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
As a novice, have been rambling through the foothills of karate history for a few months now, trying to make some sense in my own head as to how the complicated beast called karate came to be. I have always been an avid history buff, so it was an absolute guarantee if I started karate, at some point I was going to dive into the history. Given the oral tradition, there will always be points of accuracy and disagreements, but where possible I have tried to provide quotes or supporting material to what (I think I've found).
I keep forgetting exactly what I've blogged, so I decided to put it all in one place so it is easier for me to find and for others to read if interested. Comments always welcome. REY 08-04-20
Today's lesson was mostly about kata. After a 15 minute warm up, Mokosu and the formal opening of the lesson, it was mostly kata. We went through the whole range of our family'srepertoire up to Passai Sho. All of the Naihanchi kata were done step by step then performance if you know the kata. The rest were follow the instructor as best you can then perform your highest kata. That led to quite a lot of performances of Naihanchi Nidan.
All in all, an absolutely necessary lesson and what a beautiful day to practice kata, but not much to blog on, so I decided to go through the kata I do and why I do them
Naihanchi Shodan and Nidan are the two I can do a performance of in my style. I know the bones of Sandan but they are pretty bare just now. As well as finding Naihanchi Shodan a most compelling kata, and one which is acknowledged to be one of, if not the, best fighting systems in karate, all the Naihanchis are needed for grading. My Sensei says my Shodan has improved sufficiently to formally start working on Nidan, so these are the two kata I formally practice in the dojo and as a part of our online sessions.
Naihanchi Shodan and Nidan
Tensho is another kata I practice. I have been taught this as a kata for breathing exercise by Noah Legel. The Goju Ryu styles of kata employ controlled rather than natural breathing in their execution, for example breathe in on the draw back, exhale fully on the punch, or on the slower parts of the kata, breathe in slowly on the outward part of the movement and breathe out slowly but fully on the return part of the movement. I like to be able to do it just before and after each session, or whenever I need to take a deep breath, which can be quite a lot at the moment being in a 90 day lockdown. On top of this it has also been a challenge to be able to learn an advanced kata from another style, so for me this one works on two levels.
Tensho
Naihanchi Shodan slow, Naihanchi Shodan hontai and Naihanchi Sandan. Are the other three kata or variations I perform. Naihanchi Shodan slow was the first variation of a kata I learned, working with Robey Jenkins and based on tai chi. This was for gentle cardio exercise, but I also found to be good for relaxation and actually has helped in performing my actual kata.
The hontai version of Naihanchi Shodan isn't at all necessary, but I'm a leftie so I wanted to give it a try, However, since looking into the roots of Naihanchi (See Nerd life: Tne origins of Naihanchi) I think this is actually closer to the original version than the usual version we do, so it's like a living bit of history.☺☺☺
Naihanchi Sandan is there because I have managed to learn the frame of the kata, and I want to keep it in my repetoire until such time as it's needed.
This was the first time I had ever done an online lesson live. I've worked from video, but never live with feedback. My son had done one lesson previously so had done a dry run. We were going to do the lesson outside using my tablet, but although I had downloaded everything it wouldn't connect. The dangers of not being able to do a dry run first 😣😣. Fortunately, we were able to use my son's phone but missed the warm up. We started off with Kata, I did Naihanchi Shodan and Nidan, my son went up to Pinan Shodan, This was both on call and performance for each Kata
This was followed by Kihon gata 1 through to 5
Jab, back hand punch with twist, mai geri
Mai geri, jab, backhand punch with twist
Jab, back hand punch with twist, step up, front leg mawashi geri
Step up,front leg mawashi geri, jab, backhand punch with twist
Right mawashi geri, land in front, left mawashi geri, jab, backhand punch with twist
After that came solo pad work with spot mitts, individual techniques of head butt, punch across, elbow strikes, knee strikes alternate sides, followed by a combination on right side of head butt, punch across, elbow strike and knee strike. This was the done as a simple exercise work out: 1 element, burpee, 2 elements, burpee, 3 elements, burpee, 4 elements burpee.
