And
I imaging it was that way for Shimabuku Tatsuo. I can’t see his instructors
would have told the next stage of training was to read a book.
But
his instructors did write books or article about what they felt their art
contained or how it would be used. And while I don’t see reading was how they
taught their arts, the fact they did write about their art likely came up in
training from time to time.
I
propose taking the time to review what they wrote can tell us much of what they
orally taught shaping the art of Shimabuku Tatsuo. As a group those instructors
wrote quite a bit. I am just going to focus on the passages about Kyan Chotoku
at this time.
Kyan
Chotoku of Shorin Ryu was the primary instructor Tatsuo trained with, not the
only one but the individual he spent the most time training with.
From
my translation of the French work “Le Histoire Du
Karate” by Kenji Tokitsu,
I am using my translations from that book.
There were 2 sections about Kyan’s teachings.
1 – The
Itinerary of Chotoku Kiyan (1870 – 1945)
Chotoku Kiyan didn’t give a particular name to
his school, however several masters of the Shorin-ryu school considered it like
the reference of their school. More
ever, the transmission of most kata is passed by his intermediaries, it is why
it is considered that he played an important role in the line of the Shorin-ryu
school. He is known on Okinawa under the
name of Chian Mi Gua, the surname which signifies Kyan ad two small eyes. The kata Tomari no Chinto is transmitted
today under the name of Chian Mi Gua no Chinto, which is a mark of respect
which he acquired with his surname.
C. Kiyan was born in 1870 in Shuri. His
father, descendent of a noble family, was an officer of the last king of Kyukyu
in which he had of him great confidence.
He had the responsibility to conserve the important documents and was
versed in Japanese and Chinese literature.
In 1882, he went with is son to Tokyo in charge of a mission for the
ancient king. C. Kiyan was weak and small, his father imposed on him daily
exercises to reinforce his body, in winter and summer, he trained in the garden
in karate and wrestling. However,
the winter in Tokyo is painful for those
who are habituated to the soft climate of Okinawa. Shoshin Nagamine, one of the students of C.
Kiyan, born in 1907 recounts:
“When I was a police officer, our Police
Chief often spoke to us of the life that carried the Kiyan’s, father and son to
Tokyo, for he had lived in Tokyo himself during his infancy. He said: “When it
was cold, the winter and that I was near the heating, my father criticized me
and to encourage me, cited the example of Kiyan and his son. He said to me,
“The same as the day as cold as today, the father and the son Kiyan were both
outside and training so hard they were perspiring. You also, you are the son of a family of the
same blood as Kiyan, you must therefore be more courageous.” “
The father and the son Kiyan returned to
Okinawa after four years of stay in Tokyo. A day the father of C. Kiyan said to
him:
“Listen well that I stay today, it is my
testament. You are small, but your spirit is strong. Same small as you are, you
must develop you capabilities in the art of combat by good training. You must learn to access some techniques
which are most appropriate for you from the kata. If you get deeply into them you will always
be able to leave those who are adversaries.
General Kabayama of the Satsuma during the war of Keicho (1609) is a good
example. He didn’t measure one meter 50
(cm.), but he was a hero of incomparable bravery and had the surname of “Demon
General”. After this war a popular
expression appeared. ‘The General
Kabayama is a needle, who would be able to swallow a needle?” “ [translators note, this ‘you’ is the
personal one as from father to son, instead of the more global ‘you.]
“There are some people who take themselves
for great adepts, and become arrogant towards their groins (screwing their
groins?), some of them are a little
strong. It is this that one must avoid throughout the process of
getting deeper into karate. If you wish
to become a veritable adept, you must always keep present the spirit of the
seven precepts given by the grand master Sokon Matsumura:
Dominate violence,
Withdraw the soldiers,
Protect the people,
Develop the qualities of each person,
Give tranquility to the people,
Create a harmony between groups, and
finally
Contribute to enrich society,
This is the goal of the martial arts.
You must also examine seriously the veritable
sense of this phrase of our predecessors:
“How can one commit an error while resisting
discreet? Those who are on top and those
who are on the bottom, all must accomplish their work.” “
These words let us foresee the atmosphere in
which Chotoku Kiyan was raised.
