Shorin-Ryu Karate & Kobudo in Arizona

Monday, January 4, 2016

Traditional Okinawa Karate - Sport, Combat, Art?

There are two general systems of traditional karate that evolved in Japan since 1922. Keep in mind that karate is a unique martial art that evolved on Okinawa over hundreds of years. Okinawa is part of an island chain that lies between China and Japan that was an independent monarchy until 1879 and thus the island's people were influenced by both the Chinese and the Japanese.

Karate, an indigenous Okinawan art, was not introduced to Japan until 1917, but was accepted until 1922. It was introduced to Hawaii in the 1930s and later to the US (Phoenix, Arizona) in 1946. Prior to its introduction to Japan, karate was not practiced as sport.

At the Arizona Hombu dojo in the East Valley of Phoenix, adults and families of the Seiyo Kai Shorin-Ryu Hombu dojo train in traditional Okinawa karate and kobudo several nights a week. The karate and kobudo are taught as a weapon of self-defense - no as a sport.

It is important to understand the circumstances of how karate was introduced on Japan. Until introduced in the Okinawa public school system by Anko Itosu (see Summer 2015 Bushido Newsletter) in 1901, karate was unknown to the rest of the world, and it still took until the 1960s to 1970s before people in the US began to recognize karate as opposed to judo. When it was introduced to Japan by Okinawan Gichin Funakoshi in 1922, it was touch and go as to whether or not it would ever be accepted by the Japanese people. The Japanese thought of Okinawan people as country bumpkins - in other words - peasants with little social grace. Gichin Funakoshi had to modify karate, rename all of the kata giving them Japanese names; and, most importantly, establish a positive working relationship with Japanese judo founder, Dr. Jigoro Kano, before the Japanese would accept karate. The Japanese were so nationalistic at the time, that individuals like Mas Oyama had to change their names to receive any kind of recognition. Oyama was Korean by birth, who created a Japanese style of karate known as kyokushin in 1957. This type of backwards thinking by the Japanese still pervades the Japanese mindset, and is one of the primary reasons Japanese karate took a different path than Okinawan karate.

Just a couple of years ago, my wife's nephew was working in Hawaii transporting medical patients from their homes to various medical facilities, when he picked up one old Japanese man from his home (Hawaii has a very large community of both Japanese and Okinawans). While driving him to a medical facility through a neighborhood known for high crime, Jeremy tried to strike up a conversation without realizing there was still strong nationalism with many Japanese people. Jeremy said, “Hey, you look like my Okinawan friend …” The Japanese man responded, “What a terrible thing to say that I look like an Okinawan” and at that point demanded Jeremy stop the vehicle so he could get out and walk.

Most are unaware that there is a difference between Okinawa and Japanese karate, but there is a significant difference in how kata is practiced and perceived and the philosophical purpose of karate. In a Japanese dojo, kata must be exact with no room for variance in stances, there are distinct breaks in timing known as ma, and slow techniques are mixed with fast techniques. In Japanese dojo, students are constantly held in stances during both kihon and kata practice while the sensei walks around from student to student making minor adjustments to the position of feet, shoulders, knees, wrists, weight distribution, etc. There is also considerable emphasis on deep stances.

I still remember one evening as a teenager too young to drive. On this particular evening, our class squatted, duck-walked around the dojo, did dozens of squat-kicks, squatted in kiba dachi (horse riding stance) with a partner standing on our thighs while placing their hands on our shoulders to add weight to our squats. We also did a few hundred kicks - it was a tremendously hard workout for a young teenager with little previous experience in formal exercise prior to joining the Black Eagle Federation Karate dojo. Eight years later, I found basic training at Ft. Polk (US Army) to be a breeze after karate training.

As the class ended, I had to walk home from the dojo through Fairmont Park (in 1964, the park was an unfriendly place often populated by older teens we called greasers who looked to harass younger teens. This was a much different time when bullying was condoned and practiced with impunity). The distance to my home was 1.5 miles - not much of a distance today, but for a 14 or 15 year old, it was a challenge. I had no strength left in my legs and had to walk stiff-legged all the way home. Periodically I would relax a knee and would collapse. Then I had to crawl to a tree, telephone pole, park bench, etc, to pull myself upright. I don’t remember being harassed while walking through the park on this night probably because the greasers felt pity on a handicapped teen.

