Karate, kata, forms and relaxation

A stressful week from a personal point of view, but an interesting one from a karate viewpoint.  Started off being a bit down, as I keep repeating the same mistakes in my Naihanchi Shodan, plus some other things non-karate related.  So I did what I usually do, look for something to throw myself into to stop myself  brooding on things, that was to look into a Quijong form Eight Brocades.  It's a good self contained form of exercise, that can be practiced as individual elements or as a whole, with as few or many repetitions as you want, or have time for.

Of course from a karate stand point, we had the regular three online lessons, which are summarized at the end.   The Monday lesson was something different, then the Thursday and Saturday lessons were polishing up kihon gata and the Quadrant drill. Typically, when not feeling too hot about my kata, in the middle of the week our Sensei told us about an online competition being organised by another club to which we were invited.  I toyed with the idea of not competing, but then the "don't give up" part of me kicked in and I have given it a go.  Still had a twist in the tale though, I recorded it in a black gi, then had a thought... Our dojo wears white for representative combinations, so asked our Sensei and sure enough, needed to re-record.  Home dojo has a lot to answer for lol.

There are still mistakes in my Naihanchi Shodan, but have realised they are mostly in one direction.  My left hand side actions are not too bad but on the other side, not so hot.  After talking to my Sensei am going to start specifically doing the hand movements on their own, in order to check my observations and work on improving my techniques.

The end of the week Karate wise was quite fun though, we entered in to Iain Abernethy's  Karate pub quiz, with our team having face time on Zoom (same as we use for training).  So nice to interact socially again, a few drinks were had, and I even got a couple of questions right ☺☺☺ An absolutely brilliant way to end the week, and a big thank you to my team mates: Alison, Ben (both our Sensei), Elisha, Chloe, Sam, Marian, Koen and Anita, tor making it such a fun occasion!!!! 🙏🙏🙏.


Our lessons:

20-04

Warm up,
Mokosu, formal opening
Stepping in combat stance, forwards, backwards, left and right.
Forward step, jab, back step
Forward step, jab, reverse punch, back step
Forward step, reverse punch, front leg sweep (Ashi Barai), back step
Forward step, reverse punch, Ashi Barai, reverse kneeling punch to grounded opponent, step back
Kata, up to Naihanchi Sandan, perfomance (Naihanchi Shodan)
Shadow sparring to called combinations
Warm down kata

Tuesday workout including Monday's lesson content and Eight Brocades

23-04

Warm up,
Mokosu, formal opening
Kihon gata:
Shodan - Jab, reverse punch, Mae Geri Nidan - Mae Geri, jab, reverse punch Sandan - Jab, reverse punch, 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, ushiro mawashi geri Judan -Shuffle, backhand forehand punch, shuffle, backhand forehand punch, right then left mawashi geri, hisa geri

The competion Video that wasn't

25-04

Warm up,
Mokosu, formal opening
Kata
Then working on the first half om the Quadrant drill
Jab, cross. hook
Hammerfist, looping left, hook
Backhand slap, elbow, step back left knee, step back, right knee
Headbutt, break grasp, shoulder barge.

Kihon gata, Quadrant drill workout

The ramblings of a nerd - My attempt to understand some of the history of Karate

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

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

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

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

A Nerd Blog: The birth of Karate
<Authors' note, the photograph is from the follow up meeting a year later, not this specific meeting>

What came before Karate

What Karate lost, when it lost it's teeth.

Potted Nerd: The Naihanchis

Nerd Life: The origins of Naihanchi

Shuri and Tomari, Matusumura and Matsumora, Naihanchi

The kata of Tomari - a Nerd life post

On a lighter note:

Karate Soup - The Recipes of Motobu Choki


Motobu's Recipes: Yard bird and Sake soup

Shuri and Tomari, Matusumura and Matsumora, Naihanchi

<From Watashi-No-KarateJutsu>

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.

(1) http://ryukyu-bugei.com/?p=8566&fbclid=IwAR2PxCgKB0zK5caoQzyKOJzuJM4uzgPfIe-UNQ_4O1x2RbUVFeBpGI00AaY

(2) http://ryukyu-bugei.com/?p=4123

(3) My Art and Skill of Karate (Motobu Choki, Andreas Quast et al, 2020)

(4) https://www.karate4theheart.com/2020/01/nerd-life-origins-of-naihanchi.html

(5) http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=104

(6)  https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=E1U_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA417&lpg=PA417&dq=did+anko+itosu+study+with+matsumura+kosaku&source=bl&ots=LsHATfQdpK&sig=ACfU3U1vpXVAlZW6t1a35vtG6CLQn_fTRA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjVlrzv943oAhUNHMAKHeSED4UQ6AEwB3oECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=did%20anko%20itosu%20study%20with%20matsumura%20kosaku&f=false

(7) The Essence of Naha-te (Joe Swift)

(8) https://www.motobu-ryu.org/motobu-kenpo/lost-interviews/?fbclid=IwAR1ynwMixXMeeH7EwbZ8YzEdOKOqvVlKuFOVZuJd5EfChljwAaOOZD6K9kE