11-23-2001
Treasure Box of Nafadi:The Essence of Sanchin (Part 1)
By Hiragami Nobuyuki
First Published in "Hiden" Magazine, March 2001 Edition,
pp. 110-114.
- The Truth About the Legend of the Treasure Casket
I think that the readers have all heard this story, a long
time ago.
A certain fisherman was welcomed at a palace, and was
given a rather suspicious looking treasure casket
(tamatebako) upon leaving. He was told never to open it.
However, when he got back home, he broke this taboo and
opened it. He turned into an old man with white hair and a
white beard...
It goes without saying that this is the Japanese fairytale
"The Legend of Urashima Taro." However, it can also be
said to be an abstract story that is useful in the pursuit
of the true essence of Ryukyu Kenpo. That is, say a
fisherman learned the old methods of Ryukyu Kenpo at the
Royal Palace in the old Ryukyu Kingdom, and when he
returned to his village, he opened this box and taught
Kenpo to the other commoners, becoming a Laoshi (lit. old
master) of Kenpo...
If we extrapolate this far, we can perhaps see what was in
that tamatebako, however vague it might be.
The "tamatebako of the palace," this is indeed the "hako
<kata> of ti <kenpo> of the Ryukyuan Royal Palace." (tr.
note: Mr. Hiragami makes a play on words here. Tamatebako
is written "ball (or jewel) - hand - box" in kanji. He
likens the kata to a box, and uses the old Okinawan term
TI, lit. "hand"). However, the meanings of the movements
of the mysterious kata of the Kenpo of the Kingdom were
not explained in words or written form. In other words,
the old oral transmission "teach the kata, do not unleash
the ti" is the true meaning of "do not open the treasure
casket."
However, if one re-trains the kata that they have learned
and researches deeply the meanings of the movements, then
one will become a master even at a young age, in other
words, have the wisdom of an old master with white hair.
The box in the legend is said to have been empty, but we
can turn this around and say that it was filled with
emptiness. We can see that the box was an "empty" "hand"
"box" and the fisherman had mastered the "hand of
emptiness" in the box.
- Initiation Leads to Unlimited Techniques
The old kata of Ryukyu Kenpo are indeed boxes filled with
hidden treasures, and initiation (untying or unleashing
the ti) into the meanings of the movements leads to an
infinite number of secret Kenpo techniques, and can also
lead to mastery of Kenpo's inner teachings as well. Let us
look at "untying the ti" of Nafadi's secret kata Sanchin
this time.
Sanchin is indeed Nafadi's foundation as well as its
secret teachings. There are several versions of Sanchin,
all from the same lineage, being practiced today. Most are
versions of the Sanchin of Miyagi, but even there, there
are minor differences in each. There are varying patterns,
such as taking three steps forward, then three back;
taking three steps forward, turn, one step back, turn and
one step forward, then three steps back; or take three
steps forward, turn and take three steps on the opposite
direction, turn again and step forward and back, etc. The
Uechiryu version is basically the same, with three steps
in either direction. However, it is interesting to note
that the direction of the turns are opposite to those of
the Miyagi versions.
- "One Tatami Mat" Movement Patterns
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While there are various differences in the styles, it is
of note that the hand gestures are basically the same. One
other interesting point that is the same is that all
versions of Sanchin kata can be performed in the space of
about one tatami mat, which is also interesting from a
Japanese viewpoint as well. The "secret" kata of Suidi,
Naifuanchi, can also be compared here. While Nafadi's
Sanchin goes back and forth in the space of one tatami,
Naifuanchi goes side to side in the space of one tatami.
Some people say "awake, half a tatami; sleeping, one
tatami." However, in Ryukyu Kenpo, it can be said that
"training the ti, one tatami." (tr. note, here Mr.
Hiragami makes another play on words. The verb for "sleep"
is "neru" and the conjugation in this maxim is "nete." The
verb for "train" is also "neru" and he uses the
conjugation "neri" plus "te (ti)" = hand.) The last part
of this maxim is "2 and a half bowls of rice for one day"
which of course can be extrapolated to (three step)
kumite.
Of course, Ryukyu Kenpo is a local native martial art, and
as such there were no special practice areas, and it is
said that in most cases, practice was performed out of
doors or in the gardens of homes. However, it is also said
that the practice was often done in secret, to hide from
the Bushi of the Satsuma, so I think that practice was
probably held indoors in many cases. It is impossible to
determine that all houses in Ryukyu in those days had
tatami, but it can be said with certainty that they were
all measured in terms of tatami sizes.
- Robotic Movement in the Early Edo Era
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I mentioned that movement along the space of one tatami
was a Japanese characteristic. There may be those of you
who say that there are such measures in China, so Chinese
boxing might also use the same methods. However, in
Chinese boxing, much of the time practice was held out of
doors, and the forms often make generous use of space. In
southern Chinese boxing, there are some forms that use
relatively small areas, but even so it seems that there is
not much of a concept of "one tatami space."
There is also a unique Japanese cultural heritage that
fulfills the same requirements as the pattern of Sanchin,
that existed in the early Edo Era. That is, the robotic
movement of the so-called "cha-kumi ningyo" or tea-bearing
dolls, that was the product of early Edo period science.
This was a toy-like robot whose purpose was to carry tea
to the guest and then return back to the tea server. Its
path was to go back and forth over the space of one tatami
mat. Isn't this suspiciously like the pattern of the
Ryukyu Sanchin? I have no intention of trying to force the
theory that a Ryukyuan saw these tea robots and formed
Sanchin, or that a mainland Japanese tea ceremony master
saw the Ryukyu Sanchin and created the robots. In short, I
would just like the readers to consider that both may be
based upon the same Japanese cultural ideas.
- Jujutsu and Kenpo
I have just mentioned that due to the similarities with
Japanese robots, Sanchin movement also seems to also be a
Japanese style idea, but there are also Japanese-like
parts in the Sanchin Kata itself. In other words, although
Sanchin is said to be a Kenpo kata, half of its techniques
are Jujutsu techniques. However, it is difficult to
actually qualify what exactly is meant by a Jujutsu
technique, but if we consider throws and joint locks to be
Jujutsu, then the "tora-guchi" at the end of Sanchin is
indeed Jujutsu. On that note, "tora-guchi" (tiger mouth)
can be interpreted as meaning "torae-guchi" (grasping
mouth).
The first part of Sanchin consists of reverse punches,
fingertip thrusts comprise the middle of the kata, and
then come the Jujutsu techniques of tora-guchi. The
fingertip thrusts in the middle provide a valuable bridge
between the Kenpo and the Jujutsu techniques. The turns
are also an important method for tying the Kenpo
techniques to the Jujutsu techniques.
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