https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1heI6NDt4eI
Taught by Sali Azem NH
Back in the 1980's there was far less information available on many martial issues. Martial video tapes slowly began to be sold from many sources. The martial magazines were not always reliable, but they were also the best of sources available. In fact, the magazine letters sections were the internet of the day.
Toward the end of that decade access to the internet grew. Still prior to YouTube it was the best that was available.
I met Joe Swift on such a discussion group, and we eventually became fast friends, sharing almost every day with each other.
One of the developing topics was information on the kata Hakutsuru slowly became available.
It soon became evident that many of the sources were not terribly reliable.
Being interested in what Hakutsura kata was I began tracking the discussions on the net.
Now in my area was Rich Bernards House of the Samurai. He and I were in a neutral friendly position. His school was quite large (over75 black bslts in training there). My program was miniscule in comparison, but after a few years teaching I had students who could hold their own with his.
He never visited my program but one years I would drop over to train and frequently I would be asked to teach the class, not Isshinryu, but always showing them something my other systems of study.
This time I found that Bernard Sensei has switched his +20-year program over to Azem Sensei's Shorin program. That night Azen Sensei was to be there and he was teaching them their first Shorin kata, and it was to be Hakutsuru. I was asked by Bernard Sensei to join on in the class.
Azem Sensei taught that class to 75 of their Black Belts, I was permitted to learn it too. Of course, nobody believed I would remember it from that one class. He told us that he had learned the form from Hohen Soken. I should add Bernard Sensei viewed the class from his office window.
So I worked to learn it, doing my best.
After the class was over while driving home I thought it unusual to teach what I thought was the most advanced form from Soken as the first form taught to a new group of black belts just joining his group.
Reaching home, I did what I had learned to do. I transcribed my mental notes on the complete form. Next, I sent a copy to Rich for him to help teach the form. (Which I assume astounded him that I could remember so much material. He never discussed that with me.)
I did work on the form wanting to retain it for my own study. Never did I teach the form.
Shortly after that time 2 of his 3rd degree black belts who were not happy with the switch from Goju to Shorin, choose to leave that program and instead join my program, both in my Isshinryu group and one of them in my Tai Chi group.
Not one to stop my search of the form, about 8 years later I took my search to a new level.
I never let things drop, thinking about that Hakutsuru frequently wondering if it was original? I learned somebody filmed one of Azem's senior students working with the House of Samurai group demonstrating the form. Sometime later it was added to the new YouTube.
I sent copies of that URL to friends around the world such as Joe Swift, John Sells and others. None of them recognized the form. John Sells was most excited when he saw the form, but after research responded that while it was an interesting form, it was not from Hohen Solen, in his opinion.
Finally a friend in Brasil, with very credible roots responded: "That Hakutsuru kata is a creative experiment by a guy from Goju/Shobukan from New York city. It is not a kata, that is, it has not functional structure, just a mambo jambo."
It was enough of an answer for me, having an answer I discontinued practicing the form, I never intended to place it in our studies, but it was an interesting exercise in any case.
Of course, I never really knew the truth about the form, however my curiosity was satisfied.
No comments:
Post a Comment