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CHIBANA CHOSHIN: THE INTERVIEW (1975)
Interview:
During the 1950’s and
1960’s the senior living expert of Okinawan karate-do was Chibana Choshin Dai
Sensei (Great Teacher). Chibana Dai Sensei was born in Shuri City, Okinawa
Prefecture, on June 5, 1885. On October 10, 1966 the Okinawa Karate-do Association
sent a representative to interview this living legend.
This article is now considered a treasure of
ancient and modern Okinawan martial arts history. The original article was
written in Japanese and was given to me by Nakazato Shugoro Dai Sensei in 1975.
It should also be noted that Chibana Dai Sensei was the first president of the Okinawa Karate-do Association and was ranked a Hanshi 10-Dan in Okinawa Shorin-ryu Karate-do by the Okinawa Karate-do Association. In 1957 the Dai Nippon Butokukai recognized Chibana Dai Sensei as the senior most living Okinawan karate master. He died on February 26, 1969 at the advanced age of 83 and left behind five Hanshi 9-Dans.
His senior students included the following:
the late Higa Yuchoku (the first one to be promoted to Hanshi 9-Dan in 1965);
Miyahira Katsuya (who started with Chibana in 1933 and is recognized as his
senior, living student); the late Nakama Chozo (the oldest student who was born
in 1899); the late Kinjo Kensei (who did not teach in Okinawa); and Nakazato
Shugoro (the youngest Hanshi 9-Dan at age 46). The following is the
translation:
An Okinawan Living Legend: Choshin Chibana of
Shorinryu Karate-do
An important figure at the turn of the century
was an individual named Kiyuna. It was said at that time that Kiyuna had the
strength and power of Ankoh Itosu plus he was also a true expert in atemi
(methods of striking the vital points). In describing Kiyuna, I will quote
Yukoku Sanjin, whose real name was Taro Shimabukuro, since he was a direct
student of Kiyuna:
“I received instruction from Kiyuna, who was
at that time the grave keeper of the Sho family (the Okinawan royal family),
from the second quarter which began in September of my first year until the
mid-first quarter of my second year at the Commerce High School. Kiyuna, as I
recall, would train in atemi by using old slippers made of straw and tied to
trees call fukuchi-boku with the diameter of these trees ranging from 7 or 8
inches to one foot, which abundantly grew throughout Okinawa. Kiyuna often changed
the punching trees since hitting only one tree would cause the tree to lose its
leaves and damage the roots and also eventually kill the tree.”
Kiyuna was a gigantic figure and one could not
see a person standing behind him. Kiyuna Tanmei [In the Okinawan dialect of
hogen, tanmei translates as “an honorable old man.” This honorific term denotes
great respect for the individual and states that this person is a man of honor
and righteous character. — Ed.] continuously trained in the patsai form and the
kusanku form of which he was considered an expert. He was extremely strong in
all methods of atemi and fumikomi (stomp kicks with the foot sword). He was
also an expert in oi-tsuki (a lunging punch), using his right side forward when
the enemy used their left side forward but also changing to his left side
forward when the enemy used their right side forward. Such a skill as his was
far from being mastered by a small person like myself.
[Chibana stood 5’1″ and weighed approximately
136 pounds. — Ed.]
Another interesting karate expert was Kuwae
Ryosei who was also known as the last student of “Bushi” Matsumura Sokon. Kuwae
was a very tall individual and was noted for being a kicking expert. The modern
day Kuwae family, descendants of Kuwae Ryosei, still preserve the original
scroll given to Ryosei by Bushi Matsumura in the latter’s own script.
I also would like to speak of Yabu Kentsu
[Yabu (1863-1937) was the acknowledged senior student of Ankoh Itosu. He was
the first one to demonstrate Okinawan karate on American soil. In 1927 he
demonstrated Shuri-te karate at the American-Okinawan Club located in Los
Angeles, California. It should also be noted that although Yabu was promoted to
the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the Japanese Army, he was fondly remembered as “the
sergeant.” — Ed.] who was the senior most student of my teacher, Itosu Ankoh. Yabu Kentsu was an ex-serviceman who had joined the military and became a
sergeant during the Sino-Japanese War of 1905. Another close friend of Yabu was
Hanashiro Chomo [Hanashiro (1869-1945) took over the leadership of the Itosu
style upon the death of Yabu Kentsu in 1937. When Hanashiro died in 1945,
Chibana Choshin then became the acknowledged successor of Ankoh Itosu. –Ed]. It
was Hanashiro who was the first one to use the word karate as it is written
today. He also served as a military man in the Sino-Japanese War and also
earned the high rank of sergeant.
