrity in practice, humility in learning, and sincerity in the way we carry ourselves inside and outside the dojo.
A sincere heart influences everything. It affects how we bow, how we train, how we respond to correction, how we treat others, and how we carry responsibility as students and teachers.
Without sincerity, technique can become empty. With sincerity, even simple training becomes meaningful.
In traditional karate, progress is not measured only by what we can do, but by the quality of spirit we bring to the doing.
A Personal Reflection
This piece of calligraphy means more to me because of the relationships connected to it. It links back not only to Mabuni Kenzo Soke, but also to Shoji Shihan, whose friendship and guidance have been part of my karate journey since my first trip to Japan.
It also connects naturally with my earlier experiences in Japan, including my visit to the original dojo attached to the home of Mabuni Kenwa and my meeting with Mabuni Kenzo Soke himself. Those experiences deepened my appreciation for lineage, continuity, and the responsibility that comes with preserving traditional karate respectfully.
In that sense, this calligraphy is not merely decorative. It is a reminder — quiet, simple, and enduring — of the standard we should try to uphold in our training.
What This Artifact Reminds Me
Traditional karate is passed on through people, practice, and principle.
This piece of calligraphy brings all three together. It reflects lineage, friendship, and a message that remains deeply relevant for any karate practitioner.
1. Character Matters
Karate is not only about physical skill. It is also about sincerity, humility, and integrity.
2. Lineage Is More Than History
Lineage is carried forward not only through records and names, but through personal relationships, teachings, and shared responsibility.
3. Meaning Deepens Over Time
Receiving this gift twenty years after first meeting Mabuni Kenzo Soke reminded me that some lessons in karate are not immediate. They unfold slowly over many years of practice.
4. The Essentials Remain the Same
No matter how much we learn, we are always brought back to the basics of character, respect, and sincerity of heart.
In that sense, this artifact is not simply something to admire on the wall.
It is a principle to return to — again and again — throughout the lifelong journey of karate.
A Continuing Journey
Karate is shaped by moments of training, by teachers, by relationships, and by the lessons we continue to uncover over time.
This gift from 2023 is meaningful not simply because of who wrote it, but because of what it continues to teach.
It is a reminder that while techniques may become sharper and understanding may deepen, the heart of karate must remain sincere.
Karate is a lifelong journey of learning.
In that sense, we are all — always — Forever a Student.
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