Karate helping to deal with a heart condition:
Karate fighting, Cardiovascular workout, confidence, rebuilding stamina, fun, self defence, over 50s but not only, over 50, is it too late, exercise, nerd, okinawa karate, shorin ryu, full contact karate, heart, aging
I really enjoyed Jesse Enkamp's video series "Karate Nerd in China", and was fascinated by his finding of "Incense Shop Boxing" as the descendant of "Monk Fist Boxing", mentioned in "The Bubishi". This lead to one Jesse Enkamp's follow up videos:The Oldest Kata in Karate, featuring Seisan.
When I got the chance to join in with a lesson by PJ Broomy, by video link, I found out that one of the katas taught in his syllabus is Seisan, and it's opening was fairly similar to another kata I had learnt as a way of practicing breathing techniques, Tensho. An idea was set in my mind to learn the kata with a fourfold purpose:
To be able to join in any other lesson with PJ by having a common kata
As a piece of living history
As mental stimulation
To add another kata that could be used for practicing breathing techniques
PJ promised to video the kata for me, and duly it arrived a few weeks later via Facebook messenger, and during the video PJ said that he was not certain of the provenance of the version of the kata. During his video, Jesse had mentioned that although there were versions of the kata in virtually all styles of karate with similar starts and end points, there were many different mid sections, due to lots of the middle part of the Chinese form being cut out or greatly altered, so that set me a Nerd challenge:
To identify which form of the Kata practiced by other styles resembled the one I was learning
Firstly to the kata itself, I have been trying to learn it for about three weeks now, and can mostly remember the framework of the kata. though my knowledge of the precise techniques and phrasing is very much a work in progress and I can only go through it slowly. However, it is still enough to be able to use it as an extra kata to do deep breathing exercises to, thanks to my earlier learning of Tensho.
Now on to the Nerd part, I decided to search Youtube for the versions of the kata practiced by the various styles (the full set is in the playlist links at the end of the blog, but three in particular I thought to be reasonable base prospects:
1) Aregaki Seisan
Jesse Enkamp mentioned in "The Oldest Kata in Karate" video that Aregaki Seisho peformed the kata at a demonstration for the Chinese Sapposhi at the Ochayagoten in 1867. My search unearthed a video of the Bubishi translator himself, Hanshi Patrick McCarthy, performing the kata:
A very intricate kata, but not the one I was trying to learn ð.
2) Matsumura Seisan
I seem to recall from a number of sources that Seisan was a kata favoured by Matsumura, but unfortunately I can't remember them. However I do remember reading an article by Scot Mertz:
"Bushi Matsumura Sokon" (Oct 2018), in which he mentions that Matsumura made two trips to China as an envoy in 1826 and 1860, though the first is attributed as family legend. However it is suggested that on the first trip he studied both traditional and military martial arts, and might have been first introduced to the idea of "forms" or "kata".
One of his students, Kyan Chotoku, certainly taught the kata. The Shorin Ryu family of styles lay claim to this version of the kata, but there are many versions, some bladed and some more front facing. I chose the below to represent this form, as it explicitly lays claim to follow the Matsumura version:
To my untrained eye this appear to be similar to, but slightly less complicated than the Aregaki version, so again not what I was learningð.
3. Goju Ryu Seisan
Myagi Chojun the founder of Goju Ryu, went to China himself firstly in 1915-1917, then again in 1936. Apparently he went for a third time as well, but I can't find the dates for that. He studied originally with Aragaki Ryu Ko (no relation of Aragaki Seisho) for two to three years (1899 to 1902) then for 13 years with Higaonna Kanryo (1902 to 1915). Whilst in China he studied at least Chuguko Kempo and Whooping Crane Gu Fu. <sources http://www.ogkk.eu/historymaster/masters/chojun_miyagi.htm,
Where he learnt Seisan is never confirmed, though apparently Higaonna, Kanryo taught a version (possibly that of Aragaki, Seisho), and the form obviously existed at the time in China. So plenty of potential and varied sources for Myagi, Chojun to have learnt it from, as with Matsumura Sokon.
The video I chose to look at was that of Higaonna Morio (no relation to Higaonna Kanryo):
I also recognise that Paul Enfield does a mean line in interpretation of the kata, but way too technical for me at my level. ð
If anyone knows more about the history of the kata from the Aragaki, Matsumura of Miyagi lineages, would love to find out about it. ðð. I will leave the other versions out at this stage, simply to avoid the possible information overload it might might cause me. If there is enough there for another blog, would love to share that too.
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