6.17.2003
1. Why did Kyan teach "school" karate as I referred to it since he was over 60 years old at this time and why would he teach material from Itosu? The term "school" karate does not mean it was the Itosu methods. It refers to the physical education classes taught by many Okinawan teachers during this time on Okinawa. The period of time after the Meiiji Restoration and the annexiation of Okinawa as a Japanese prefecture resulted in the most terrible economic times on Okinawa. Many Okinawans left to various countries to find work and karate became a method for many senior teachers to earn a living from their knowledge. Kyan was no exception to falling on hard times. I will exand on the personal situations Kyan was in the book we are working on. Regardless to the reasons Kyan was living in the Kadena area and his home was a short distance from the Kadena Agricultural School and since he had a need and karate was being accepted in the physical education curriculum he taught classes.
2. I thought Kyan was a Shuri Te expert so what did he teach? I do not know exactly what he taught in the school curriculum but I do know that the differences he taught were the use of the shiko dachi, naname tsuki and the kata was limited to Seisan and Wansu for the school students. If students continued and came to training at his home he expanded the curriculum. The information source is Zenryo Shimabukuro, Joen Nakazato and Shoshin Nagamine. Also, Shinpo Matayoshi confirmed the above duriny my last conversation with him December 6, 1996. Matayoshi was younger than the above but his family owned a farm in the Kadena area and he spent his summers there and was given karate instructions by Kyan during his visits. (Harry,remind me to tell you about the railroad when we are on Okinawa this August).
3. Why did Kyan change his teaching for the school karate? It was universally accepted by the Ministry of Education that the karate taught in the school physical education programs that the devastating techniques of Uchinandi be removed. Techniques were added such as punching with the flat fist and not kicking with the toe tips,etc. etc. Emphasis was on body development not fighting.
Most of the senior teachers on karate on Okinawa were involved in teaching various school programs but the only one you hear about is Itosu and Funakoshi. What happened after Funakoshi left Okinawa? The school karate programs did not end in fact they became more widespread. If you lived in Nago and you wanted to add karate to your school you certainly could not go the full day trip to Naha and learn from one of Itosu's students. You created your own school karate that would meet the local administrators guidance. Previously most Okinawan senior karate me where police officials and after the Japanese took over many of these men were out of jobs and they moved into the public schools which would appear to be a natural transition.
I do not mind answering your questions but if I am not careful you can just keep copies of the email and you will not need the book.
Gambatte
Dan Smith
6.17.2003
Ian's post I am sure has more information about Isshin Ryu than I do so perhaps we are just using different terms and looking at things from a different perspective.
1. Kihon to me means how the basic movements or intermdiary movements of karate are executed. The technique of the kata is influenced by the kihon. I do not see where Naifanchi or Seisan are kihon kata. Naifanchi continues today to be one of the most difficult kata to perfect.
2. Tatsuo Shimabuku may have trained with Kyan four years but as with the passage of time and different perspectives time can become longer or shorter as it depends on the one with the perception.
It is the perception of those close to Kyan that Tatsuo Shimabuku was not seen visiting Kyan but for a short period. Maybe that was four years maybe it was not. The same is true about Miyagi. Those who trained with Miyagi during these time frames did not recall Tatsuo Shimabuku coming to train at all much less three years. Tatsuo's brother also claimed that he trained with Miyagi but he would have been a teenager at
the time.
Tatsuo Shimabuku lived in Agena and during the years before the war the time it would have taken someone from Agena to go to Naha to train with Miyagi would have been all day and the trip from Agena to Kadena would have been at best half the day since there was no public transportation(except for that train, harry)and no one had cars to speak of. So how did Tatsuo Shimabuku go from Agena to Naha? How often? Maybe someone knows and can share that with us?
The fact is it does not matter how long. What matters is how effective did he become. I am not in any manner stating that Tatsuo Shimabuku was not a very adept karate man. I have numerous Okinawan friends, including Tsuyoshi Uechi, that are senior Okinawan Isshin Ryu people. My comment was I do not think Tatsuo Shimabuku kept much of Kyan's training as it is not evident in his kihon. He certainly devised his own techniques and they served him well. To create a lineage to go along with someone's skills is normally done to project legitimacy. I do not think Tatsuo Shimabuku was concerned about that or he would not have created such an unorthodox system as compared to other Okinawan ryu ha.
Ian used a reference to "chinkuchi" and my question would be in what context could someone see or observe "chinkuchi"?
Gambatte
Dan Smith
06.18.2003
I agree with Bill's comments on the plumber which brings into the conversation of how do you verify things that you hear about history. You check first to make sure it is possible and then find corroborating sources to verify the informtion. To take one source would not be practical even when you know the
source is solid.
