It's great seeing something more authentic than the usual martial arts film, though don't get me wrong, wire type films are also great entertainment.
My take on the sensei's prohibition is not one of anti-violence but rather that the three (and apparently only) students are rather flawed so he has (temporarily) sealed the strikes until they actually comprehend the purpose of the martial arts & their style in particular.
The students can be divided into two groups. For one student, it's a classic problem. Just because something is *physically* possible, doesn't mean it is *morally* so. The easiest error to fall into for any strong person is "might equals right." This was also most certainly the historical error of the Imperial Army & the Kenpeitai especially. Unlike these groups, I've never met a serious contemporary practitioner of the Chinese/Japanese martial arts who advocates a "violence often" approach to problems. Rather, when violence is called for, it ought to be effective. Judging the time & place for violence is perhaps the most important art of the martial arts, but very rarely is that expounded upon explicitly. Rather, one absorbs this organically from practicing the martial arts and the always disciplined application of force.
The other two students though lack conviction. They practice the movements but do not grasp the internal logic. This is apparent when the one student admirably stops the officer of the kenpeitai every time he continues his aggression (even beyond the point of reason like the Monty Python Black Knight). Who is responsible for the officer's crippling? Given the situation, it's the officer himself who attacks with ample evidence that he's outclassed. The officer never takes responsibility for his actions then or after (and sadly, historically only a very small percentage of the kenpeitai personnel were ever caught & tried). When the laughably incompetent son & daughter show up, though, he doesn't defend himself from their aggression (even with the restrictions his sensei has imposed). He's shaken to the core. Doesn't he understand the point of his martial art? No, he doesn't. Later when he finally does try to defend the child from the aggressors, he gets lost in the individual opponents and forgets his main task: protecting the kid. I feel for the poor sensei saddled with these guys. There are hints that he has explained repeatedly in words but they just don't get it.
The weaknesses of the film are in the historical setting, story, and production values. The Imperial Army's uniforms don't fit. Indeed this is the absolute worst I've ever seen these period uniforms look. The fabric appears artificial, the clothes without shape, the lengths of the jackets uneven in relation to the size of the soldier, even the Sam Browne belt is off. The worst anti-Japanese American film of the World War 2 era (or post war) has better looking uniforms than this. Second, the kenpeitai were as historically despicable as the German SS and Gestapo. You don't have to look far for historically accurate atrocities to lay at their door. For a period movie, they didn't do much research coming up with this yakuza prostitution ring (which in fact ropes in some yakuza to carry it out). The story is also improbable as to the historical kenpeitai's reaction to resistance to their orders. They were hated even in Japan for their ruthless brutality. As to rewarding these karateka for their defiance with official appointments as martial arts instructors to the Army, while many things can happen in the effort to save face, the need to do so is never emphasized or played up the way it would need to for suspension of disbelief. Lots of the story goes like this.
Overall, this film is worth a watch due to the martial arts & the perspective upon them, the rest not as much.
My take on the sensei's prohibition is not one of anti-violence but rather that the three (and apparently only) students are rather flawed so he has (temporarily) sealed the strikes until they actually comprehend the purpose of the martial arts & their style in particular.
The students can be divided into two groups. For one student, it's a classic problem. Just because something is *physically* possible, doesn't mean it is *morally* so. The easiest error to fall into for any strong person is "might equals right." This was also most certainly the historical error of the Imperial Army & the Kenpeitai especially. Unlike these groups, I've never met a serious contemporary practitioner of the Chinese/Japanese martial arts who advocates a "violence often" approach to problems. Rather, when violence is called for, it ought to be effective. Judging the time & place for violence is perhaps the most important art of the martial arts, but very rarely is that expounded upon explicitly. Rather, one absorbs this organically from practicing the martial arts and the always disciplined application of force.
The other two students though lack conviction. They practice the movements but do not grasp the internal logic. This is apparent when the one student admirably stops the officer of the kenpeitai every time he continues his aggression (even beyond the point of reason like the Monty Python Black Knight). Who is responsible for the officer's crippling? Given the situation, it's the officer himself who attacks with ample evidence that he's outclassed. The officer never takes responsibility for his actions then or after (and sadly, historically only a very small percentage of the kenpeitai personnel were ever caught & tried). When the laughably incompetent son & daughter show up, though, he doesn't defend himself from their aggression (even with the restrictions his sensei has imposed). He's shaken to the core. Doesn't he understand the point of his martial art? No, he doesn't. Later when he finally does try to defend the child from the aggressors, he gets lost in the individual opponents and forgets his main task: protecting the kid. I feel for the poor sensei saddled with these guys. There are hints that he has explained repeatedly in words but they just don't get it.
The weaknesses of the film are in the historical setting, story, and production values. The Imperial Army's uniforms don't fit. Indeed this is the absolute worst I've ever seen these period uniforms look. The fabric appears artificial, the clothes without shape, the lengths of the jackets uneven in relation to the size of the soldier, even the Sam Browne belt is off. The worst anti-Japanese American film of the World War 2 era (or post war) has better looking uniforms than this. Second, the kenpeitai were as historically despicable as the German SS and Gestapo. You don't have to look far for historically accurate atrocities to lay at their door. For a period movie, they didn't do much research coming up with this yakuza prostitution ring (which in fact ropes in some yakuza to carry it out). The story is also improbable as to the historical kenpeitai's reaction to resistance to their orders. They were hated even in Japan for their ruthless brutality. As to rewarding these karateka for their defiance with official appointments as martial arts instructors to the Army, while many things can happen in the effort to save face, the need to do so is never emphasized or played up the way it would need to for suspension of disbelief. Lots of the story goes like this.
Overall, this film is worth a watch due to the martial arts & the perspective upon them, the rest not as much.