At the time, I was training in kyokushin karate, a Japanese style. Much emphasis was placed on kiba dachi as a fighting stance along with zenkutsu dachi (front stance). These were found in our kata and used during kihon and kumite. When I later trained in Wado-Ryu karate (Japanese) at the University of Utah, we focused on neko-ashi dachi (cat stance). In Shotokan karate (Japanese), the emphasis was on front and back stances (kokutsu dachi) with emphasis on deep and perfect stances. In Kempo Karate (Japanese) the emphasis was on kiba dachi.

Kata were performed more like a military drill team in the Japanese schools and were designed for tournaments and not practical. All of the Japanese systems taught kata with no explanation of application. Thus, controversy developed as to the use and purpose of kata. In other words, there was no emphasis on bunkai. Sometimes (in Japanese dojo) we practiced kata with one performing the kata surrounded by three to four attackers along the embussen lines. The attackers were required to kick or punch as we moved from one technique to the next in the kata - it didn’t seem realistic and all techniques were designed for sparring.

Periodically our sensei in kyokushin karate taught some general self-defense, but the applications were never related to kata. Much time was spent on sparring due to the sport karate emphasis and overall lack of understanding of kata. All of my sensei in the Japanese systems didn’t have much background in self-defense and none had any background in kobudo. Japanese karate focused on winning kumite (sparring) contests and all kata were performed for judges. In the final analysis, these Japanese martial arts were military like with little room for interpretation and an objective to win trophies. They were in direct conflict to philosophies of well-known Okinawan practitioners. For instance, Gichin Funakoshi, the father of modern karate, stated, “The purpose of Karate lies not in victory of defeat, but in the perfection of its participants”. Karate was all about improving the practitioner, not winning a competition.

In Okinawan karate schools, kata were taught for muscle memory, balance, power and for self-defense. Bunkai (pragmatic self-defense) was the focus of kata. This is the reason why those who study Japanese karate ponder at the purpose of kata, but those who study traditional Okinawa karate continually practice kata along with self-defense applications and understand the importance of kata. In Japanese karate, kata has little purpose. In Okinawa karate, kata and karate are the same as stated by the late Soke Shoshin Nagame.

In the past, there were no contests in traditional Okinawan karate systems, although through time, some Okinawan schools began to compete in the 20th century; but all kept in mind the purpose of bunkai (kata applications).

The self-defense applications for each move in kata is very important in Okinawa karate rather than the execution of kata. Each kata is broken down into a group of self-defense applications that are practiced individually to insure the student can defend themselves. Individual applications are practiced as mini-kata, and also with a partner. These are sometimes referred to as Shinken Shobu no Kata also known as Kime no Kata.

Another difference in Okinawa verses Japanese karate is the execution of stances (dachi). In Okinawa karate, students start learning deep stances to build muscle strength, but as the student gains expertise, higher and more natural stances replace deeper stances. For example, zenkutsu-dachi (front stance) can be half the length of the Japanese stance. The Okinawan karate stances are meant to be practical for self-defense by being natural and quick. Whereas the deep Japanese stance is designed for competition.

In the past, Okinawa martial artists did not trust the Japanese and never taught the Japanese bunkai for kata. Having a mindset that the Okinawan people were inferior, the Japanese martial artists never sought bunkai and instead created their own bunkai for contests as well as borrowed bunkai from well-established Japanese martial arts such as jujutsu, judo, aikido, etc.

Kime is very important in traditional karate - Kime is about power and focus in strikes and blocks. Every block should be as powerful as every strike. I remember attending clinics in the past when I had another soke send his students to train with me so they could experience power in blocks. These power blocks were taught to me in kyokushin kai karate. In addition to kime, all strikes and blocks need chinkuchi!

Chinkuchi is an Okinawa term that applies to explosive full-body power. Both Dai-Soke Sacharnoski and Bruce Lee have demonstrated this using a one-inch punch. Chinkuchi is an Okinawan technique not practiced in Japanese karate. It is similar to kime, which is a focused strike, but includes the entire body in striking and blocking - hip rotation, focused punch or block, last-second tensing of all muscles and joints followed by a quick relaxation of the muscles.

