Addendum to:Okinawan Villages: The hidden roots of Okinawan Kobudo and Tiy?

I didn't expect to be able to add very much to my original blog Okinawan Villages: The hidden roots of Okinawan Kobudo and Tiy?  anytime soon:  However, getting to chat to someone trained in Maeda-Ryu seems a worthwhile addition ☺  

The supporting material is that Maeda bo is actually taught as "bujitsu" as well as existing as the cultural bo-jutsu village dance.   This is taught by Tomimoto sensei as a functional system, with kata buried in it, though not widely taught.  There was also a Sai element, but this is no longer taught.  The style of Maeda Ryu was identified as being around possibly 600 years old.

Whilst this is not proof of age or origin, as there is no supporting documentary evidence, it does show that the functional side of Maeda bo actually exists.  

Source: Jesse Enkamp, student of Tomimoto sensei in Maeda Ryu (thank you Jesse-san) ☺ 

Immunity (lack of) of the Stubborn

As I have said many times, I am stubborn and don't give in easily, but it doesn't make me immune....  Saturday in the dojo was a struggle.  On Friday, I had to admit that stubbornness alone wont get you through feeling unwell at times and went to see my doctor.  Now, I'm on steroids and antibiotics for a week 😩

With Sensei Ben out, not at all well, Sensei Alison took us through the last Saturday lesson of the year.  Can't say I was anywhere near my best and the lesson was a bit of a blur  We did at least four paired drills:

Hooking hands, 
Hooking hands combined with other elements (this is one I had forgotten)
Block elbow, clear, trap, elbow strike
Naihanchi Sandan opening drill - take punch to stomach, turn into Zenkutsu dachi, trap arm and pull, backhand to ribs, face slap, hammer hand to arm, hammer hand to face ( hitting pressure points)

Then there was  Pad work:

Mai geris {push kick version), 
Mawashi geris, left and right legs
Commbinations:  jab, cross, Mai geri, spinning back heel kick

Then Pad work in circles of 5, each taking it in turns on the pads, I can only remember the spinning heel and Mawashi geri elements of this,
Then some other pad work.

Finally we did some work on throws, including hip and sweeping throws.  

Don'r usually forget that much of a lesson, shows how under the weather I was 😩  Ho hum, but now it's holiday time.  Hopefully will recharge my batteries and come back fitter in the New Year. ☺☺  We rounded things off with a group photo, and all that is left is to wish anyone reading this a Merry Christmas and hopefully a good New Year ☺☺

A Matter of Intent

Saturday's session in the dojo was one of the most intense I have done,  My chest infection still hasn't properly cleared, but it doesn't stop me from giving everything that I can.  The start to the lesson gave nothing away, with a fairly traditional warm up, the usual formal opening then conditioning to the body and legs with a partner.

Then things went up a gear, we split into pairs and started to do pad line work with kicks.  Each time we had to land in front to allow us to kick alternately with the right and left legs.  We went through Mawashi geri, Mai geri, Ushiro geri, and Yoku geri, I lost count of how many reps we did, but it sapped me enough that on the last one I missed entirely with one kick and hit my partner's knee 😞  That was the point at which I sat it out for a while.

What I missed was the following section on combination line work:   Alternate Mawashi geri, Mai geri, Ushiro geri, and Yoku geri kicks, landing on the front foot.  I went back in for the next section though, which was circuit work, half the class holding pads and the other half doing the circuit to work on them.  Techniques to be carried out with swift repetitions for about 30 to 45 seconds included: right leg Mawashi geris, forearm smashes, Hisa geris, left leg Mawashi geris, punoch combinations including jab, cross, hook, and a couple more.  I dropped out on pad 4, but rejoined for the last few (7 or 8 pad stations set up).  Our Sensei said they wanted to push us and they did.

After that, it was on to Kata.  I started off with the advanced group and went through the Naihanchis, before joining the other students for the (almost) final part of the lesson.  We did individual performances of Naihanchi Shodan, and for the first time I can remember, was complimented on the intent of my kata.  Apparently I seriously looked as if I wanted to do damage 😊😊😊

We had a few minutes left, and I got yo be Sensei's demonstration partner for some basic Naihanchi work.   That hasn't happened too often either, so I think I can take from this lesson obvious signs of improvement 😊😊😊

Okinawan Villages: The hidden roots of Okinawan Kobudo and Tiy?

