The story of Wansu NO Tonfa, not a kata rather a drill.

Back in 1977 Charles Murray handed me he 1966 Shimabuku Tatsuo films he has borrowed from Sensei, to view them for his own studies. He gave them to me because he wanted me to teach myself the form labeled on the movie as Chiafa. Along with the film he also gave me a film editor to view the film.

 

Then after a lot of work I eventually developed something akin the the form on the movie. II viewed that movie, frame by frame with the film editor so many times I could not stand to watch it again. So how much what I worked out was like that movie kata, I can’t say. But I did it and got what I got.

 

I do know when Lewis Sensei trained in Okinawa it was not taught then. And when Charles trained in Agena in 1972 it was not done then either. Which is why Charles suggested I learn it from the film.

 

Then too soon in 1979 after I had been awarded my black belt Charles returned to the USAF. There was no Isshinryu convenient to Scranton Pa. to train with. I was on my own and my continuing efforts were my own too.

 

About 1981 my wife and I went on a camping vacation to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. I spend a lot of time training at that campground. While I had no intention teaching my students the Chiafa form, the more I worked on my Chiafa, the more I realized I preferred a simpler form to teach tonfa use.

 

Back on those days most systems did not have kobudo training. Many competitors would take an empty hand kata and do that with a weapon. One of the most frequent ones to use was Wansu kata. I saw It performed with bo and with sai as well as other weapons. (this was well before the internet or YouTube of today). That gave me an idea.

 

I began to work up a drill for tonfa use, which in time I referred to as Wansu NO Tonfa. Many years later I used it as a subsidiary dan drill for use of tonfa. I still believed it was useful.

 

 

I did film that drill for my students use. 

 

I never competed with it, in time it was only for my adult students use.

 

Then in 1985 moving to Derry, NH, it remained much the same. I just soldiered on with the form.

 

When the internet became available about 1988 for me. In time I found the form on YouTube, but there were many variations of Chiafa. Some by Uzeu Angi, some by others. As I only was with my original instructors I had no reason to believe any were correct.

 

I did discover some were irritated I was doing Chia fa, and many lectures followed. Each one making me care less about what other were doing, for it made no difference to me after all. I was only interested in preserving what I was directed to learn and what I developed from there.

 

IMO the Tonfa no longer serves the purpose for which it was originally intended, The modern Police version, the PR-24, is longer by design not to permit earlier tonfa techniques to be used. Of course it still has many uses for the police, but that is not why I taught tonfa.

 

What I discovered over decades of practice, was each of the kobudo studies in my Isshinryu serves another useful purpose. Each weapon requires different handling, developing very different skills in the hands, wrists, arms and legs of those trained. Those subtle skills also transfer into one’s kata abilities when used.

 

Tonfa specifically develop the grip to control its spins, and that grip control works to develop stronger empty hand grip too.