A little time after his return to Okinawa, he
went to knock on the door of master Sokon Matsumura who was already nearly 80
years (of age). The documents report that C. Kiyan had received instruction
from S. Matsumura. But, in reason of age of the master, this teaching could not
have been that one imagines today in presenting the course of karate. He
probably received criticism and counsel on his karate and listened to S.
Matsumura’s experiences or his fundamental thoughts on his art. The sole fact from the encounter with the
greatest master of his time was to stimulate the youthful will of C. Kiyan, and
also to bring to him the essential indications that were his guide in his long
itinerary on the way of karate.
Recommended by his father, he was admitted as a student by Anko Itosu
who lived in Shuri, as they did. C.
Kiyan also went to receive training from Kokan Oyatomari, a known adept of the
art of Tomari. We don’t know that last
master except from some vage recollections.
He was born about 1828 and a kata was transmitted under the name of “Oyatomari
no Bassai”. In all cases, it is thanks
to the recommendation and help of his father who was himself a follower of
karate that C. Kiyan receive training from several many masters, the most
important ones of this period.
C. Kiyan, trained himself with diligence to
surmount the inferiority that he conferred on himself because of his small
size. The intensity of his investment
prolonged the education that he gave got
from his father. He developed his
practice to arrive at the way to dominate an adversary large and more powerful
than himself. He thus practiced while
placing himself as if he had just behind him his back to a river, or the
parapet of a bridge and he worked to develop his personal techniques. In these
techniques he does not move back, but that does not say that that he always
enters into a collision with his adversary.
By a continual effort, he developed his methods of moving and of the
legs (use) and little by little gained the reputation of a frightening adept of
combat called kake-dameshi, combat which would leave from a challenge. His surname ‘Chan mi gua” became celebrated
among the adepts of karate.
An
ironic poem of the period said:
In
the old system, he was a trusted noble from Ryukyu,
Today
he draws a carriage, hiding his face under his hat,
What
all this is misery, isn’t it?
Kyan was himself a victim of unemployment;
indeed he effectively worked to draw a carriage to transport agricultural
products and he knew economic difficulties for a long time. It was during this period, the most difficult
of his life, that he encountered master Chantanyara, stableman of the family of
former Ryukyu kings. S. Nagamine told an
antidote, that he heard from Ankichi Arakaki, the oldest pupil of the school of
Kiyan, who had heard it directly from C. Kiyan.
Master
Chantanyara was since childhood, with exceptional agility and had very strong
legs and hips. It is said he jumped from one side of a bridge and immediately
got back up on the other side like a bird would do while flying. But when I
received his teaching age had weakened him and he walked with a cine. But one day at dusk, we were three students,
he explained to us the technique and began to climb. All of a sudden, he shook his cane with
power, then he pointed to me and said:
‘What would you do against this guard?”
I was pushed back by the power of his glance, his body has an immovable
stability, and he maintained a distance with rigorous justice and his cane
didn’t present any fault (opening). I couldn’t do anything, I lost by breath
and I was fallen in place with cold perspiration. Until this day, I was
somewhat presumptuous and I thought that my art was already nearly
sufficient. The master then gave me a
lesson. That of him who has forged his
art unto the point of a mysterious power which is other than simple physical
force. He veritably gave off a formidable energy. I recalled my fathers precepts and I am
training more.
C.
Kiyan had constituted his karate on several personal kata. The kata Chantanyara
no kushanku, favorite kata of Chantanyara that he transmitted to him, and the
kata Chanmigua no Chinto et Oyatomari no bassai are the kata preferred. Contrary to those schools that have known a
large expansion to the center of Japan, the school of Kiyan remains discretely
in the island of Okinawa, and these kata have undergone few formal
modifications. They conserve then most
faithfully the form practiced at the end of the 19th century, the
period of C. Kiyan.