It isn't a popular concept that the roots of Okinawan Kobudo and Tiy are intertwined.  In his recent book "The transformation of Tiy", Sensei Koei Nohara  states (p38 English edition), "Further, bo kata can be performed by using ones hands instead of using a bo and, vice versa, tiy kata can be performed using a bo.  Bo kata that were developed in the 13th century such as Maeda no kon, Shirataru no kon, and Ufugusku no kon are basically the same as Maeda no te, Shirataru no te, and Ufugusku no te."  There is no reference material given with this, but given the dates and the oral, secretive and ritual nature of the history of Karate, I don't suppose that is too unusual.

I wanted to see whether this perception was commonly held, and posted in a group on Facebook to see what other karateka thought.  The response was fairly negative, as I guess the possibility goes against most people's preconceptions, which I guess is that Kobudo and Karate are different disciplines.  Still, it piqued my interest and I decided to look further into it.  Being relative novice to Karate, I don't have a massive library of material to draw on, so turned to the Internet and found a YouTube video of a kata: Maeda Bo Chugata

I asked my own Sensei whether he was familiar with this particular kata, but he wasn't so there I left things for a while, until I enquired of Andreas Quast as to whether there was a time line for Okinawan history, which he kindly provided Periodization of Ryukyuan History   I also asked him whether he had come across the Maeda bo kata.  He said that he had, and had trained with the person in the video.  He suggested that if I wanted to know more, I should get in touch with Cezar Borkowski.  Cezar kindly responded and advised that Maeda is indeed the oldest extanct bo kata, with a provenance of over 500 years as a continuous fighting tradition, "now under the direction of Tomimoto and Arakaki sensei". He also provided a link to his own article: The Revolution of Ryu Kyu Kobudo.

Cezar made comment on the video of the Maeda kata that "For over 500 years Maeda-bojutsu has been preserved and practiced in the Maeda village of Urasoe-shi. This highly combative tradition, focuses on the bo, but also includes sai, as well as a close-quarter empty hand grappling methods. Arakaki-sensei (senior disciple of Tomimoto Yuko) performs the middle level form."

On the origins of the bo in his article, he indicates of all the Kobudo weapons in use today, that the bo is the one that is most uniquely Okinawan" To quote from his article "The bo is an ancient implement employed in early Shamanistic rituals. At the religion’s core is the sanctity of seji or a deep spiritual power. Devotees believe that the seji is the source of power for the shaman, warrior or ruler.

Shamanistic ceremonies included sacred omoro songs and kami dances that were often performed with a bo. Special bo dances were an integral component of festivals celebrating terukawa (sun), terushino (moon) and teda (sunshine). These elaborate productions also marked the harvest, commemorated special historical events and honoured ancestors. Colourfully costumed village strongmen carrying bo would perform martial-like routines to the pulsating rhythm of cymbals and drums. In my view, the similarity of these routines to weapons kata is unmistakable, and these dances were likely the forerunners of modern kobudo forms."

Later in his article, he cites that there are "more than one hundred village bo routines exist. They are often performed by folkloric groups at Okinawan festivals which include the Tsunahiki (giant tug-of- war), dragon boat races, National Sport and Fitness Day, as well as many local celebrations. These exciting weapons exhibitions often include musical accompaniment in the form of cymbal clanging, Taiko drumming, and a unique Okinawan style of whistling."

Observations and conclusions :  From Cezar Borowski's article, it is clear to see that much of the antique cultural use and context for the use of the bo has been passed down in Okinawan village tradition.  From the comment made by Cezar Borowski on the Maeda bo Chugata video, the family of kata not only include bo, but also sai and "close quarter empty hand grappling methods", could this be construed as a form of Tiy?

I would suggest that the Okinawan village routines (including dance) might well contain the elemental roots of both Okinawan bojutsu and Tiy. On a historical note, whilst Sensei Nohara places the Maeda Kata in the 13th Century and the 500 year figure quoted by Cezar Borowski places the kata round about the 15th century, these both fall within the Gusuku-jidai period (early period of old Ryukyu period) as shown in Andreas Quast's timeline.