The philosophy of how to use kicks are different in Japanese vs Okinawa dojo. The Japanese karate schools kick low, medium and high (similar to taekwondo). High kicks are good in competition; however, Okinawan kicks are designed for knees, kidneys, stomach, groin, ribs - in other words - below the neck and mostly below the belt. In addition, the Okinawan kicks employ many kekomi geri (thrust kicks) as well as toe kicks. In Japanese karate, tsumasaki geri are unknown and never employed. To develop a good toe kick, one must train the big toe constantly to build toe strength. There are stories about Goju-Ryu’s Chojun Miyagi who periodically demonstrated his powerful tsumasaki geri by penetrating gas cans with his big toe! One past member of the Arizona Hombu Dojo, Dr. Bergkamp, traveled to Okinawa a few years ago on tour of some dojo and returned to Arizona with a very impressive bruise on his stomach outlining one big Okinawan toe with a couple of smaller toes.

One must wonder how practical such kicks are in our culture. Unless you are a beach bum, it is unlikely you would ever use such a kick. So in our dojo, we will introduce this kick to our students, but it will not be a main focus until we all give up our shoes.

Kobudo is a another example of differences between Japanese and Okinawan dojo. In all of the Japanese dojo I trained in, no weapons were introduced or practiced. This part of karate is completely ignored by Japanese karate schools. However, kobudo is a major part of Okinawa karate. It has been said that “Karate and Kobudo can be likened to the tires of a bicycle. Both are needed to make the bike move”.

In many Okinawa dojo, tools are available to build strength, endurance and callous. They are designed for the whole body, and include tools for strengthening wrists, fingers, toes and knuckles. Someday, I would like to add a class in power training. This would also be a good project for two of our students in particular. Gavin is a personal trainer and Neal already has many tools he constructed in his back yard.

In a book by Michael Clarke entitled The Art of Hojo Undo, many exercises are described with descriptions of traditional Okinawan strength training tools and how they are made. Hojo undo translates as supplementary exercises. For those who are serious traditional practitioners, these tools are a must, although there are many modern equivalents that can be used. Some tools used in hojo undo include: makiwara, chi-ishi (strength stones), nigiri game (sand-filled ceramic jars), ishisashi (stone lock), tan (bar bell), kongoken (sand-filled ring), tou (bamboo bundle), kakite bikei (blocking post), makiagi (wrist roller), ude kitae (blocking posts), and jari bako (sand jars).

Sensei Paula Borea defends attack by Sensei Bill Borea
using kuwa in Mesa, Arizona

Another difference between Okinawan karate and Japanese karate is the practice of toide in Okinawan schools. Toide is an Okinawan art that includes joint locks, throws, grappling, etc, similar to traditional jujutsu. Many toide techniques are hidden in Okinawan karate kata.

Japanese karate is tailored for large groups; whereas Okinawan karate is designed for small groups. This is one reason many Okinawan commercial dojo fail outside of Okinawa as they are not conducive to large groups needed to help finance a karate school. Most traditional Okinawan dojo rely on the generosity of their students and do not set high fees. Most are supported by donations. However, when Okinawan schools are attached to and supported by a university, they often draw large groups because of their educational value.

In Japanese dojo, the atmosphere is martial and there is often intimidation by senior students. However, Okinawan dojo are typically family friendly and members are encouraged to become friends and train together both in and outside the karate school. The atmosphere at the Arizona Hombu martial arts school at the 60 W Baseline Center on the border of Chandler, Gilbert and Mesa Arizona is very positive and all members of the school are friends and help one another.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Traditional Karate & Kobudo History

Soke Hausel teaching traditional karate kata at the Arizona Hombu
Karate and Kobudo School in Mesa

Where did karate come from? How did karate evolve? How effective is karate? Where can people learn traditional karate in Arizona or for the matter, in the United States? Why is karate so effective in self-defense? And what is Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo?

Soke Hausel explains at the Arizona Hombu martial arts school in Mesa Arizona, that Shorin-Ryu Karate has a long heritage traced back to the 6th century at the Shaolin Temple in China.

