Kanzaki Shigekazu
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Happy Birthday Kanzaki Sensei!
Tomorrow, April 22, 2024 would have marked Kanzaki sensei’s 96th birthday. Naturally when his birthday roles around I think about him, and a flood of good memories come to mind. Initially, I was going to keep this post private, but on reflection I thought it would be better to share a few of my thoughts of… 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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Kake-te
Tou’on-ryu has fewer classical kata compared to it’s sister art of Goju-ryu, but shares four in common. They are: Sanchin (三戦), Sesan (十三), Sanseru (三十六), and Bechurin (百歩連) (2). Despite sharing the same names and following approximately the same enbusen, the technical content of these kata between the two arts differs in some interesting and… Continue reading
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Remembering My Teachers
January 12th and January 13th marked the anniversaries of the passing of Minowa Katsuhiko and Kanzaki Shigekazu. Although their passings were years apart, it is a bit ironic that they passed within a day of each other. Their deaths left me in a bad place, and I was filled with sadness and so much regret.… Continue reading
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Learning to Learn
I’ve been really fortunate to cross paths with some amazing teachers, mentors and friends in my Karatedo and Kobudo journey. As I’ve shared in previous posts, I’m constantly amazed at the incredible patience all of them have shown me, regardless of my grasp on their respective art. Reflecting on their teaching styles, it’s clear to… Continue reading
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Bechurin
In the frontis of ‘An Overview of Karatedo‘ (Nakasone, 1938) there is a photo of Kyoda Juhatsu leading a group of middle school students in Karate practice where he is on a platform positioned in shiko-dachi, with his right fist by his midsection and his left fist extended to the front. This photo has always… Continue reading
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Which should come first?
In the past decade there has been a trend that kata is not the beginning of knowledge, but the culmination of acquired skill. This would assume that solo kata practice in and of itself does not impart martial skill. Instead, skills are developed via partner work and other supplementary exercises.However this approach is diametrically opposed… Continue reading
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The Passing of Kyoda Juhatsu
August 31 marked the 55th anniversary of the passing of Kyoda Juhatsu sensei founder of Tou’on-ryu. That day I kept Kyoda sensei in my thoughts as I practice the kata he passed on through Kanzaki sensei and now Ikeda sensei. I will leave you with a short exert from Iraha Choko published a few months… Continue reading
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Touon-ryu Enbu…Sort of… Part 1
Onishi Eizo was a student of Toyama Kanken as well as studying Kung fu in Taiwan. In the 1950s he made a several trips to Beppu to study Touon-ryu from Kyoda Juhatsu. Onishi was able to learn Sanchin, Sesan and Sanseru. I remember Kanzaki sensei telling me about his visits and his disciplined work ethic.… Continue reading
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Kowa no kata (Kiso San) (光和の型・基礎三)
The post below is a critique of one Tou’on-ryu kata. Initially I was reluctant to publish it. However, after reflecting on it, I decided I would go ahead with posting it. Given the rise of social media, people can easily be trapped in an ‘echo chamber’ of their own thoughts and opinions and fail to… Continue reading
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