Sit up, Stand up....

Saturday's lesson was up to the usual high standard, with new things to learn ☺☺.  This time there was a Naihanchi drill starting from sitting, followed by a short Pinan Godan drill, which could also be taken as a Passai drill.

The warm up consisted of break falls, kami rolls, runs with press ups and situps, followed by stretches. Then after the formal opening, we did Kata practice.  My part of the class work on the Naihanchi katas, whilst the intermediate grades went on to the Pinans and the high grades went up to Passai (I think).

From there we were onto the drills.  The Naihanchi drill starts with both partners sitting side by side.  One takes the role of aggressor and the other of the defender, taking it in turns to alternate.  The drill was built up in segments with the same partner and once the whole drill was practiced, we did a pad work version so that the strikes could be tried with  something akin to full force.  The drill in its entirety opens with a backhand slab from the aggressor. The defender traps and extends the arm and applies an arm bar, followed by a hammer first just behind the ear.  The defender then rises and turns towards the attacker, controlling the head and applying two elbow strikes.  The head still being controlled, the defender applies two knee strikes then pushes away and runs to safety.

From a theoretical point of view it was explained how started how we started off as the reactors at the start of the drill, but end up as the actors by the end.  This needs repeating regularly at home, to ingrain the skills needed.  The next to last part of the lesson consisted of the Pinan Godan drill.  Starting off from a bridge, the aggressor traps and extends the left arm to clear for the next attack. This is a forearm strike to the side of the neck, and is followed by a cross choke.Then leads to a hip throw, hammer fist to side of head, stamp then push away, getting to safety.

The final 10 minutes, we did some kobudo, practicing the Bo Shodan and Nidan kihon Kata ☺☺

Practical note, for the hip throw after the cross choke.  The thrower keeps choking the opponent and the arms act as a lever.  The right foot of the thrower goes in between the opponent;s feet to act as a pivot.  Turning the body anti-clockwise, the left heel goes in front of the opponent;s left foot.   The right foot of the thrower goes to the outside of the opponent's right foot, and the thrower drops into the opponent and executes the technique over the right hip / thigh. ☺☺

Regards, 
Robert Y 13/12/2019                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Why Karate, but particularly my style, is right for me

I think I have been lucky in finding a style of Karate that suits my needs first time. I think any style of Karate would be good for Cardio-Vascular exercise, provided the person's limitations are taken into account.   However from my journey so far, I can honestly say sports Karate would not have been for me.   Finding out I had COPD later this year was also a big downer, but at the stage it was caught, the exercise we do in the Dojo is highly recommended by my doctor.

The luck started with trying to find my son an activity to make him confident when transferring between schools.  The centre where we looked had both JuJitsu and Karate:  He preferred Karate and in taking him to the lessons I became interested as well.  Not only did it work out for him, it has worked for me, and we now share a common interest 😊 .  Who would have believed we would end up competing and winning medals together?

Where I live has become much rougher in recent years due to police cuts, amongst other things.  I need to learn self defence as well as work out; some of the other styles may well have worked, but Shorin-Ryu seems to meet my needs perfectly.  Of course, having Sensei I both like and respect is a great starting point.

The basic advice to all people wanting to learn self defence is, hopefully, always try to avoid, or avoid conflict or escape if at all possible.  I can try the avoids, and escape if it is at a sane pace.  But for me, it would take a massive amount for me to try running away.  My speed is definitely not a strong point, and younger chasers are always likely to have more stamina.

So for me, learning to hit, kick, forearm strike, knee strike,  etc. to vulnerable parts is an absolute must.  If I have do defend myself, it needs to be done as quickly and effectively as possible and  need to make sure the opponent stays down.