Legend suggests that a Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma traveled from India to the northern Henan province of China in order to teach Zen philosophy at the Shaolin Temple. The time of this event is unknown, but some suggest it many have occurred at 525 AD.

The development of Kung Fu (and later karate) is thought to be related to this event. When Bodhidharma arrived at Shaolin-si (small forest temple), he began his lectures, but soon found that the monks were unfit and lazy and periodically fell asleep during mediation. Thus Bodhidharma began teaching a set of physical exercises along with meditation that were called 'Shi Po Lohan Sho' (18 hands of Lohan) that is reputed to have been a fighting form. The blending of the Lohan techniques with Zen led to the development of the first martial art. Without this type of mix - a combat system with philosophy for self-improvement - would have led to another combat system rather than martial art - it was the esoteric value of Zen that resulted in the first martial art and is the reason why systems such as MMA cannot be considered martial art as they lack any kind of esoteric value or philosophy - something that is needed to be a martial art.

To be a martial 'art' there must be intrinsic value for the person's spirit. Combining a fighting method with Zen provided the means for an art. Today, we see many street-fighting forms that profess to be martial art, but lack any method to produce positive, ethical individuals. Thus these so-called arts are nothing more than street fighting or sport.

Hanshi Andy Finley (7th dan) from Casper, Wyoming, attacks
Sensei Kyle Linton (3rd dan) from Wellington Colorado
with tanto (knife) during knife defense clinic taught
by Soke Hausel at the University of Wyoming in 2010.

There are many examples of philosophy that are shun by such systems. The dojo kun of Gichin Funakoshi, 'Kara te ni sente nashi' translates as 'there is no first attack in karate'. This is a very important precept as it strongly hints at a moral philosophy that one should never attack an opponent and only defend oneself when all else fails. Funakoshi also stated, 'the ultimate aim in karate lies not in victory and defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants', a philosophy that is overlooked by mixed martial arts (MMA) and other forms of street fighting sport.

Another great Okinawan martial artist, Shoshin Nagamine, wrote in his book, Tales of Okinawa's Great Masters, "if there is no kata, there is no karate, just kicking & punching". He further writes that if "…kata is karate, one must then embrace 'do mu gen' proverb which asserts: There can be no end to learning". He concludes his comments with his philosophy that karate begins and ends with the study of kata.

Street fighting has no kata. Karate has kata as does many forms of traditional jujutsu, judo, iaido and similar arts. But few understand kata. Kata is the heart and soul of traditional martial arts. Kata serves as a living encyclopedia of philosophy, training methods and self-defense techniques, although few people grasp what kata are. Kata were created by past masters and grandmasters who embodied their favorite bunkai (applications) and philosophy into forms. Thus if we unlock the secrets in kata, we have a beautiful method for building self-confidence, self-esteem as well as learning devastating self-defense applications. Hidden in kata are blocks, strikes, kicks, throws, restraints, chokes, pressure point strikes, stomps, defenses against grabs, punches, kicks, knifes, guns, spears, swords and much more. But also there is concern for the attacker.

It surprises me that more instructors don't pay attention to the importance of kata. In my opinion, one of the reasons for developing kata was not only to improve our technique and ourselves, but they were also developed by the Okinawan martial artists so they could hide valuable self-defense applications from Japanese invaders. It worked so well, that it continues to disguise techniques from Japanese instructors as well and more than 95% of the martial art instructors around the world.

Sensei Paula Borea (originally from Japan) trains with Sensei Bill Borea at the Hombu

dojo in Mesa Arizona using the Kuwa (garden hoe).

I was recently intrigued by a martial art known as Kalarippayattu taught in southern India. This art is suggested to be several hundred years old, and similar to Shi Po Lohan Sho. There is no way of dating this art, but it is a fascinating concept and the art does show circular open hand strikes, blocks and kicks along with acrobatic maneuvers similar to Kung Fu.

Bodhidharma's teachings later became the basis for the majority of Chinese martial arts. One or more of these arts were later introduced to Okinawa. One that tends to stand out is Hakutsuru (white crane) taught at the Shaolin Temple in southeastern China. White Crane was developed by a female martial artist who developed its techniques by watching the movements of the crane. This form was introduced to some Okinawans and was the basis for karate.

