Ernest Rothrocks’s
Shaolin School when I first met him
In the 1970’s
Ernest Rothrock on
the far left,
Dave Belsky in
the middle, he later became owner of the Wilkes-Barre school,
Gay Aston on his
left,
Cindy Rothrock
on the far right
Ongoing thoughts on my martial studies and interests, which encompass almost everything.
Ernest Rothrocks’s
Shaolin School when I first met him
In the 1970’s
Ernest Rothrock on
the far left,
Dave Belsky in
the middle, he later became owner of the Wilkes-Barre school,
Gay Aston on his
left,
Cindy Rothrock
on the far right
From the perspective of someone who taught the young through the Boys and Girls Club between 1979 to 2016. I understand what you are commenting on. Of course I only taught for free, just wanting to pay back to my community what adults did when I was young.
When I first taught I was expecting teens to come, but discovered most at that time were not interested in karate. Many of my students were young. But regardless of who the students were I only taught the karate I studied. Never play classes to make money as many schools I have seen do so many times.
In fact one time I had a young girl join our program, he father brought he to our first class, and at one time he had trained to black belt in a different system. He chose our program because it was not a play karate program as were many others he looked at.
After observing what was being taught to his daughter (who was 7) after class he approached me to state, “I can’t believe it you were actually teaching her karate."
I
replied, “Of course I was that was what I was trained in.”
It is invariably true almost 100 % will not stay more than a few years, an those who reach black belt when they move forward in life, as young people do, will almost certainly place karate aside.
I have had instructors who had huge and good commercial programs express the same experience. Young people move on in life and rarely include karate in their path.
But the value is there for each and every one of them, Not the karate, which is real, but the value to their lives, which is beyond measure. For everyone of them, whether they stay or not, gains the knowledge that they can really learn if they apply themselves to the training. The confidence of that effort is beyond price as they keep it for life.
I just found this in my files. No idea where I saved this from but I believe it if of interest.
An
Interview with Sensei Toshihiro Oshiro
Oshiro Toshihiro:
The Way of Yamanni-ryu
by Dong Tran
Dong Tran: When and where were you born?
Toshihiro Oshiro: I was born May 1st, 1949 in Haneji, Okinawa, Japan.
DT: When did you begin training in
karate? Did your youth revolve around martial arts?
TO: I started when I was sixteen. But in actuality, when I was eight or nine in
elementary school my sempai already taught me karate and bojutsu. So you can
say I already began at age eight. But it's not similar to the way you practice
in the dojo today; it's more like kids playing baseball or basketball, that
kind of thing.
DT: Was it called Shorin-ryu then?
TO: No. I wish I could remember the kata they taught me. It was a mixture of
Pinan and Naihanchi katas but I don't know who made that kata. After WWII many
Okinawan karate practitioners were prisoners of war and one of the stockades
was near Haneji so I guess one of them taught karate to our town people.
DT: Who was your first karate sensei? Did
you also train with Nagamine Shoshin sensei? Did you teach at his dojo?
TO: My first and main karate sensei was Shima Masao sensei. One year after I
joined his dojo, he recommended that I go train at the hombu (HQ) dojo. When I
made shodan I became assistant instructor and then instructor. But leading a
class is not the same thing as teaching. They are two entirely different
things! Shima sensei taught me from the Fukyu gata to Chinto. At headquarters,
Nagamine sensei, Kushi sensei, Yamaguchi sensei, and Nakamura sensei taught me
Chinto kata. Nakamura sensei, especially, taught me Chinto kata very deeply..
DT: When did you meet Kishaba Chokei
sensei?
TO: I met him when I made brown belt. It's not like the modern ranking system.
In those days we trained day and night, seven days a week. I achieved brown
belt in one year. Shima sensei's dojo was jointly started by Shima, Taba, and
Kishaba senseis. Then Taba and Kishaba senseis went to mainland Japan so only
Shima sensei ran the school. When I made brown belt, Kishaba sensei came back;
that's how I met him. That's when he started teaching us. But Shima sensei was
my main karate sensei. My foundation and technique came from him. From Kishaba
sensei I gained a lot of knowledge and polished my technique.
DT: Where did you train?
TO: Training was very personal. If sensei saw that a particular student really
wanted to practice, after class he'd bring the student to his house and teach
him more.
DT: When did you meet Chokei sensei's
brother Chogi, your Yamanni-ryu teacher?
TO: Shima sensei always talked about Chogi Kishaba sensei and Chokei sensei
also talked about his brother, how he was a really good bojutsu practitioner.
When Kishaba Chokei sensei came back from mainland Japan, he didn't have a
place to stay, so he lived at his brother Chogi's house, which was where I used
to come to practice karate with him. It took eight years before I finally got
to see for myself Chogi sensei's bo technique and how different it was from
other people's.
DT: Had you heard of Yamanni-ryu before
that?
TO: I had never heard of Yamanni-ryu before. The first time I heard that word,
it was from Kishaba sensei himself. But other senseis knew about Yamanni-ryu; I
was just a young kid and didn't know about it.
DT: Was Kishaba sensei actively teaching
Yamanni-ryu at that time?
TO: I don't know. The only thing I knew was that every time I came to his house
for training, I was the only student.
DT: Did Kishaba sensei accept you right
away or was there a testing, waiting period?
TO: I was allowed to practice with him because I was recommended by his
brother.
DT: Were you also working at the time?
TO: I was working then in the Police department.