I understand the idea that the sports style of Karate is good for controlling the distance, but for me if I have to engage, I think the only option I would have is to step inside before my attacker expected, so the style I am studying works just fine for me.😊 

That said, the nerd in me loves to see how other styles of Karate do things, and hear other people's stories.  A beginner like me needs to learn one style well, but there is nothing wrong with an open mind or inquisitive personality either.  😊  Also I have always been a lover of history, and Karate offers a wonderful insight into all sorts of aspects, from medieval to modern day.   😊 

Hopefully the journey will continue for a long time, with many more eye opening and positively challenging times to come. 😊 

Nerd life: A potted summary of the development of Modern period Karate

  Prior to Ankho Itosu and his introduction of Karate into the Okinawan school system, Tiy, or with acknowledged Chinese influence, Tudiy, was a fairly private affair.  The forms taught seem to have some kind of standard roots, but which were then varied by individual practitioners and their families / friends / students over time.

At the time that the newly named Karate went public, there were three regional "groupings" identified, around which various styles were said to be based "Shuri-Te", "Naha-Te" and "Tomari-Te".  The latter seems to have been more an acknowledgement of the influence on trade of Karate, rather than a specific group of styles, as Tomari was the main port of Okinawa.  Okinawa has a rich history of trade (legal and otherwise) in the Asia-Pacific bowl, and many of the influences of what ended up as Karate, would have centred around that port.

Okinawa served as a gateway for trade to China for many hundreds of years, so influences on Karate would have been possible from any of the trading partners; China, Siam, Japan, India, Indonesia, etc.  Which probably explains why similar moves can be found in Karate to the native styles of the other Countries.  However, the blend that became Karate, was mostly an Okinawan distillation of internal and external influences.

So when Karate emerged into the daylight, the key styles of Shuri-Te and Naha-Te were Shorin-Ryu and Goju-Ryu.  The purer forms of Shuri-Te consisted of blended Okinawan Kata, whilst Naha-Te were  heavily Chinese influenced, as the base Kata of Goju-Ryu is Sanchin.  This is directly descended from  the Fujian White Crane style of Martial Arts (Quan Fa / Kung Fu).  KishimotoDe is a style of Shuri-Te Karate that pre-dates Ankosu Itosu, and includes Naihanchi, Passai and Kuskansu as base kata, so it is safe to say that these are original Okinawan blends.

Anko Itosu seems to have introduced the Pinan family of Kata, plus Naihanchi Nidan and Sandan into the base Shorin-Ryu kata list, which was the main family of styles of Shuri-Te Karate.  This was a part of the introduction of Karate into the Okinawan education system in the early 1900s.  Motobu Choki identifies other truly Okinawan blended Kata as  Chintoh, Chintei, Wanshuh and Roh-hai.  

The potential benefits of Karate for school education and possible military indoctrination were recognised by the Japanese, and in the 1930s, Karate was introduced to the Japanese mainland.  Gishin Funakoshi, a student of Anko Azato, was successful in introducing a watered down version of Shorin Ryu, including a large part of Itoh Ankosu's syllabus, into Japan as Shotokan.  A lot of the individual Kumite strikes were removed for safety, and so Karate essentially lost a lot of it's teeth at this translation.  Goju Ryu managed to be exported "as was", but wasn't as popular as Shotokan in Japan.   Motobu Choki was invited to demonstrate his version of Okinawan Kenpo (his preferred term rather than Shuri-Te or Tomari-Te), but his emphasis on Kumite wasn't what they wanted (broken bones and individuality wasn't what they were after).

Shotokan also made it to the US prior to WW2, Hawaii anyway That, coupled to the respect that the Americans developed for the fighting skills of the Japanese, I believe led to the massive popularity of Shotokan Karate in the Western world after WW2.  From this developed the world of Sports Karate, which will feature in the next Olympic games in Japan.  There is room in the Karate world for all forms of our shared love, but all the branches need to acknowledge the differences of their roots.  

From a personal point of view if time travel were possible, it would be interesting to see what a  modern sports Karateka and Motobu Choki would make of one another ☺

I am beholden to Noah Legel  for the inspiration for this blog. 🙏🙏🙏

Silent Thought: Uncomfortably Numb

Yesterday's atrocity took my mind back to 1996.  I had been due to go to Harbour Exchange on Friday, 9th February to check on systems I was responsible for in Harbour Exchange on Canary Wharf.  The day before, I finished what I was working on early, so decided to change my plans and go down to Harbour Exchange there and then.   I got off at South Quay station around 5pm and popped into the newsagents adjacent, before going to Harbour Exchange to do what I needed to do.