The comment about sensei Advincula talking to Nakazato Joen would be a source that I would listen to and then verify as I belief it would have merit if it dealt with the history of Tatsuo Shimabuku. I am aware of Nakazato Joen's knowledge of Tatsuo Shimabuku's study with Kyan but at the same time I have determined that Nakazato Joen did not study with Kyan but approximately three years and his thoughts could be influenced by the time period he was with Kyan. Was he training at the same time of Tatsuo Shimabuku? (Nakazato trained from 1938 to 1941 while he was a student at the Kadean Agricultural High Shcool. This information is directly from Nakazato to me in an interview conducted December 5, 1996 with Hanshi Ryuko Tomoyose acting as the interpeter. I visited in Nakazato's home and dojo for most of one day in Chinen village. The book that Nakazato has written also dates his training to 1938 to 1941 and the current web site for his karate also has these dates). So Nakazato Joen after three years training at the Kadena Agricultural High School the current heir of the Kyan lineage. He left Okinawa in 1941 in the Japanese Army and did not return to Okinawa until 1952.
I have other information and research that details a meeting that took place in 1954 at a meeting of Okinawan karate teachers. During this meeting Nakazato Joen, Nagamine Shoshin, Shimabuku Tatsuo and Shimabukuro Zenryo had the opportunity to discuss their various relationships with Kyan. This information was corroborated by Nagamine Shoshin and Nakazato Joen during interviews conducted in December of 1996. The basis for my researching this 1954 meeting was from information I received through Shimabukuro Zenpo and his father. The wide variety of subjects included kata learned, review of some of the kata, punching methods and arrangements made to visit each other to share information lost during the long period of time between the end of the war and the time that they were able to resume active training. The subject of length of time and duration of training was verified by Shimabukuro Zenryo during this meeting and subsequently the times listed in the resumes of Nakazato wereNagamine changed to how they are currently listed(I mentioned above Nakazato's training times and Nagamine's is well documented as to two six month periods while stationed as a policeman in the Kadena precinct). Shimabuku Tatsuo to my knowledge has never provided the information about his length of training with Kyan nor has given any details of his experiences with Kyan.
Before going to Okinawa in 1968 I had met several Isshin Ryu people that had studied on Okinawa. I was active in karate in the US and through several people knew of A.J. Advincula and other Isshin Ryu people so when I got to Okinawa I asked about Isshin Ryu and about Shimabuku Tatsuo since I was training in the dojo of Shimabukuro Zenryo and Zenpo. Many people confuse their names and think they are relatives. Zenryo sensei was recognized as the senior student of Kyan and trained from 1927 until a period before the war that precluded any karate instruction. Zenryo sensei lost track of Kyan during this time and did not know about his death until some time after the war. Zenryo sensei related that he had never seen Shimabuku Tatsuo at Kyan's house but that perhaps he did learn kata from Kyan somehow as he did use Kyan's kata for some time before changing the kata.
I have more research into this subject that I gathered from Seki Toma in November of 2001 that I will publish at a later date. This information describes how in Toma's own words he left Shimabuku Tatsuo and had a short tenure of learning the Kyan kata from Zenryo sensei before starting his own methods.
So, what does all this mean? No one in the lineage of Kyan has an accurate account of Shimabuku Tatsuo's training. While this does not affect the effectiveness of his karate or the system he created it does affect the history of the relationship between Kyan and Isshin Ryu. The outcome is the same.
I recently had a discussion with a long term Isshin Ryu practitioner and mentioned to him that I knew the Isshin Ryu kata. I demonstrated the kata to him and his question was where did I learn the kata. My response was by watching the Isshin Ryu kata and the natural movements that came from my practice of the Kyan kihon for so many years. Maybe Shimabuku Tatsuo came about his methods the same way. I would like to hear from anyone that has other information that has been documented or researched.
The "Okinawa Train". In my own research of my teachers relationship with Kyan I had always wondered how he could have gotten to Kadena from Jagaru, which is about 9 miles on the new highway and would have been further along the coastline. I had been told and verified from several sources that Zenryo sensei would ride his bicycle from Jagaru to Kadean daily to make bakery deliveries from his bakery business. I would run along the highway in the direction he would take and after a couple of miles would wonder how he could have riddent his bicycle that far under the road conditions that existed at that time. These thoughts made me question how often he could have gotten to Kyan for training. So, during an interview with Matayoshi sensei I had the opportunity to ask him how he got to Kadena from Shuri for his summer vacations. He responded the train. I never knew there was a train on Okinawa as there is not one today and was not any evidence of one when I was living on Okinawa. Matayoshi said that he still remembers the first time he saw Zenryo sensei getting off the train with his bicycle. The light bulb went off and I then understood how Zenryo sensei got from Jagaru to Kadena. The train ran along the coastline from Naha to Nago. The trained stopped at Jagaru and the next stop was Kadena. The train was destroyed during the war and was not rebuilt.
It is easy for things to change and if you were not present you could miss the details that support history. For example, today at the corner of Jagaru road and Hwy 58 on Okinawa(the Seibukan Dojo is located close by) the distance from this intersection and the ocean is well over one mile. When I was living on Okinawa the distance was 25 yards. I used to run by the ocean during training every night and now I run along the sidewalk and the ocean is no where in site. Maybe during Shimabuku Tatsuo's day there was another way to Kyan?
I apologize for the rambling. I will be celebrating my 35th year of my introduction to Okinawa this year and when I reflect great memories come back.
Gambatte
Dan Smith
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