Okinawan Martial Traditions, Vol. 2-2: te, tode, karate, karatedo, kobudo

By Mario McKenna, Guillermo Paz-y-Mino and et al. Robert Toth

What would you like to obtain from your research and practice of an Okinawan martial art? For an academic, it would be to obtain historical and cultural facts and details. For a practitioner, it would be to gain expertise in the combative skills. If you're interested in both, this first of a three-volume

• Language: English
• Publisher: Via Media Publishing
• Release date: Aug 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9780996716178

Book preview

preface

What would you like to obtain from your research and practice of an Okinawan martial art? For an academic, it would be to obtain historical and cultural facts and details. For a practitioner, it would be to gain expertise in the combative skills. If you’re interested in both, this second of a three-volume anthology is assembled for your convenience to facilitate your endeavors. These volumes assemble a wealth of material originally published during the two decades when the Journal of Asian Martial Arts was in print.

Hundreds of pages and photographs present the richness of Okinawan martial traditions, from the original combatives to those influenced by Chinese and mainland Japanese martial art styles. The variety of topics shown in the table of contents indicate the depth and breath in the chapters, along with the authors who are well-known for their meticulous research and practical skills in specific arts.

These three volumes dive deep into the history and culture of Okinawan martial arts. You’ll find coverage of the actual artifacts—the material culture related to weaponry and training methods. Instructions from the masters details both open-hand techniques as well as with weapons. The chapters offer insights into the lives of many masters over the past few centuries, giving the raison d’être for these unique fighting arts—their reason for being.

Many streams of arts have contributed to the martial traditions found on the small island: Naha-te, Shuri-te, Fukien White Crane, Shorin, Goju, Motobu, Shotokan, Isshin, Kyokushin, Pwang Gai Noon, Shito, Uechi, and the list continues…

Along with the various styles come the associated training methods, such as conditioning exercises with weights and creatively designed apparatus, such as the punching post (makiwara), or stone lever and stone padlockshaped weights. Some become battle-hardened by active and passive breaking of objects (tameshiwari), including wooden boards, baseball bats, rocks, and ice. The extensive use of weaponry is found in many Okinawan styles, often associated with their farming and fishing occupations.

Such a blend of history and culture make the Okinawan fighting traditions a fascinating field of study. Besides being such vital sources of information, these three volumes will prove enjoyable reading and permanent at-hand reference sources in your library.

Michael A. DeMarco, Publisher

Santa Fe, New Mexico

January 2017

chapter 8

Kanzaki Shigekazu: An Interview with

To-on-ryu’s Leading Representative

by Mario McKenna, M.S.

The inset photo is from his early years: Kanzaki (front center); his bearded

teacher Kyoda Juhatsu; classmate Murakami Katsumi (front right).

All photos courtesy of Kanzaki Shigekazu.

Few karate students in the West would recognize the term To’on-ryu and still fewer would recognize the name Kanzaki Shigekazu. Yet this man is a link to the karate of a bygone era—a karate in which an intimate bond existed between teacher and student, where training was a matter of survival and not of sport, and where humility and compassion represented the ultimate goals of training.

Kanzaki Shigekazu was born Kanzaki Kazuya to Japanese parents in Japanese-occupied Korea in 1928. Upon his family’s return to Beppu, Oita Prefecture, a teenaged Kanzaki Kazuya entered the Japanese Self-Defense Force. Young and full of energy, he found himself caught-up in several scuffles, including some with American servicemen. Deciding he should do something about it, he eventually came under the tutelage of Kyoda Juhatsu, classmate of Goju-ryu founder Miyagi Chojun and direct student of Higashionna Kanryo, Naha-te karate’s most famous proponent. From that time onward, Kanzaki was a student of Kyoda Juhatsu until the latter’s death in 1968. So close was the relationship between Kyoda and Kanzaki, that Kyoda presented Kanzaki with the name Shigekazu upon Kanzaki’s recognition of mastery of To’on-ryu. The name was derived from the first Chinese ideogram of Kyoda’s first name, Ju (which can alternately be read as Shige), which was combined with the Kazu of his first name, giving him his new name Shigekazu. All of Kyoda’s sons also use this Ju character in their first names: Juki, Juchoku, and Juko.

Kanzaki Shigekazu, in a White Crane stance found in the Nepai kata.

Kanzaki Shigekazu is the most senior practitioner of To’on-ryu in Japan today. Now into his seventies, the retired Japanese Self-Defense Force officer relates his training under Kyoda Juhatsu and his own unique insights into karate. The following interview took place at a local community center near Kanzaki Sensei’s home in Beppu city, Oita Prefecture, on April 9, 2000.

TECHNICAL SECTION

‣   COULD YOU PLEASE TELL ME YOUR DATE OF BIRTH, AND THEN SOMETHING OF YOUR KARATE BACKGROUND?