Little did I know how fortuitous that decision to turn out to be, as the following day, an IRA bomb was detonated in the car park next to South Quay station, at the same time as I had been there the day before.  The two people I saw in the Newsagents the day before were both killed in the blast, and it was a near miracle that only another 100 people were injured.   I was oh so lucky, but what happened next rammed it home.

It was thought to be a long shot, but I was immediately asked to accompany an Engineer to the building I had some responsibility for, to see whether we could get in to do a damage assessment.  As luck would have it, I used to live around the corner from the site, so when the cab we were in was stopped by police, we made our way on foot and I suggested a pedestrian entry point to the Engineer where we might get in.  There was only local Security on duty at that point, and we were let in as I was recognised.

What followed was to haunt me for a long time and left me numb.  We got the building in question, but the area was eerily quiet, and though  shielded from the masin blast, the severe damage that had occurred was readily apparent.  We completed the survey, and then came out and were immediately confronted by the police wanting to know who wanted to know what we were doing and how we got in.  Apparently it was still a live bomb site, as a second device was considered a strong possibility.  At that point, the whole situation hit home hard, both the luck I had and the enormity of the risk I had put myself in.

I felt numb for a long time afterwards, and each terrorist incident brings it back home.  My response to yesterday was to sink myself into Karate, both in practice at home and into today's dojo session.  Today's "Silent thought" was much needed, as was the workout that followed (basics plus Naihanchi Drills).   Please spare a thought for all the innocent victims of Terrorism, and the bravery of those who confront them 🙏🙏🙏

Dojo drilling

This Saturday in the Dojo was a day for drills, both long and short.  I'm still feeling the effects of the chest infection, but this seems to hit most during the warm up, but didn't stop me doing most of the lesson.  Still, maybe a trip back to the doctors beckons 😩 
The warm up - including rolls breakfalls and shrimping, along with the usual stretches, was followed by Naihanchi Shodan.   This was followed up with a series of short drills with different partners, including:

Back breakfall, kicks onto pads
Elbow - Drag through - Take down
Alternate grasping on inside
Alternate grasping on inside, with knees and kicks

Video from the Grasping and legwork drill

This was followed by a Patrick McCarthy inspired drill. all done with the same partner, but built up in stages:

Attackers:Right hook
Defender: left hand uke, strike open palm to temple
Pull head into shoulder
Bump head with bicep bump using nukite (knife hand strike)
Slap back of head and bring toward elbow
Forearm strike.
Roll forearm over face to expose eye socket
Use rear forearm as lever
Headbutt and push away to finish

Then it was on to a Naihanchi based drill we have practiced before, with a slight variation of a looping hook following on from the hammer fist.  As usual with the long drills, it was built up in parts, practiced with different partners.  We also practiced the #1 elements as a solo form, before working through the whole drill.

The full drill, plus the solo form are detailed below for future reference, along with a video of the solo form for comparison at a later date.  As ever, a good workout and overall enjoyable session ☺☺☺

#1   LH jab                 #2 RH parry, head to right
#1  RH cross                 #2 LH parry, head to left
#1   LH hook                 #2 Step in, two handed upper arm block and spread (Nidan)
#1  RH hammer fist         #2 Step back, cross arm block
#1  LH looping hook      #2 Step in, two handed upper arm block, inc LH shuto to neck
#1  RH hook                 #2 Step back to cat stance, LH block
#1  LH backfist         #2 RH receive   
#1  Forearm  strike         #2 Naihanchi block, LH palm up RH palm down
#1  LH uppercut to ribs #2 RH Gedan Uke
#1 RH uppercut to ribs #2 LH Gedan Uke
#1 LH haito to kneck
#1 RH haito to kneck
#1 grasp behind kneck, using thumbs as 5th finger (gable lock)
#1 pull head down left, switch leg back
#1 left knee strike
#1 switch legs, move head right, right knee strike    #2 Head up, break out, link hands
#1 head butt