[The word karate is made up of two
characters. The first character was translated as T’ang referring to the T’ang
Dynasty of China and pronounced TO. The second character translated as “hand,”
and was pronounced TE or DE. An alternate reading of these two characters is
translated as “tode” meaning Chinese Hands. — Ed.]
After the war, Yabu taught karate at the
Okinawa College of Education and Hanashiro taught at the Shuri City Senior High
School. Both were at that time assistant instructors under Itosu. Although both
Yabu and Hanashiro were recognized as the chief assistants under Itosu, it was
both of them who did the actual teaching of karate. Itosu would often attend
the classes as the senior teacher but would act more as an advisor and would
occasionally correct the students arms and so forth.
Both Yabu and Hanashiro were tall and very
strong figures. Yabu was about 20 years older than I, and Hanashiro was about
18 years older than I (I was born on June 5, 1885).
Another expert was Yamakawa Choto who was 7
years older than I and Tokuda Ambun (1886-1945) who one year junior to me;
Gusukuma Shinpan (1890-1954) and Mabuni Kenwa (1889-1952) both were about five
years younger than I. These individuals studied under Itosu for about four to
five years. Tokuda and Gusukuma were both elementary school teachers in
Okinawa. Tokuda died during the Second World War and Gusukuma died about seven
or eight years after that war. Mabuni also passed away about fifteen years ago
in the mainland (Japan proper).
An interesting personality was Kiyabu (Kyan)
Chotoku (1870-1945) who was called “Chan Miguwa” (the small-eyed one). Kiyabu
was born in Shuri City and moved to Kadena while still very young. He died at
the age of 76 after the war. He was 15 years senior to me and was of the same
age as Funakoshi Gichin.
Kiyabu studied under Shinpaku of Haku. As
Kiyabu often trained with us, I came to know him fairly well. At those training
meetings (which we called embukai) he would often perform such kata as chinto,
patsai and his method of kusanku. He was a great expert.
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Kiyabu’s chinto kata and patsai kata were considered unique. He developed his interpretation of these forms based on his extensive knowledge of the older methods of Okinawan karate. His kusanku kata originated from the lineage of Chatan Yara. He actually learned this form from Yara of Yomitan who was a direct descendant of Chatan Yara.
Kiyabu taught these forms to Taro Shimabukuro
who in turn taught them to Seitoku Ishigawa. I was given instruction in both
chinto and patsai kata from Ishigawa. Presently, this patsai form is now called
the patsai-no-sho.
Shimabukuro Taro, who is known in the Japanese
as Sanjin Yukoku, was introduced to Kiyabu by Kiyuna and studied under him for
some time.
Kiyabu’s father was a Bushi who served the
then King Sho Tai while he stayed in the capital city of Shuri. Kiyabu was 18
years old at that time. Kiyabu was nicknamed Chan Miguwa because he had small
beetle-like eyes that were considered even too small for his little face.
Kiyabu had two students for whom he held great
expectations. One was Aragaki Ankichi (1899-1929) who was nick-named
Ufuyaaguwaa in the Okinawan dialect, and the other was Shimabukuro Taro (who
was also known as Sanjin Yukoku by the Japanese). Shimabukuro was also
nick-named Yamatoo and sometimes he was called Yaaguwaa in the Okinawan
dialect.
[Up until the 1960’s it was common for an
Okinawan to have an Okinawan name and a Japanese name. Usually the Japanese
name was the Japanese pronunciation of the Okinawan name. To add to the
confusion, Okinawans were also fond of giving nicknames to indicate special
personal traits, strengths and abilities. — Ed.]
Kiyabu devoted himself to teaching these two
students. He would often tell them that training in the martial arts also
included drinking and womanizing and would make them do everything. He would
tell them to keep in mind that the ultimate goal was to master the philosophy
of the martial arts.
[Although Chibana did not consider Kiyabu as
an individual of “sterling character worthy of imitating,” he did acknowledge
him as an expert practitioner. With all of his obvious flaws, a drinker and
womanizer, Kiyabu was an excellent fighter worthy of the name. One of his
favorite sayings was “karate-jutsu in the offense is truly frightening. This is
why experts avoid confrontations with each other. It cannot be avoided, one
will die now and the other will die tomorrow.” — Ed.]
Kiyabu was very fond of traveling and used
every opportunity when he could afford to do so. His wife was raising pigs and
he took charge of selling the baby pigs so he could pocket some money to travel
and visit the red-light district which used to exist nearby. Aragaki and
Shimabukuro always accompanied their teacher in his travels.