I was born on March 20, 1928. I first started training in karate in 1950, about five years after the war ended. Japan was still a fairly volatile place and there were plenty of bars and the like. I had gotten into a few scuffles with some American soldiers, so I thought I should do something about that. Eventually, I heard of an Okinawan by the name of Teruya Rinko, who was well known for taking on the local Yakuza armed with a boat oar [ekudi]. Teruya is a very Okinawan name and if you looked it up, I’m sure you could find it. So, I went looking for him in the hope that he would teach me, but he refused. He told me that he had been taught by a very famous Okinawan sensei when he was a junior high school student in Okinawa and that this same teacher was living in Beppu. So, Teruya Rinko took me to Kyoda Sensei.

‣   SO YOU MET KYODA SENSEI THROUGH ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS?

Yes, through Teruya Rinko. The first thing I learned was how to stand and walk in the style of the Sanchin kata. I practiced this as hard as I could for about three months, just walking up and down. During those three months, Kyoda Sensei constantly watched me, deciding what kind of a person I was. Then New Year’s came and Kyoda was there at the New Year’s celebration. At that moment I decided that I didn’t want to quit karate training. After those three months had passed, Kyoda started to formally teach me karate. We practiced on top of tatami and they soon became worn and tattered.

‣   THIS WAS AT KYODA SENSEI’S HOUSE?

Yes, at his house. Kyoda Sensei’s third son, Juko, who also practiced karate, worked for NTT [Nippon Telephone & Telegraph] and lived at the company dormitory. Kyoda Sensei’s tatami in his home often became ragged and ruined from our practice, so we started practicing in Juko’s dormitory room. However, someone was living below him, so we had to make sure we didn’t make any noise when we practiced. Absolutely no noise at all. [Note: Kanzaki Sensei stands up and demonstrates the very quick, circular sliding footwork of Sanchin on top of the community center’s tatami, making no noise at all]. Even when we practiced stepping in to attack with strikes or kicks, we had to be very quiet.

‣   WAS KYODA SENSEI STRICT WHEN HE TAUGHT KARATE?

Kyoda Sensei did not teach a student another kata until he thought he could do the previous ones. Of course, you practiced basics and Sanchin first. We always practiced Sanchin at the beginning and at the end of practice. Then slowly you were introduced to Seisan, Sanseru, and other katas.

‣   SO, AT FIRST YOU ONLY PRACTICED SANCHIN FOOTWORK FOR THREE MONTHS AND AFTER THAT THE BREATHING, HAND POSITIONS, BLOCKS, AND PUNCHES. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO LEARN THE ENTIRE SANCHIN KATA?

Everything was very slow. At first you practiced the kata without any focus or power and slowly you built up your strength. Later, Kyoda Sensei would check your focus.

‣   SO, ALL TOGETHER IT TOOK ABOUT SIX MONTHS TO ONE YEAR.

That’s right. Watching someone do Sanchin kata, you can tell what level he is capable of practicing at.

‣   WHAT ABOUT OTHER PRACTICES, LIKE BLOCKING, PUNCHING, ETC.?

You did that by yourself, but Kyoda Sensei was always watching and checking. Changing the topic a little, the blocks used nowadays … how should I put this? Looking at karate katas today, the blocks just simply throw the arm out and stop. The block should be a sweeping action. It should sweep out and snap back. The blocks nowadays are just thrown out there. They’re just for show, just to make the katas look good. Look at the Seipai kata standardized for competition, the blocks just stop dead. Snapping the block out doesn’t look good. This is just one point of the basic difference between the karate of today and that of yesterday.

With respect to katas when I was learning, it was up to the student to study and find what techniques were in the katas and how to use them. Kyoda Sensei never explained directly what the meaning of a technique in a kata was.

‣   KYODA SENSEI NEVER TAUGHT THE MEANING OF A TECHNIQUE?

Almost never. It was up to the student to figure out. We would practice by ourselves and then show Kyoda Sensei what we thought the technique could mean. If he wasn’t satisfied, he would tell us to go and practice and investigate the technique more. But, by studying and researching karate techniques this way, your body soon learns and remembers it. Nowadays, if you just learn a kata and then stop practicing it for a few years, you forget everything. You have to repeat a technique over and over and constantly think about its meaning. There was one part of Sanseru kata that I could not figure out for the life of me. Kyoda Sensei taught me what it meant. That was the only part of a kata he directly explained.

‣   IF KYODA SENSEI WAS SATISFIED THAT YOU UNDERSTOOD THE TECHNIQUE HE WOULD SAY GOOD, ALRIGHT OR SOMETHING?

Yes, just a one word answer. Kyoda Sensei’s son, Juko, eventually moved into a house owned by his wife’s family and practice was conducted outside when the weather was good.

‣   WHAT DID YOU DO WHEN IT RAINED?

Kyoda Sensei would conduct spiritual training inside. It usually consisted of lectures or stories. I remember being extremely cold sometimes when we were practicing outside during the winter. We’d be barefooted and practicing on top of the snow (laughing).

‣   SEEMS LIKE IT WAS QUITE AUSTERE TRAINING. IT MUST HAVE BEEN QUITE HARD. THE BASIC TECHNIQUES, SUCH AS CHUDAN UKE, KAKE UKE,