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Inoue Motokatsu: Nunchaku & Suruchin Kata
I find it odd that the Inoue Motokatsu’s Ryukyu Kobujutsu group do not use the kata developed by Taira Shinken for suruchin and nunchaku. Indeed, Inoue’s nunchaku and suruchin kata do bear Taira’s name (ie. “Maezato no …”). To the best of my knowledge Inoue stated that all his kata came from Taira and there… Continue reading
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Bechurin (Suparempei) Anyone?
Here are some applications that could be used for the crescent kick portion of the kata Bechurin (Suparempei). These sequences are from Sato Kinbei’s book on Chin’na (Jissen Kinna Jutsu; pg. 136 & 173). Sato Kinbei was the instructor of Murakami Katsumi, a teacher that I respect very much and have posted about on this… Continue reading
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Reconstructing Old style Karate
I do not believe there is enough of a “fossil record” to outline what “old-style” Karate practices consisted of. The earliest technical information we have is from Funakoshi’s publications in the early 1920s. Prior to this, there is nothing definitive, with the possible exception of Hanashiro Chomo’s Karate Kumite; however, we only have a few… Continue reading
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Fashion – Okinawa Style
My friend Joe Swift has talked in-depth about the principles for analyzing the techniques found in classical Karate-do kata. He stresses the importance of understanding the historical context in which kata were developed, including the clothing that people wore. I would like expand on that idea, specifically in the role of clothing and it may… Continue reading
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Let’s Talk About Karate Styles
Japan has culturally and historically been an ordered and hierarchical society. Therefore it comes as no surprise that its martial traditions (武道-budo) mirror this same structure. Until the conclusion of WWII, Japanese martial traditions were designated as different styles (流-ryu) or off-shoots (派-ha) and were centrally administered by the Great Japan Martial Virtues Association (大日本武徳会-Dai… Continue reading
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Do You Practice How to Fight? I Don’t.
During class a few years ago a new student became annoyed with himself because he wasn’t able to perform a technique we were working on. His stance was wrong, hands in the wrong place, his timing was off; typical run-of-the-mill beginner mistakes. They were nothing to get worked-up over I thought, and yet here was… Continue reading
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Old School Karate: Kebanashi
If you look at some versions of Karate kata you can see remnants of the older techniques used before the emergence of Karate into the public school system in the early 20th century. Bo-geri (棒蹴り) is one such technique that has been mentioned by Motobu Naoki in his blog, but another example of an older… Continue reading
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Kakiya
It is uncommon for Karate students nowadays to use a makiwara (striking board), but it is even rarer for Karate students to train using a Kakiya (カキヤー). The kakiya was in common practice in 19th century Okinawa, but it seems that it has fallen into disuse. There are still a few old school Karate teachers who still… Continue reading
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Dialogue in the Dojo
I enjoy practicing Kobudo and Karate in the morning by myself so I can polish and work through techniques. If I’m honest with myself, it’s probably not enough time, but I concentrate just on a few things, so I feel I can make a little progress or at the least not get any worse. The… Continue reading
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Skill Technique Kata – 技 術 型
Here is an interesting view of Karatedo by Tadahiko Otsuka from his Goju-ryu Kyohan series (Volume 2, Page 11). It’s something that I wished I had known years ago, but at least people like Russ Smith have brought these concepts to the Karate community in recent years. Here’s the translation and my interpretation of the… Continue reading
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