Until
an advanced age C. Kiyan remained renowned for his capabilities in combat; they
said that he never lost and they recount many anecdotes of his combats. The capability of C. Kiyan was constructed by
his proper efforts. He told his students that 70% of the level of an adepts
depends on his effort, and only 30% on his gifts. I cite these words which
condense his attitude:
“Take
the example of the fist; If you train all the day on the makiwara, you can
easily break the planks and the tiles. But if you stop your exercises on the
makiwara, your fist reverts to that of an ordinary person. In karate if you continue your training, you
must progress, but if you take a respite, you regress from before. It is the effort without respite and not the
morphology of a person who find themselves at the junction between a large success
and a failure.”
C.
Kiyan had personalized certain basic techniques. One habitually gives a punch (tsuki) with
the fist formed horizontally, and
strikes principally with the first joint of the medius, but he struck while
maintaining a vertical fist (tate-ken) in privileging a strike with the first
joint of the index. It isn’t a traditional mode, but it is a personal manner
that he had elaborated for himself.
Here
is the last give that he had given to his student S. Nagamine:
“I
had constructed my dojo in 1942, and we had made the inauguration of this dojo
.. I was especially touched by the
presence of master Kiyan, who was already the age of 73 years.. he had executed
to celebrate the inauguration of my dojo his favorite kata, Bassai, and a kata of
the stick. I could not hold back my tears and felt the heat of recognition in
my chest. All the audience had been
struck by the precision of his gestures and the power of his will. I had never felt the grandeur of my master
until that day. It was the last time
that I had seen the Master in a public demonstration.”
2 – The teachings of Chotoku Kiyan
This
text of C. Kiyan shows the practical attitude that makes the particularities of
this adepts karate. His indications are
simple, but his pragmatic spirit is extremely instructive for today’s karateka.
Instructions
for training and teaching, by C. Kiyan (1930)
1
– It is appropriate to teach in the following order: explain first what is karate, what is the
attitude of training, then learn the forms and the movement. Then learn the way of striking with the fist
and the elbow, the way of kicking, the parries corresponding with the techniques of seizing and immobilization,
and finally the kata. It is well after
one has well learned a kata that one should be initiated into combat.
2
– When one trained traditionally in combat, without any protection, this was
not without accidents. It will be necessary to use from now on (in
the future) certain protections, like those of kendo, and to wear rubber
gloves. We will then be able to
avoid accidents.
3
– For training, aside from the makiwara and the protections that I have earlier
mentioned, we don’t have a need of another object, nor some partners, nor much
of a place. It is one of the advantages of karate.
All
things considered, during the daily training it is necessary to strengthen the
body, to exercise the blows of the fist and the feet, to learn how to
skillfully mobilize the members, and to shift oneself with ease, all while
understanding well the principles of training.
While training ourselves in this manner a long time we will arrive at
acquiring the subtle principles of application and how to act suitable in any
situation that presents itself to us.
However if one trains oneself with the techniques of the body, and
neglects to quiet (dampen down) the spirit, that which is fundamental to the
art will be unusable.
It
is necessary to become clairvoyant in life and seek to develop modesty, the
calm spirit, promptitude and bravery, at the same time that one trains the
techniques of the body.
The
martial arts aspires to prevent violence, to alleviate disorder and to protect
oneself. It’s why those who take the martial arts must always have a modest
attitude and reserve to comport oneself correctly with a spirit of loyalty and
devotion.
It
is essential in the martial arts, to act at the necessary time while totally
investing your spirit, your force and your body. Those which their force makes
haughty unto arrogant are harmful to the society, detested by others and will do themselves
misfortune.
It’s
necessary to hold this in account. A proverb says: “A fist strike will remain a
treasure in the sleeve.” It is necessary
to avoid its use without discrimination.
Contribute
to the physical education, train oneself to the martial arts, quiet the spirit;
such are the aims of karate.
One
must keep the [one’s] posture while
remaining motionless and to submerge the “ki” to the bottom of the stomach
while taking care that it does not rise again. However, one must also avoid at
any price from freezing [in place].
When
one practices a kata, it is necessary to execute it with as much willpower and
with the feelings of the moment where one would face with his enemy.
Speed
is necessary in all the gestures and displacements [body
shifts - movements].