After that we did the first few elements of the Quadrant drill (4 limbs, 4 directions) in combinations: Jab, backhand punch, left hook Hammerfist, overhand left, right hook backslap, elbow, left uppercut, right uppercut (to ribs)
Finally it was kata to warm down, with Naihanchi Shodan. A fun lesson, in a format am sure to become used to ☺☺☺. Below is a revision video of the lesson I did today Back in the Saddle revision
From many sources I have read, many of the late 1800s and 1900s Karate masters had learnt Naihanchi (I only reference that referred to as Shodan as the additional kata are thought to be a separation out or newer additions), but very few attributed their sources. In at least one case, where a source is attributed. Yoshimura Chōgi, cousin of Motobu Choki, wrote that his first teacher, an old man who served as an accountant and administrator of the Yoshimura Udun, taught him Naifanchi and Passai. No name was given (1). However, in another source, the teacher is identified as Ishmine (7). Naihanchi is generally categorised as a Shuri-Te Kata, but many Kata are shared between the styles attributed as either Shuri-Te or Tomari-Te. However, with the number of masters that trained with teachers from both locations, at best the distinction between the two is somewhat blurred. An article from the Motobu-ryū website goes further and says in two places "there is no clear distinction", then later "there is no essential difference between Shuri-Te and Tomari-Te" (2). So essentially Shuri-Te and Tomari-Te are one and the same. Matsumura Sokon is acknowledged as a root source of Shuri-Te material and Matsumora Kosaku is given similar standing for Tomari-Te. However, if the styles are much the same, as indicated above, both can be considered the fathers of Shuri-Te and are highlighted as having been of similar standing. Many Shuri-Te Karate family trees place Matsumura Sokon near the top of their tree and often cite him as the source of Naihanchi, however there is scant evidence of this. Many who learned the Kata do not give sources at all, but simply name the Masters they studied under, quite a few said they studied under both Matsumura Sokon and Matsumora Kosaku. Motobu Choki especially is very specific in this, he trained with both. (3) Matsumura Sokon didn't teach Naihanchi as a Kata from most of the evidence available. Most, who do cite Kata learnt from him cite different Kata. For example, Yoshimura Chogi cites Gojūshiho and Kūsankū (1). From my conversations with Scot Mertz, Matsumura Sokon was primarily a swordsman who became known for his karate only after his death (4). According to his conversations with the family, he didn't teach Naihanch, mainly Sanchin, Seisan and Useishi (Gojūshiho). On the other hand, there is evidence that Matsumora Kosaku actually did learn Naihanchi from Ason. Definitely via Ufu Giko, who learnt the Kata on Ason's first visit in the 1830s and possibly directly from son on his second visit in the 1866 to 1868. (4). Both Matsumura and Matsumora have the same sounding name if the Okinawan dialect, “Machimura”. This potential misunderstanding coupled with information I have to hand, I can only conclude: Matsumora Kosaku having learned Naihanchi from Ason, whilst Matsumura Sokon was more renown for sword work: Matasumora Kosaku therefore would be the more likely source of the Naihanchi kata in the Shuri-te styles, rather than Matsumura Sokon. That is not to say that there are no other sources for Naihanchi in the Shorin Ryu family, just that on the evidence I have seen and heard so far, this is the most plausible source to me. Both Motobu Choki and Kyan Chotoku studied with Matsumora, and I found an article by Tom Bell (5) that says Itosu Anko studied with him. I am not sure of the veracity of this last source though. I have since come across a quote from Motobu Choki himself saying he introduced Itosu Anko to Matasumora Kosaku, in (8): Episode When Choki Won a 10 Yen Bet by Solving a Homework Problem (Figuring Out Ukete) "Then I brought Itosu to Matsumora's place. And Matsumora said to Itosu:
"This young man is very gifted. He has a great future. So let's train him together."". This suggests that they may have even worked together to train Motobu Choki.