Solo form of drill

#1   LH jab

#1  RH cross

#1   LH hook

#1  RH hammer fist

#1  LH hook

#1  RH hook

#1  LH backfist

#1  Forearm  strike

#1  LH uppercut (to ribs)

#1 RH uppercut (to ribs)

#1 LH haito (to kneck)

#1 RH haito (to kneck)

#1 grasp (behind kneck), using thumbs as 5th finger (gable lock)

#1 pull (head) down left  switch leg back

#1 left knee strike

#1 switch legs, move (head) right right knee strike

#1 Release, regrab, head butt

The Devil's in the Naihanchi

When we did the Naihanchi drill at the end of the Saturday session in the dojo, I asked my Sensei afterwards if he could let me see a copy of my attempt at the drill, which he kindly did,  as shown below:

Naihanchi is full of devillishly effective moves, which can be interpreted in a number ways, of which this flow drill is one.

We practiced the drill in five main parts and then tried to put it together as a flow at the end of the lesson.   I performed it as:

Part 1

Crash
Shuto neck strikes and head control, pull head down
Knee strikes

Part 2

Forearm strike
Drag through
Chin hold take down / opponent spin out 

Part 3 

Simultaneous arm drag and punch
Step through arm bar

Part 4

Opponent left hand lapel grab
Left hand to left hand control, right arm chop down on arm and back fist
Right hand to left hand control, left hand punch and back fist

Part 5

Stomping knee kick
Arm bar
Drag through and chin hold
Arm bar, hammer fist and push away

Part 5 should have been:

Stomping knee kick,
forearm strike to neck, which is blocked
then another stomping knee kick into arm bar into hammer fist to mastoid process

I missed the forearm strike and second stomping knee kick, then went to chin hold, before correcting into arm bar and hammer fist. Lots of good material there and not too bad for a first run through ☺☺☺

Flojo

So another Saturday in the dojo, with the emphasis this time on a flow drill taken from the who Naithanchi Shodan Kata.

Still struggling with my chest, so the warm up - running, running with floor touching and tuck jumps, kami rolls and break falls, press ups, sit ups / stand ups and more, was a little challenging to say the least!

After the formal opening of the lesson, it was into Kata pratice, with each of us asked to cycle through our known Kata, whilst our Sensei spent time with rach of us going over finer points.
My known kata are definitely Naihanchi Shodan and Nidan now, but still a way to go on Sandan.

After that we were on to the biggest part of the lesson, the Naihanchi Flow Drill.   Each part of the kata was broken down into elements, which we practiced with different partners.  There are quite a few elements to go through!  Some elements were taken as end pieces in themselves (knee, elbow strikes, takedowns), but then transitions were put in as if the techniques hadn't worked.

The final part of the lesson was putting it all together.  In pairs, we took turns in putting the whole drill together.  Lower grades like me, just tried in on one side, whilst the higher grades were asked to try it on both sides.  I didn't do badly, but definitely work in progress, I missed a couple of moves towards the end, but not to worry.  ☺☺

Dojo blues

The cold and damp don't agree with my conditions and I'm still suffering from the cold / minor chest infection.  It kind of gives me the Dojo blues because I get frustrated with myself only being able to get to 70 to 80% of where I would expect to be 😕 From a health point of view however, the workouts do me good as I get to sweat out some of the cold, etc.

On Saturday our warm  up included some different core exercises on our backs.  Then it was on to Kata, and I now perform Naihanchi Nidan as my highest known Kata 😋.  After that we went through fundamentals, and with one of our other Sensei there, that was enough for one of our white belts to grade  to yellow belt 😋

Then it was on to drills:
Punching out of a situation - feet, knees, sitting, on our backs
Naihanchi drill in pyramid form. Do element one, then elements one and two, then elements one, two and three
Pull hands down; pull down, jab; pull down, jab, back hand punch
change partner and add three elements
head butt; head butt, knee; head butt, knee, opposite knee
change partner add final three elements
backhand slap; backhand slap, elbow; backhand slap, elbow, drag and neck take down
Full drill: Pull hands down, jab, backhand punch, headbutt, knee, opposite knee, backhand slap, elbow, arm drag and neck take down.