All
the displacements [body shifts - movements] owe their carry out while placing
the force in the toes.
When
one practices a kata, it is necessary to know the direction, not to be mistaken
about on the goal (target) of the techniques, and distinguish the jodan
(high), the chudan (middle) and the gedan (low). Training without
comprehension [of the direction of the kata]
is useless.
It
is well needed to train with the makiwara, and reinforce the impact of the
strike. Whatever its speed, the strike
will be ineffective without force in its impact.
More
ever, whatever the force of the strike, it will be ineffective if it is missing agility and speed in the
techniques of the members [arms and legs]
and in displacement [body shifting]. It is not necessary that missing neither
force of the strikes, nor agility; they are like the two wheels of a carriage,
with only one missing they are unbalanced.
It
is always needed to endeavor to integrate the spirit, the body and the eyes.
Instructions
for combat, by C. Kiyan
Before
acting, it is necessary to discern the capabilities of the opponent. If he is powerful, he will inevitably rely on
his strength and will have the tendency to attack. Then I would make an effort
to parry so that he uses more and more force, and I will launch my attack at the
time where he reveals a vacuum [an opening].
It
is a technique by which one borrows the force of the opponent.
If
the opponent isn’t powerful, he will be on the defensive and multiply the
movements and the shifts while often moving back. In this case one should not launch an attack
of a sudden strike. It is then necessary to use blows of the fist and the feet
to bring him to back up and attack all from a strike. Then when I take the initiative of the attack
I must take guard of unexpected responses (counters).
I
should not attack by over-estimating my force and my speed. They who are nimble
will be able to have a fast counter before I can move by divining the movements
of my hand and my feet.
It
will be necessary to hide from the technique that one will use, while
concealing his own will (intentions).
Whatever the capability of the adversary, one should neither advance or
move back more than three steps.
At
the moment of combat, attention should
be paid to the defense of the center line, since the eyes until start from the
legs [This last phrase(depuis les yeux jusqu’au
depart des jambs) doesn’t seem to translate well]. One must always
guard oneself agains receiving fist strikes to the eyes, from kicks to the
testicles and not letting oneself be grabbed. In general, one must not use too
much force in defense. If one uses too
much force in parries, each gesture will be slowed down by it, which risks
losing an opportune moment.
When
one crosses the arms of the adversary, it should be done in a strong and
flexible way, at the same time, but the spirit must be strong, in order to be
able to react adequately to the reaction of the adversary.
The
fist attack must be especially fast.
When it is parried, and diverted from the place that was aimed for, it
must carry on its way to strike anywhere. And, the same, if the attack does not
have a strong impact, the opponent will
become flustered. And then it is necessary to continue to give all the possible
blows from the fist and the foot without stopping a moment, spontaneously and
increasing.
It
isn’t forcefully necessary to parry with the hand kicks from the opponent. On
can avoid them with your legs and strike at the same time with fist strikes.
And
the same if the adversary falls, one should not want to attack too easily, because
sometimes one can receive an unexpected attack.
When
the opponent seizes our leg, there isn’t a danger if one presses the leg to the
earth very strongly. But, one must pay attention not to fall when the ground is
bad.
While
facing towards the opponent, it is necessary to pay attention not to fall into
his strategy. Some use the foot while
striking with their hands, or while making the semblance of seizing the hand,
some others utilize the fists while making ready to attack with the foot. One must never relax.
When
one fights against several opponents, one should never fight body to body [at close range], especially one should fight at a
distance.
If
the attack is to my right, I will move myself to the left; As soon as I attack to the front, I attack to
my opponent at the rear. It is the best
way.
These
instructions are fundamental for combat. But they only present a fragment [of possible tactics].
Summoning
all, the variety of martial arts is subtle and without boundries, it is
impossible to describe them all. Each one will be acquired by ardent training
and by long research.
This is
a lot to digest. I maintain it would have been impossible these ideas were not
discussed with his students over the years.
I
believe you will gain a lot if you take the time to ponder how they could
influence your own art.
Of course any
errors with the translation are my own.
Taken
from my blog at: https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2014/04/historie-du-karate-lecole-shorinryu.html
