author: @sleepyfox
title: On Shu-Ha-Ri
date: 25-Oct-2024
So, fairly regularly something turns up in my inbox relating to ShuHaRi (守破離) often quoted as a Japanese model of skills aquisition. These articles, blogs etc. are all problematic in some way or other, and inevitably as both an Aikido instructor and a career IT professional with deep experience of Software Development Methodologies, I will get asked what I think. Hmmm...
So, let's start with the Wikipedia article:
This starts out reasonably enough, but rapidly devolves into hearsay. The etymology for 'ha' (破) is incorrect (as is listed on the Talk tab for this page), it isn't 'detatch or digress' as listed but should instead be translated as 'rend, tear or break', as can be clearly seen at this Kanji translator.
The historical piece about Ri being a measure of distance is completely unfounded, and presumably is based upon some sort of recognition that often Japanese words can be expressed with different Kanji, which dramatically alters the meaning of the sentence. This happens all the time with Japanese, but much more rarely in English so we don't tend to recognise what an immense problem for transcription it presents. An example may help: Alex noticed the bat was large and scary-looking. Without context we don't know whether Alex is talking about a vampire bat or a cricket bat. In Japanese almost every word has multiple meanings, often significantly more than two. Japanese is not only an incredibly contextual language, but is also one in which allegory and metaphor plays a huge part, much more so than the more literal English language, so is ripe for mistranslation, as well as mistranscription.
The page then goes on to talk about Jo Ha Kyu, which is an older concept from Noh Theatre in Japan, but is a completely unrelated concept that basically means 'beginning, middle and end', and has nothing to do with expertise or skills aquisition, but rather being about dramatic tension in performances.
The quoted sources are essentially pulp fiction, random blog sites on the web, rather than scholastic articles from historians, linguists or researchers. with the exception of one, which we'll come back to. Problems with research, English vs Japanese, all English material contaminated by Agile, mostly because Alistair Cockburn used it for his Heart of Agile stuff
One of the many issues with trying to research ShuHaRi on the Internet, especially if Japanese is not your native language and culture, is the preponderance of material to be found in the Agile community on this subject, much of it lacking in a basic understanding at best. This (the connection with Agile) is, I believe, due to the concept's adoption by Alstair Cockburn back in the late 90s as part of his Agile training material. Unfortunately Alistair Cockburn's website with "over 3,000 pages" of content went offline somewhere between Aug 22nd 2018 and Nov 28th 2018, replaced by a single 'coming soon' page, and despite many people over many years asking the material contained therein to be republished there, or elsewhere, Mr. Cockburn has chosen not to do so. Thankfully due to Mr. Cockburn's fame as a signatory of the Agile Manifesto subsequent to it's popularisation, much of his original website material was cached by the Internet Archive, for which my main exhibit is his page on ShuHaRi. The earliest capture of this page is from 2008, though the page's content proclains that it was from a book published in 2001.
Go away and read, I'll wait. Good.
As can clearly be seen from his own writing, he developed a 'three levels of learning' model, in which he uses the terms 'following', 'detatched' and 'fluent' to describe the skill level of the practitioner, though he mostly refers to these as levels 1, 2 and 3. Interestingly an earlier version of his writing can be found memorialised at Ward Cunningham's C2 wiki here earliest capture 2003, which indicates that at that point the terms 'Level 1, 2 and 3' were the main ones in use, and the incorporation of foreign terminology was, as is mentioned in the earlier 2008 text, something that was confined to an appendix. Only later on the behest of readers did the ShuHaRi material move into the main body of the text, that would be then printed in the second edition of the book in 2006.
It is interesting that Mr. Cockburn credits Aikido with the origin of ShuHaRi, yet the reference that he provides is to The Iaido Newsletter (issue #54) - Iaido is a completely different Japanese martial art - that just happened to be included on the Aikido FAQ website, maintained by Kjartan Clausen. One can only presume that Mr. Cockburn, unaware that Iaido was a different art, because he found the material on the Aikido FAQ website presumed that it originated in Aikido.
At the bottom of the article, he states: "From Agile Software Development 2nd edition 2006: The Shu-Ha-Ri distinction dates back, as I learned, not to the origins of Aikido the early 1900s, but to Japanese Noh theater, almost four centuries ago." - this is a misconception that he undoubtadly picked up from the erroneous Wikipedia entry that we've discussed earlier.
Interestingly the earliest version of the Wikipedia page, from 2006, claims (correctly) that it is a straight copy from Sensei's Library, an Internet Wiki about the game of Go. We can see that the original edit of that page from 2004 makes the same claim to originate from Aikido "a Japanese martial arts term (Aikido, Karate, Judo)". Interestingly that page quotes as its own source as shuhari.com, a modern commercial martial arts gym. This site's page on the company's name has as its quoted source a book 'Flashing Steel, Mastering Eishin-Ryu Swordsmanship' by Masayuki Shimabukuro and Leonard J. Pellman, published 1995.