Little is known about karate's early development. Okinawa was located at the crossroads of major trading routes in southeastern Asia, and its significance as a port was discovered by the Japanese. It became a trade center for southeastern Asia.

In its earliest stages, karate was an indigenous form of fighting developed in Okinawa called Te, or 'hand'. Weapons bans imposed in Okinawa encouraged refinement of empty-hand techniques and the development of kobudo (peasant weapons). Farming and fishing implements were developed into weapons of self-defense.

Soke Hausel demonstrates white crane shorn-
ryu at Chinese New Year

Karate developed in three Okinawan cities: Shuri, Naha & Tomari. Each was a center for a different sect of society: kings and nobles, merchants, farmers and fishermen, respectively. For this reason, different forms of te developed in each city and subsequently became known as Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te. Collectively they were called Okinawa-Te, Tode (Chinese hand) or kara-te.

Gradually, karate was divided into two main groups: Shorin-Ryu from Shuri and Tomari & Shorei-Ryu in Naha. Even so, the towns of Shuri, Tomari, and Naha are only a few miles apart and the three styles are thought to have had one ‘father’. Thus the differences between these were primarily on emphasis.

Gichin Funakoshi suggested that the two styles were developed based on different physical requirements. Shorin-Ryu was quick and linear with natural breathing while Shorei-Ryu emphasized steady, rooted movements with breathing in synchrony with each movement. The Chinese character used to write Tode could be pronounced 'kara' thus the name Te was replaced with kara te or 'Chinese hand art' by the Okinawan Masters. This was later changed to karate-do to adopt an alternate meaning for the Chinese character for kara, 'empty'. From this point on the term karate came to mean 'empty hand'. The Do in karate-do means 'way' or 'path', and is indicative of the discipline and philosophy with moral and spiritual connotations, something that is not considered in many fighting disciplines today, such as the so-called mixed martial arts, which has no moral or spiritual value. The concept of Do has been prevalent since at least the days of the Okinawan Scholar Teijunsoku (circa, 1600s), who wrote: ‘no matter how you excel in the art of te, and in your scholastic endeavors, nothing is more important than your behavior and your humanity as observed in daily life’.

Soke Dan Hausel and Shihan Kyle Gewecke demonstrate knife defense
techniques at a martial arts clinic in Corbett Gym at the
University of Wyoming

The first public demonstration of karate in Japan was in 1917 by Gichin Funakoshi, at the Butoku-den in Kyoto. This, and subsequent demonstrations, greatly impressed many Japanese, including the Crown-Prince Hirohito, who was very enthusiastic about the Okinawan art. In 1922, Dr. Jigiro Kano, founder of the Japanese art of Judo, invited Funakoshi to demonstrate at the famous Kodokan Dojo and remain in Japan to teach karate. This sponsorship was instrumental in establishing a base for karate in Japan. As an Okinawan ‘peasant art,’ karate would have been scorned by the Japanese without the backing of so formidable a martial arts master. Today there are four major styles of karate-do in Japan: Goju-Ryu, Shorin-Ryu, Shotokan, and Wado-Ryu.

Adam Bialek trains with Sensei Borea with sai at the Arizona Hombu on the border of Gilbert and Mesa Arizona

Shorin-Ryu Karate evolved from Okinawa-Te. It is a combination of a native Okinawan fighting art and Chinese martial arts, predominantly hard style or "external" Chinese martial arts. Other influential karate ka of note included Soken Matsumura (1797-1889). Almost all branches of Shorin-Ryu that exist today can be traced back to him. Soken Matsumura, sometimes called "Bushi" Matsumura, studied Okinawa-Te under Tode Sakugawa (1733-1815). It was in the late 1800's that Shuri-Te began to be called Shorin-Ryu. It is not known for certain who began this practice, but most of the leading practitioners of the time accepted the new name which was a reference to the roots at the Shaolin temple in China (Shorin is the Japanese pronunciation of Shaolin), and soon the name Shorin-Ryu became the standard term for the art that had been known as Shuri-Te.

