Kyan on the Sai

Okuhara Bunei was of course a contemporary (although sempai to) Joen Nakazato. Joen sensei told me Kyan did not teach sai and that Kyan had told him the reason for that was that sai was a peasant weapon - unlike the bo, which was a gentleman's weapon. May as well include the well known picture of the two together from 1941


Filmed by Sensei Rich Nilsson, Master Haruku Nakama demonstrates the kata he learned from Okuhara Bunei, student of Chotoku Kyan. While this has been available for 20 years in pieces, this is the first time I have seen the complete video. The opening includes Kata Seiunchin with Sai, not a Kyan form and several bo sai applications.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SABs0ErM2nQ

Harry Skelter amazing these "whoa, have you seen this?" things we used to share between each other via a worldwide underground network only by dubbing video and mailing it off is now available via a few keystrokes! ..and most interesting to actually see how principles held subtly in kata can be lost/masked/buried in just one or two transmissions - the kata may remain eminently recognizable, but now stripped of many of the secrets that made them effective as teaching tools.