Luckily not only is this a source with some authority, it is also a book that I possess a first edition printing of in my own Martial Arts library. A 7th dan Kyoshi at the time of publication, Shimabukuru Shihan was responsible for overseeing all technical standards for the Muso Jikiden Eishi Ryu internationlly in all countries outside of Japan - where that responsibility lay with his teacher, the then soke of the style, 20th grandmaster Miura Takeyuki Hirefusa.
On page 61-63, the authors talk about Shu Ha Ri as being "used to describe the overall progression of martial arts training, as well as the lifelong relationship the student will enjoy with his or her instructor". They use the translation "Obey, Break, Separate". The authors take great care to point out that ShuHaRi describes not only the phase of the student's appreciation of the art, but also the instructor's relationship with the student.
Shu (obey, protect) is not only about the student's obeying the instructor's directions, and taking on board their constructive criticisms, but also how the instructor protects the student's interests and nurtures and encouraages their progress. The relationship is similar to a parent or teacher with a child.
Ha (break (free), frustrate) is where the student, now a dan grade themselves, is exploring beyond what their instructor has taught, and is learning from their own experience, they probably run a dojo of their own. They frustrate their instructor by questioning and asking 'why' about almost everything, as they seek to actually understand the art rather than merely copy what they have been shown. The relationship is now more like that of a parent with an adult son or daughter.
Ri (seperate) the student, now a highly ranked dan grade themselves, is now independent from their instructor, having learned all they can from them. This does mean that they do not have a relationship, most remain lifelong friends, the student trasuring the wisdom of the instructor now more than skills instruction. The relationship is more like that of a grandparent with an adult son or daughter who is now a parent themselves. The meaning is not only about the student seperating from the instructor, but also about the instructor's obligation to set their student free, and treat them as an equal in the art. The objective of Ri is that the student should surpass the instructor, for only then will the art advance.
As you can see, even this somewhat cursory explanation of the traditional relationship between student and instructor in the classical Japanese arts is a long way away from the usual translation of 'beginner, middling, advanced' that is typical of articles or posts. I hope this has been helpful for people trying to understand Shu-Ha-Ri, where it comes from and how to use it, particularly in the context of Software and Software Methodology.
Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20110610205348/http://homepage3.nifty.com/aikido_sakudojo/Shihan_Interview_Dou144-e.html
Interviewer: You wrote, "In aikidô practice, it is necessary to avoid becoming preoccupied with whether or not techniques are effective, and first simply repeat the forms, both uke and tori, correctly. … One should be mindful to take the time to absorb into one's body everything from techniques involving small movements of the arms and legs to larger and simpler movements, in such a way that strength is not overused."
Endo Sensei: In Japan, we transmit and learn culture through forms, often becoming captive in those forms, so much so that our culture has been called a "culture of form." Forms are the heart/mind of our forebearers and a mode of transmission of the same. It is known that, when we learn or train in something, we pass through the stages of shu, ha, and ri. These stages are explained as follows. In shu, we repeat the forms and discipline ourselves so that our bodies absorb the forms that our forebearers created. We remain faithful to the forms with no deviation. Next, in the stage of ha, once we have disciplined ourselves to acquire the forms and movements, we make innovations. In this process the forms may be broken and discarded. Finally, in ri, we completely depart from the forms, open the door to creative technique, and arrive in a place where we act in accordance with what our heart/mind desires, unhindered while not overstepping laws.
In Jikishinkage-ryû and Mutô-ryû, it is said that we must rid ourselves of all habits that we have acquired since birth without noticing or intending. This is in order to completely deny our impure egos and take away any distinction among mind, body, and technique. We achieve this negation by thoroughly practicing forms and attacks, to the extent that body and mind are forgotten.
To practice by forms means to be able to repeat the same thing. In repeating the same thing, we rid ourselves of habit and make our bodies absorb that which is correct. In addition we can broach the experience of mushin. In thinking this way, I think the form of uke, not only of tori, becomes unavoidably necessary.
The idea of "Shu-Ha-Ri" advocated by Sen no Rikyu also teaches that one can expand one's own aesthetic sense by learning the forms of aesthetic sense that one's predecessors had perfected. The phrase "Shu-Ha-Ri" originally appears in the "Rikyu Do-Ka," a collection of Sen no Rikyu's teachings, which reads, "Even if you break the rules and etiquette, even if you leave them, do not forget the basics."
Scraped by Internet Archive in 2000: https://web.archive.org/web/20001026130825/http://www.aikidofaq.com/essays/tin/shuhari.html
Reference is from TIN (The Iaido Newsletter) Vol 7, number 2, #54, Feb 1995. It references:
- Kuroda, Ichitaro "Shu-Ha-Ri" Sempo Spring 1994 pp 9-10
- McCarthy, Patrick "The World Within Karate & Kinjo Hiroshi" Journal of Asian Martial Arts. V. 3 No. 2 1994
- Private conversations with Nakamura, L. sensei Toronto, Spring 1994. There are no references to either of the first two on the Internet, so that's as far as we can go in researching the backstory of this thread.