1. The opening
circling hands could mean making a circle like the moon.
Also a reference
to the Bubishi code “the blood circulating is like the sun and the moon”.
2. The section
where stomps were being made to the ground, could mean distracting noise made
in the dark, to your rear, could draw the opponent to the sound allowing you to
strike them in the dark as they moved toward that sound.
3. The section
where you are moving forward with the knife hands, done slowly is use of the
movement in searching out an opponent when you are in the dark. Then when you
feel their arm, you explode with the following movements to complete your
defense.
4, The section
where you drop to the floor means when the moon appears and your opponent might
see you, instead you drop to the floor, turning your head both ways, seeking
the opponent. Then you explode up and change directions and continue searching.
When the enemy is seen you explode from the ground and take the fight toward
them.
from the Kusanku kata of Charles Murray 1980
All of which
seemed most reasonable when they were explained to me.
As the story
went one evening while suddenly waking up from sleep, Shimabuku Tatsuo realized
that the movements in Kusanku Kata might be used for night fighting.
And perhaps that
was what occurred, Certainly there is evidence that Shimabuku Sensei did the
kata just this way.
Of course there
are detractors who do not believe this story. Considering the use of Kusanku
Kata for night fighting a fantasy.
Let’s take a
step away.
A short 100
years ago, karate training was done most private, in the instructors back yard,
or at a location in the forest. And logically the training would have been done
at night for the most part.
Inhabiting that
low level light environment, would have been something the Okinawan was used to
at that time.
No one can tell me what was experienced in training
on Okinawa, except by inference, prior to the time electric lighting was
introduced, and that time probably had much to do as anything with how karate
transmission took place. To my best knowledge there is no record as to what
actually happened in those days.
At one time I
read some Oklnawan instructor’s advice. Though I have not been able to find it
since.
As the story went the instructor explained “if beset by toughs
at night,
hide in the brush. When they couldn’t find
you sneak after them quietly.
Then if they waylaid anyone else, you
could attack them from behind.”
An interesting
solution.
Low
level lighting intensity in combat has always been a concern for militaries
since antiquity. There is every reason to believe Okinawan gave advice to their
students for such situations too. That those ideas might be applied to kata is
within acceptable possibilities.
That
does not mean the only use for those kata techniques was for fighting only in
specified situations. Strictly speaking all kata technique can be used in the
day or the night. Rather it was the device of employing a kata as a mnemonic to
share specific lessons the instructor believed in.
One
Okinawan group, the Kashiba Juku, does something similar. They approach all of
their kata 3 diffeent ways. One for ‘normal’ practice, one for use of the
techniques in ‘drunken’ practice, and one for the use of the techniques to be
used for ‘night or low level lighting’ combat situations.
Apparently
the dream of Shimabuku Tatsuo was something not outside the Okinawan
experience.
There
are also thoughts that there was an Okinawan version of Kusanku for day
fighting and one for night fighting, I believe that idea originated when a
talented West Coast kata champion, Steve Fischer, back in the 1980s would
compete with a version on Kusanku the Moo(night) kata, and another Kusanku the
Sun (day) kata. I remember reading about him in the karate magazines of those
days. I expect that was more for branding two different Kusanku versions for
competition, and in time gave rise to the idea of Kusanku night fighting.
There
is sound reason, IMO, to continue this practice.
from the Kunanku kata of Young Lee 2004
1 comment:
Training to use Kusanku for low level combat
The question has been raised how could an instructor correct the student if they were working on Kusanku in the night and it was a dark one.
I would address this as I experienced training my students over the decades.
Everything is not done at once. When learning Kusanku kata (for example) it would be in a lighted area where the instructor could observe and instruct. Only when the student progressed so they could do the form with skill, would it be reasonable to address the infinity of application potentials for technique application.
Skill adds credibility to the Spirit behind the technique. And whether the range of normal lighted use of a movement or low level conflict use of a technique, without skill such training would be of less use.
This would be an advanced training. For low light conflict is not one thing, it is a whole range of possibilities. From a pitch black night, to a moonlight night, to a night which changes from moonlight to deep shaded situations, even partially dark nights to find a way to use such situations tactically. There is one answer which must be explored. And it would not be simple training.
If we go back far enough to the days when such training was relied on for use in your family tradition, the training might have been suggested by your instructor, then left for those you worked with in your position to share more details to consider.
I have seen too much to believe everything can be taught to a student, there is much more to consider as time moves on.
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