Finally it was on to Kumite, I only managed 1st out of three before I got winded, but session certainly helped health wise. 😋  Earlier in the week I had managed to attend another class with the same intent, that class was small so we worked on Kata and Bojutsu.

Earlier on the Saturday, in his class my son got to perform Pinan Shodan all the way through for the first time 😋 His practicing at home has paid off, and he was one happy boy, who got plenty of encouragement from his Sensei too 😋😋

Stuffed up Saturday: Kata, Kumite and Knives

One of the problems with my conditions is that I am prone to getting somewhat wheezy and spluttery in cold, damp conditions and Saturday was a perfect example.  So my time in the Dojo was the perfect way of sweating out a minor chest problem.

We started out with break falls plus warm up for 10 to 15 minutes, which I struggled to get through, but you have to keep on going.  Then we observed the usual formalities of the Dojo and time to clear the mind. Kata came next.  Naihanchi Shodan in single moves, then doing the  Kata with phrasing, to emphasize the combinations inherent within.  This was followed by performance, with the instruction to concentrate of the phrasing over speed.  Kata with intent is also a good way to work up a sweat 😊

The next part of the lesson was Kumite plus pad work.  We started off with two short sessions of sport Kumite (light to medium contact) punches and kicks, then kicks only, with different partners.  This was followed by pad work on punching out of a situation: Standing, kneeling and from the ground.  Finally we went on to structured Naihanchi based Kumite with different partners.  About half way through this, all the sweating paid off and I started to really enjoy the lesson 😊😊

The final part of the lesson was the really fun part.  Our Sensei had got hold of training knives which flash and sound when sufficient contact is made to indicate a serous wound.  We went through a series of exercises with these:

Short range push off and run,
Medium range push off and run
Elbow trap head strike, run (these three with the attacker drawing the knife)
Escape from knife to throat (Deflect, trap, forearm strike, knee, forearm and push away)
We also practiced the last as a drill in pairs.
As well as being serious, these drills are fun 😊😊😊

The end of the lesson was warm down Kata and the full formal ending.  For me, an excellent  and much needed workout and great fun.  Thank you all 😊😊😊😊

Potted Nerd: The Naihanchis

Naihanchi is the fundamental Kata family of my style, Shorin-Ryu.  Being one of the earlier Kata in the world of Karate, there are many different forms.  Where a style has only one Kata, this tends to be somewhat similar to my style's Naihanchi Shodan:

An example of this, but showing the degree of variation that can be found, is Tachimura no Naihanchi, as practiced in KishimotoDi (thank you to Noah Legel for introducing me to this style and Ulf Karlsson for making such a detailed video). Unlike most other versions of the Kata, this starts of to the left, rather to the right and, according to Motobu Naoki (translated by Adreas Quast http://ryukyu-bugei.com/?p=5358), this is may be a feature of the earlier form of the Kata, in the Koryū Shuri-te era (courtesy Andreas Quast article http://ryukyu-bugei.com/?p=4123#_ftnref10) when it was considered ti, predating the influence of Itosu Ankō.  The Chosin Chibana form of the Kata stems from lineage of Itosu Ankō.

The origins of Naihanchi are possibly Chinese, due to the long history of trade between Okinawa and China.  An article by Simon Keegan (https://toshujutsu.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/beyond-shorin-shorei-teaching-complete-karate/) Suggests that the source form may come from Taiwanese White Crane Boxing, known as Dan Qiu Ban Bai He Quan (Half Hillock, Half White Crane Boxing).  The form Neixi, contains the  same sweeping action found in the nami-gaeshi (returning wave) technique of Naihanchi and Neixi is pronounced Nohanchi in Fuzhou dialect.....

I tried to find a youtube video of Neixi but no luck.  I did however find a video of other forms of that style, the link to which is given below:

Fujian Half Hill Crane Boxing

Neixi isn't included[; but whilst my academic skills elude me here, in one one of the articles I read, there was the assertion that the Kata was based on a form no longer practiced by the originating style.