Of Yasutsune Itosu’s students, some were instrumental in the further popularization of karate in Okinawa, and the introduction of karate to mainland Japan. His students carried on his teachings, using the name of Shorin-Ryu, and today Shorin-Ryu is still a major force in Okinawan karate. In fact, since Itosu's death in 1915, Shorin-Ryu has produced countless karate greats, has branched into several variations along with the original art, and is practiced by hundreds of thousands all over the world. It is unfortunate, but some people make attempts to categorize Shorin-Ryu into branches. This is difficult to do, as there are many styles that were developed by various Okinawan masters. In the literature, we sometimes see the following:

Shobayashi Shorin-Ryu (‘small forest style’), Koybayashi Shorin-Ryu (‘young forest style’), Matsubayashi Shorin-Ryu (‘pine forest style’), and Matsumura Seito Shorin-Ryu (‘orthodox’ style).

Sensei Paula Borea and others practice Pinan Nidan kata

In summary, many dojos use Shorin-Ryu to describe their art. Each of Matsumura's Deshis (students) changed the name of their system when they took over, so many branches began: Sukunaihayashi (Shōrin-ryū Seibukan), Ryukyu Hon Kenpo (Okinawan Kempo), Kodokai Shorin-ryu, Matsumura Orthodox Shorin-ryu, Seidokan, Kobayashi Shorin-Ryu (Shidokan, Shorinkan, Kyudokan), Chubu Shorin-Ryu, Shorin-Ryu (Shaolin), Ryukyu Shorin-Ryu, Matsubayashi-Ryu, and Shobayashi-Ryu. And there are others, most with long and distinguished histories that trace back to Matsumura and his students.

So where does Seiyo Shorin-Ryu fit into this scheme? Over 45 years, Soke Hausel trained in a variety of martial arts that included Kokusinkai karate (a derivative of Gojo-Ryu), American Kempo, Chinese Kempo, Okinawan Kempo, Seidokan, Shotokan, Wado-Ryu, Juko-Ryu and others. All of these influence Seiyo Shorin-Ryu. But the core style was Shotokan. When Soke Hausel began training under Dr. R. Sacharnoski, Dai-Soke, he greatly influenced all technique and introduced Soke Hausel to many other martial arts. Soke Hausel took the best of all of these arts (when we say best, he took the best that worked for him) and with Dai-Soke Sacharnoski's permission, created a new Ryu of Shorin. Our Shorin-Ryu practices many kata and an understanding of the bunkai (applications) of the individual techniques in the kata. We have more than 70 kata.

Dr. Florence Teule, biochemist with Sensei Lenny Martin train in white crane Shorin-Ryu karate at a clinic taught by Hall of Fame Grandmaster Hausel at the University of Wyoming.

Seiyo translates as ‘Western’ as opposed to ‘Eastern’. Shorin-Ryu was initially influence by Eastern culture, and Seiyo also has a strong influence by the Western culture. Today, it is difficult to place this under any of the so-called major Shorin-branches as we practice kata from several of them. We have kata that have been created only for our style and we also focus on the understanding of all kata as well as include bunkai for all techniques. Something that is uncommon in most styles of karate. As the Sokeshodai (1st generation grandmaster) of Seiyo Shorin-Ryu, Soke Hausel continues to develop our style. Eric Hausel, Soke-Dai, will inherit the Seiyo Shorin-Ryu system as the Sokenidai.

So anyone can train in this powerful karate style. In Arizona, visit the Hombu. If you are elsewhere in the world, we have several martial arts associations and dojos that affiliate with Seiyo Shorin-Ryu.

TRAINING AT THE HOMBU IN MESA, ARIZONA

Our training center is open to the public - we focus on Adults and Families. Come learn the traditions of Okinawan Karate & Kobudo. Much of the class is conducted in both Japanese and English to help students learn Japanese. We also teach meditation, philosophy and martial arts history interjected in karate classes. See our fee and training schedule at ARIZONA KARATE.

Typical of all traditional Okinawan Karate schools, we have the lowest rates in the East Valley. No sign up fees - no contract. Start as soon as you pay for your first lesson or first month. You can pay either month by month or day by day - its up to you.