I look to the "gokui," short for ken-po goku-i, as a type of codex. I use the term from the following explanation of what a codex is:
"Late 16th century (denoting a collection of statutes or set of rules): from Latin, literally ‘block of wood,’ later denoting a block split into leaves or tablets for writing on, hence a book. an ancient manuscript text in book form."
The gokui is a terse set of idea's that many think are rules collected together to spell out certain philosophical rules for ancient Chinese, later Okinawa and Japan, etc., martial disciplines like Chinese boxing. I liken this because long, long ago, in China, the used strips of bamboo, or other wood pieces, to write down things like, "The I Ching or Tao Te Ching."
When you look to the gokui, as it is currently written for Okinawan karate you get a terse set of words that seem random yet hints at things that tend to trigger the readers biases, beliefs and understanding. All dependent on the perspective and intent of study, as in the case of karate from Okinawa - specific to karate.
One rendition is:
Person heart same heaven earth
Blood pulse similar sun moon
Method hard soft swallow spit
Person advance pass separate meet
Position follow movement proceed change
Hand meet empty suddenly enter
Eye necessary see four sides
Ears should examine eight directions
the string of terms or words seems relevant and connected to one another but there are enough spaces, voids if you will, between each that may or may not allude to the real meaning and that, I believe, is intentional. Just enough ambiguity to leave the reader to consider them from their intent, perceptions and beliefs in the moment as biased through confirmation toward what they were thinking at the moment or how they are influenced by the sources of the gokui, in this case in "karate dojo."
It would explain the many versions of translation, all due to the ambiguity of the characters/ideograms of the Asian languages, that abound and the many translations all dependent on the translator and their particular influences, perceptions and beliefs both inherent in experiences and memory along with the suggestions that influence humans by who presented it for translation and interpretation and so on often ad-infinitum.
One of the reasons in my studies, for me personally, I find that giving another person the gokui is best in its raw form, i.e., the characters/ideograms and the English translation, or any other language as needed, with a proviso that one must research, study and discover their own true interpretation noting that it can be to the subject, say of karate, or any other subject.
This is why so many ancient classics, such as the art of war; the I Ching; the Analects or Tao Te Ching are not directed at any one discipline, idea, theory or belief but just ambiguous enough that an expert of any subject or discipline can apply it to a particular study.
The gokui's true goal therefore is a means to stimulate our minds to think, contemplate and creatively create something unique to the individual performing the research and study for it has value in all forms much like the old adage, "All bottles are good; they all serve a purpose!"
The codex that is the gokui is generic and if discovered by any one individual outside influences of others or other disciplines could then become of value to that one, in a wholehearted way.
My version of my gokui:
“A person's heart is the same as Heaven and Earth while the blood circulating is similar to the Sun and Moon yet the manner of drinking and spitting is either soft or hard while a person's unbalance is the same as a weight and the body should be able to change direction at any time as the time to strike is when the opportunity presents itself and both the eyes must see all sides as the ears must listen in all directions while the mind must grasp all the tactual data not seen on all sides and not heard in any direction.” - cejames
The readers will immediately notice that they are not written in a linear form or by the numbers but rather a continuous sentence simply because the gokui I use is not a separate distinct set of lines or words regardless of meaning given to the number eight. It’s original form is meant to trigger the natural tendency of the human mind that works in a hierarchal linear form so that it can be studied with the expectation that one will begin to perceive beyond its generic hierarchal and linear form into a more fluid gossamer form that changes, like nature and the evolution of humans, the Earth, the Moon and all that is the Universe as meant by nature itself.
When we reach a certain level and age we also begin to think in a way that removes the sentence, the structure or the ties that would make it remain in such a form to a more formless instinctual transformative chaotic, yet not, way of thinking and therefore in some instances, acting. It then goes well beyond the letters that form the words, the words that form the sentence and the sentence structure that relies on human rules and requirements exposing the mind to something beyond thinking, logic or even emotional to something - more. So much so that it transcends it own title of ken-po goku-i or even gokui into something not easily described or explained even in this very effort that I use to try and convey another understanding of the many myriad understandings.
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