quote:
Removing his jacket, shirt and tie, he tied up his long grey hair more tightly with the hair pin worn by all men in Okinawa at one time, and stood motionless for a moment or two. "Sanchin," he growled, then suddenly, hunching forward slightly and thrusting his arms violently down at his sides, he began a transformation that would rival in dramatic effect the metamorphosis of Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde.
His body became instantly hard with a tension that defies description; sinews grew from nowhere and became steel cords; muscles swelled from the torso and solidified under my gaze; the eyes were transformed into ferocious slits from which shone malevolence, and from within nature's most dangerous creation--the creature that walks upright--came the primordial sound of the beast mustering its physical and mental power in preparation for a fight to the death.
I felt the hair on the back of my neck rising, as my primordial instincts reacted to the sight before me.
I felt as one does when the beloved family pet, who will willingly endure mashed potatoes in both ears providing the kids will let him eat it afterwards, becomes a wolf in defense of his pack; a snarling mass of tensed muscle and bared fangs to whom no reason will appeal.
“Of course! The reason that we practiced Sanchin for at least six months was to make our bodies strong and capable of taking punishment.
If your Sanchin is good, you can protect your whole body with the exception of the face. If your opponent cannot hurt you enough to stop you fighting he will loose.
See (tensing the muscles around the neck so they looked like a thick strand of rope wound around beneath his chin) even if I am hit here (indicating his vulnerable throat by hitting it with his fist) I can protect myself with Sanchin.”
Sanchin is important because it allows you to build a shield of muscle that you can use at will, and that will both protect your body and give you a lot of power to attack with.
Dragon Times: I understand that you studied with Seiyu Shinjo as well.
Shinyu Gushi: That's right I did. I studied kata with him a lot. Then he moved to Kadena which was too far for me to travel so I started training with Seiko Itokazu Sensei who was the head of the Pangai Noon, (the original name of the style that Kanbun Uechi brought back from China).
I was an instructor by this time, and was aware therefore that karate was already changing.
1958 our first dan grade examinations in Okinawa were held. We were told to attend by our respective instructors and were examined by a large number of seniors for basics and kata performance.
Then we were told to fight each other.
Dragon Times: What form did the examination take?
Shinyu Gushi: We did Sanchin while seniors instructor tested us (shime) by hitting and punching us as we performed the Kata. Then we did Sanseru in front of the seniors, then they told us to fight.
Dragon Times: What do you mean by "fight?"
Shinyu Gushi: It was nothing like now. We were always taught in the dojo just to attack the enemy and beat him.
We didn't assume a stance and then circle warily. We went straight at each other, and using Sanchin, tried to avoid injury while beating up the opponent.
Only direct strikes to the face were forbidden, everything else was allowed, so we attacked with everything we had and a lot of students were injured.
The problem was that the instructors who were supposed to be conducting the grading became so enthralled with the fighting that they would forget to stop us. Only when one of the pair of combatants started to take a real beating would they remember to intervene, and by that time ten minutes of no holds barred fighting had taken their toll.
Dragon Times: I'm not clear about the rules for the sparring.
Shinyu Gushi: We were allowed to hit full power to any target with any technique except the face. We could attack the opponent's face, but not make contact.
Dragon Times: What techniques were used most often?
Shinyu Gushi: Well we used everything.
Sokuto kicks were used, hand techniques like the dragon strike to the throat, it was a fight rather than sparring.
Dragon Times: How did you do at the grading?
Shinyu Gushi: All right! I survived the battles and was graded second dan but when I look back I have to view this as the beginning of the change in Karate.
Until this point we practiced in the dojo individually under the supervision of a senior--there were no organized classes as such, or grades.
We practiced techniques that the first grading in 1958 showed all too clearly were far too dangerous to use in competition. I feel that from this point on "modern" karate started to develop along sporting lines while the old, "real" karate stayed in the background, and backyards of Okinawan teachers where it had always been.
When you are marching up and down a dojo it's easy to be anonymous--there's a certain feeling of belonging to a group that is reassuring.
But when you fight, you fight alone, so we train alone, student with instructor. In this way you can't hide anything as you can with group training. I see the student's flaws and I correct them so that the student can improve.
I offer individual training of an intense nature so people who really want to improve their karate skills can. That's not to say that what other people are doing is no good--just that what we do is different.
Dragon Times: When you were learning karate as a young student, did the seniors teach you kyusho (nerve points)?
Shinyu Gushi: Yes. We learned from our seniors and teachers but not to use in the dojo of course, it's too dangerous. Also we were not allowed to use them from the time of the first dan grading I told you about because they are so dangerous.
Dragon Times: When you tense your body, does it protect you from attacks to your nerve points?
Shinyu Gushi: Of course! That's why we practice Sanchin to learn how to do this--to protect ourselves in a fight.
Dragon Times: So if you had to protect yourself the first thing you would do would be to tense your body.
Shinyu Gushi: Yes!
Shinyu Gushi: Time changes things you know, so does transmission from one instructor to another. Everyone has their own interpretation of things that varies by a tiny amount from everyone else, and as these are passed on things change.
We are all human and this is natural. I try very hard to pass on only what I learned. I make a conscious effort to do only this.
Dragon Times: What are your hopes for the future?
Shinyu Gushi: There are many karate men these days and dojos everywhere, and that's fine. I hope to do many demonstrations of karate for everyone to see. So that they can say, this is how karate was a long time ago in Okinawa. This is Okinawan karate!
posted April 13, 2002 10:46
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