He often held training classes in the martial
arts (in the Ryukyu martial arts this is called embukai) at different places
and even on his way to the northern most island of Japan where he went to
introduce karate. On those occasions he did not use the word “embukai” but
would put up a sign which read: “Martial arts training! Everyone welcomed to
train!”
At one time the street fighter, Tokusampoo,
unexpectedly came by their training area. Kiyabu advised Aragaki and
Shimabukuro, to carefully watch this trouble maker. He told them that if
Tokusampoo would challenge them or attack them in any way that it would be
necessary for them to strike him to death, otherwise they would lose respect.
Further, that if they did not cause his death that Tokusampoo would come back
and kill them from behind.
Tokusampoo did challenge them but only with
his eyes and after he saw the challenge accepted with their eyes he concluded
that he might die in an open confrontation and then left. The group was never
troubled again by Tokusampoo’s presence.
Kiyabu also like rooster fighting. He would
often visit rooster fights with his own rooster under his arm. One day, Aragaki
and Shimabukuro decided to test their teacher’s strength while they were at a
rooster fight. They intentionally started a fight with several young men who
were present and then ran away. The young men feeling that they had the
advantage, gave chase.
Kiyabu, without knowing what had happened, ran
after his two students. The young men, thinking that this old man was part of
the fight, quickly attacked him with punches and kicks. Kiyabu fought with the
young men using only one arm and leg. He kept his rooster under his other arm
all the while.
The young men lost the fight. While Kiyabu
fought with the young men, Aragaki and Shimabukuro secretly hid in the bushes
to observe the fighting. After watching their teacher, both of them renewed
their belief that Kiyabu was truly very strong.
Kiyabu would often mention that a weapon
should be used to fight against a weapon. Aragaki and Shimabukuro thus always
wore specially made geta (wooden foot wear) and would train to perfect strong
foot striking techniques by jumping up and kicking a beam of a ceiling. This
was a very difficult technique to master but Kiyabu was an expert in all
kicking and jumping methods as were all of his students.
One evening Aragaki and Shimabukuro visited
Kiyabu for an evening of training. They walked into Kiyabu’s garden with a
lighted paper lantern. Kiyabu immediately said that they should not rely on a
lantern, but should train their eyes so they could see in the dark. Kiyabu
often had them train in the dark and on uneven ground with water sprinkled on
it in an effort to make them more aware of their balance.
In addition to chinto, patsai and kusanku of
Chatan Yara, Kiyabu also specialized in the kata ananku, which he learned and
brought back from Taiwan (the present island of Formosa). Kiyabu taught ananku
first when he was a teacher of karate at the College of Agriculture and
Forestry.
Nakazato Joen, who is presently a teacher in a
junior high school, is one of the few people who learned the orthodox kata
ananku from the originator, Kiyabu. Nakazato Joen is also a graduate of the
College of Agriculture and Forestry and is an active teacher and originator of
shorinji-ryu karate in Naha City.
[Nakazato Joen, Okinawa Shorinji-ryu Hanshi
10-Dan, is considered the senior most student of Kyan Chotoku by the All
Okinawa Karate-do Association. He teaches Kyan’s original, unchanged kata:
ananku, wanshu, sesan, naihanchi, patsai, chinto, kusanku and gojushiho. — Ed.]
Another individual that should be remembered
is Ihaguwaa of Haku (also known in the Japanese as Iha Kotatsu) who was born in
1873 and died in 1944. He was also a teacher of Shimabukuro Taro. Shimabukuro
often said this to me:
“Ihaguwaa-sensei was a descendant of a Ryukyu
Bushi family. He studied under the great teachers, Hakushoo Mora (Matsumora
Kosaku of Tomari-te, 1820-1898) and Shinpaku of Haku (Oyadomari Kokeu).
Ihaguwaa was a considered a real fighter and was said to have left a large scar
on the shoulder of Motobu Choki who was also known as Motobu Saru (Motobu the
Monkey).”
Shimabukuro Taro was known for his mastery of
the kata rohai and wanshu that he learned from Ihaguwaa-sensei.
Another important individual that should be
remembered is Oshiro Choki. Oshiro was four years younger than I (1889-1929).
He once taught karate at the High School of Industries and we were very good
friends. He died at about 40 years of age and was known for his powerful
practice of bo-jutsu. He studied and mastered the style of Chinen Shichanaka
bo-jutsu from Chinen Yamane.
Oshiro Choki was a great master.
All my seniors and juniors are now gone. I
feel very lonely.
Chibana Choshin, Hanshi 10-Dan
Chief Instructor for the
Okinawa Shorin-ryu Karate-do Association
October 10, 1966
Copyright ⓒ 2011 Ernest Estrada. All Rights Reserved.
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