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
There are nine kata detailed in total, 2 of which are said to have made it into the wider karate world, one which is said to have been inherited by the Gōhakukai (1) and six which are said to have been inherited by by Nakasone Seiyū (2). What is more interesting in that the sources of the Kata in most cases are explicitly stated and the biggest single source is Matsumora Kōsaku (7 out of 9 kata).
Below I will list the kata with attributed sources, along with a video example if I could find one, which I did for six of the 9 (Kūsankū is a maybe for video):
Tomari no Naihanchi - Matsumora Kōsaku (1829–1898) received three years of instruction in Tomari no Naihanchi from Uku Karyū (1800-1850). One of two kata said to be mainstream, with many different versions in existence.
Tomari no Naihanchi
Wansū (Dai) - handed down from Teruya Kisō (Kishin?)( 1804–1864) to Matsumora Kōsaku. (2)
Wansū (Shō) - handed down from Oyadomari Eirō (1878–1926) to Heianzan Ryōzen (1901–2000). (1)
Tomari no Wanshu
Not sure which Wansū this is.
Wankan - handed down from Matsumora Kōsaku to Iha Kōtatsu. (2)
Tomari-te Wankan
Chintō - handed down from Matsumora Kōsaku to Iha Kōtatsu. (2)
Tomari Chinto
Tomari-te no Kūsankū - handed down from Matsumora Kōsaku to Iha Kōtatsu (2)
Kusanku of Master Tatsuo Shimabuku
Rohai - handed down from Matsumora Kōsaku to Iha Kōtatsu (2)
Tomari no Rohai
Passai - handed down from Teruya Kishin to Matsumora Kōsaku and Oyadomari Kōkan (1827–1905). This is one of the most widely acknowledged Tomari kata, especially asOyadomariPassai.
Oyadomari Passai
Rinkan - inherited from Nakasone Seiyū, no further information given in the article (2)
Hope you found this of interest, if you got this for, thank you for reading.
“Shuri-te, Naha-tetoha kotonaru maboroshi no Karate – Tomari-te nazo ni semare!” (Extremely rare Karate different from Shuri-te and Naha-te – Approaching the Mystery of Tomari-te!) In: Gekkan Karatedō. February Issue 2003. Fukushōdō 2003.
One of the earlier books by Motobu Choki: Okinawan Kenpo - Karate Jutsu: Kumite (tr. Eric Shahan), has a section on "Essential knowledge about medical ttreatment", presumably on the grounds that once you have consensually beaten each other up, you need to know how to take care of the aftermath ☺. Here is one of my favourites, paraphrased somewhat: Goat Soup - a treatment for Uchi-chi (Uchi-chi being bruises) 4 ro 5 slices of Goat meat are required, 2.5 to 3kg, to be soaked in the juice of Nine Year Mother oranges (Kunenbo), There needs to be enough juice to completely immerse the Goat meat.This needs to be boiled until the liquid has been reduced by half, then remove from the heat. You must then drink the juice and eat the meat for the next three days to reduce the bruising. Bone-in-chicken Soup In areas where Goat meat cannot be obtained, 2.5 to 4kg of Bone-in-chicken can be used, along with a cup of ginger in vinegar. Again this needs to be boiled until the liquid has been reduced by half. If again this is eaten for three days, a distinct improvement should be noticed. The next bit gave me a bit of a laugh: "You should also note that this samr chicken meat boiled in vinegar and ginger can be used to treat inflammation from getting kicked in the balls. If eaten for two to three days in a row you will see distinct improvement" 😂😂😂😂 Schoolboy humour I know, but it made me laugh ☺☺
A few posts I read recently set me to thinking as to what styles of Karate could be called Okinawan, or have definable roots that are Okinowan. I was already aware that Karate is a relatively modern term, and that locally the teachings were originally referred to by the place of origin, followed by "Te" or "martial skills" in English. So, originally there was Shuri-Te, Naha-Te and Tomari-Te. I was aware that the form of Karate I study, Shorin-Ryu, had its roots in Shuri-Te, from an earlier post I did. The family tree I ended up with (not formally verified, hence some of the "possible" links) is:
However, the styles derived from the other Te styles, I had not looked into. A quick search of Wikipedia gave the following, which I have summarised in table format, for ease of comparison:
I shouldn't have been surprised, but many of the styles seem to be derivative of more than one of the Te styles. Cross referencing the Tomari-Te based styles, most seem to be derived from Shuri-Te as well. Matsubashi-Ryu, which Wiki gives as Tomari-Te, is definitely also a form of Shorin-Ryu. Wado-Ryu, which is cited as a Tomari-Te style, appear to have originated in Japan, founded in 1934 by Hironori Ohtsuka. The ageshio web site:
offers up Goju-Ryu, Shorin-Ryu (Chibana), Shorin-Ryu (Shudokan), Uechi-Ryu and Matsubash-Ryu as extanct forms of Okinawan Karate, which can still be studied in Okinawa. I am sure this is by no means a definitive list, any more than the Wiki results are definitive, but it does give a marker of the styles which give a good representation of what Okinawan Karate is all about 😊