Naihanchi as a family, and Naihanchi Shodan of my style, clearly has a long tradition in martial arts, but apart from Shodan, the family also includes Nidan and Sandan, both practiced in Shorin-Ryu:

Chosin Chibana - Naihanchi Nidan

Chosin Chibana - Naihanchi Sandan

There are differing thoughts on the origins of these two Kata.  In the footnote of the article "

On the distinction between Shuri-te and Tomari-te" <http://ryukyu-bugei.com/?p=4123#_ftnref10>,translated by Andreas Quast, Gima Shinkin is cited as saying " in the Naihanchi kata he (Itosu Ankō) carried out a process of educational reorganization, which is why he divided it into three levels."  The Head of my own federation, Hanshi Koei Norhara, who studied in the lines of both Matsubayashi and Kobayashi Shorin Ryu, states in his book, "The Transformation of Tiy", that each was a Kata "invented by Itosu Ankō".

I don't think it likely that a definitive answer will be found, and all three are Kata are enjoyable to perform, but to me there seems to be more intent in Shodan than the other two.  Given that the Tachimura no Naihanchi Kata predates the work of Itosu Ankō, I think that the Nidan and Sandan Katas are his own work, but that is only my opinion. 😊

Monday Night Fright Night - featuring the Nerd

I promised my son I would do another Monday night training session, as he gets to train with the adults as well if we do that.  As it is half term, seemed like the perfect time to do it.  as there is grading next weekend for at least one of our Dojo, it was always going to be an attention to detail session.

After the warm up and formal opening, including Mokuso (silent thoughts, a technique I find useful in real life), we started with Kata.  We did all the Naihanchis and all the Pinans, and got to watch Passai Sho (black belts only).  Everyone got to do the step by step versions of the Katas, then performance up to what they know.  I felk confident enough to perform up to Naihanchi Nidan this time.  My son absolutely loved it, as he had never gone past Pinan Shodan before😊😊.

After Kata,we went on to fundamentals - punches (jodan, chudan, gedan) , receiving techniques (jodan, chudan gedan) , kicks (mae, yoshiro, yoko, mawaishi geri), followed by tsuki, shuto and uke.  As with the Saturday lesson, I tried to do as much of this  as possible fully, the only element I held back on was the quantity of "tsuki"  in the generic section, so I could complete the "uke" section. Currently the last elements aren't in our grading syllabus, but that might change, so it is important to practice all of them.

After that we went through all of the kihon katas, done both right side and left side, 20 in total done this way.  The grading syllabus only includes the right side, so this is the first time I had performed any of them on the left hand side 😊😊. I am gradually becoming more familiar with them, but get a little muddled on the middle ones.  To help me out, I went over them with my Sensei to document them for an aide memoiure.  Below is the full documentation of our kihon katas for the first time by me:

Kihon Kata

Shodan

2 punch combination, Mae Geri

Nidan

Mae Geri, 2 punch combination

Sandan

2 punch combination, Mawashi Geri off front leg

Yondan

Mawashi Geri off front leg, 2 punch combination

Godan

Right Mawashi Geri (land in front), left Mawashi geri (land in front), reverse punch, jab.

Rokudan

Ashi uke, jab, cross, Mawashi Geri

Nanadan

Mae Geri (land in front) right jab, back kick

Hachidan 

Mae Geri (land in front), back kick, reverse punch

Kyudan

Shuffle, backhand forehand punch, shuffle, backhand forehand punch, right then left mawashi geri, spinning kick

Judan

Shuffle, backhand forehand punch, shuffle, backhand forehand punch, right then left mawashi geri, hisa geri

I definitely favour the left hand side versions, being left handed, but I will get there.

After that, we had a couple of short bouts of light to medium kumite.  The first was punches and kicks, and the seconds was kicks only.   At the end of the first session, I had a bit of a panic as I had taken at least one punch to the ribs, and landed a kick on a block, catching an older bruise. With the pain and ragged breathing, it gave me a fright, but I managed to shake it off and rejoin in the kick bout, taking back over from my Sensei, who had filled in to allow my training partner a full go.

All in all, another enjoyable lesson 😊😊😊😊  Thank you very much to my Sensei, son, patient training partner and other dojo members for putting up with me as I plod along.🙏