DT: Is Kishaba sensei the sole successor
to Masami Chinen sensei, the founder of Yamanni-ryu, or are there other
teachers?
TO: I believe there were other Yamanni-ryu instructors. They learned from
Masami Chinen or his grandfather Sanda but I heard that only Kishaba sensei
knows all the Yamanni-ryu katas. Other people may have studied from Masami
sensei or Sanda sensei but how many people can really say they learned from
them? No one can claim Menkyo Kaiden because there's no such thing. The word
doesn't even exist in the Okinawan language.
DT: Can you tell us about a typical
training session with the Kishaba brothers?
TO: I never practiced with them on the same night. I would train at the dojo,
for instance, from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. then go to Kishaba Chogi sensei's house
for bojutsu. Once in a while I practiced at the hombu dojo then go train with
Chokei sensei afterwards. The sessions were separate. I used to train bojutsu
with Chogi sensei in his veranda. It was dark but there was some light. I could
see what he was showing me but mostly I heard (his bo cut the air). His
technique was so swift but he would not break it down for me. He would only do
the same technique over the same way. When teaching kata he would break it down
but wouldn't explain anything. He would only say, "Do this!" I
haven't learned all his techniques yet. I think he has more to teach.
TO: Yes. Of course Kishaba sensei taught me a lot of kata, techniques, and
history but technically I had to research for myself and do a lot of
self-training. The foundation and 99% of my knowledge and technique came from
Kishaba sensei but I had to practice a lot on my own.
DT: Most of us are used to being
spoon-fed. Can you tell us how Kishaba sensei taught you Sakugawa-no-kon?
TO: There was light in his veranda but still it was very dark. Now I wish I
could see what he did but I'm surprised I could follow the sound of his bo. He
just told me what to do. The first time he showed me the kata it was very
different. I think he slowed it down for me.
DT: At the time, there were no basic or
intermediate katas; you went directly from Suuji-no-kon to Sakugawa-no-kon. Is
it why you feel today it is necessary to create more basic katas to introduce
the student to Yamanni-ryu slowly?
TO: Right. As far as Ryubi-no-kon is concerned, there was already a basic kata
by that name but it didn't work. When I had to teach in the US I had to create a
simple kata. You know how hard Suuji-no-kon is, even though it looks simple. I
adapted the existing Ryubi-no-kon to Yamanni-ryu and showed it to Kishaba
sensei. He approved it because he knew the Okinawan katas were too difficult
and we needed introductory ones.
DT: Did Kishaba sensei also teach you the
secondary weapons or did you have to research on your own?
TO: He never taught us the small weapons. He said there were only katas for
bojutsu and karate in Okinawan martial arts. For everything else (sai, tunfa,
etc...) We would have to study ourselves.
DT: Can you tell us how Kishaba sensei
taught you saijutsu?
TO: One day I ordered a pair of sai that was very well balanced, with a good
shape. I brought them to Sensei's house and asked him to teach me. I knew there
must be a way to control the weapon (even if there was no kata). Sensei really
liked those sai so he took them and we went upstairs for our regular bojutsu
practice. Halfway up the stairs he turned around and swung the sai-just once-in
front of my face and said: "This is how you are supposed to swing the
sai." That was the only time he showed me. He said that as far as the
small weapons were concerned, I had to study on my own. And that's what I did.
DT: When did you come to the United
States?
TO: In 1978. I came because one of my karate sempai, who owned a dojo in
California, had passed away. They needed a replacement instructor, so I came.
DT: When you came here, did you begin
teaching Yamanni-ryu right away?
TO: For five years after I arrived in the US, I taught only karate. Karate was
the main curriculum because I felt bojutsu was something I did just for myself.
I didn't teach anybody until one day I went to a tournament and saw how people
practiced bojutsu. Somebody asked me to do a demonstration and when I did
people were really surprised at how different it was from their styles.
Interest picked up and that's when I started teaching Yamanni-ryu.
DT: It has taken a while; are you happy
with the foundation you have laid so far?
TO: As far as introducing Yamanni-ryu to the public, I hope I did a good thing
for Okinawan martial arts. Some people have said that karate has changed into a
modern version while ancient kobudo has not. I hope that through Yamanni-ryu
they can get a glimpse of the old karate. I don't know if I have done a good
job. Maybe if there had been a more capable person (than I) and he could have
taught Americans and made Yamanni-ryu more popular and raised people's level of
martial art...I only know I did my best. But I'm happy with what I've done and
seen. Even though there are people who are just using Yamanni-ryu's name, there
are those who sincerely want to learn it, and that makes me very happy.
DT: You have given seminars and clinics
abroad as well. Recently you have been to France. Do you feel Yamanni-ryu will
grow on the international level?
TO: I think so. In other countries people want to learn Yamanni-ryu but it's
difficult for them to get instruction. I was lucky to have been invited to
France to teach last month. This was the first time Yamanni-ryu was introduced
in public in Europe.
DT: What are your hopes for the future?
You have begun using kendo bogu (armor) to practice tournament-style kumibo. Do
you want to incorporate this into the Yamanni-ryu syllabus?
TO: The introduction of kumibo and intermediate katas was not my idea but
rather Kishaba sensei's express orders. He requested the kumibo practice but
the technical implementation was my own. For the future of Yamanni-ryu I
believe that the sport/competition aspect of it will make it easier for the
public to understand up to a certain level, but at a higher level, people will
have to do the martial art, the Way of martial art. However, if we do only the
martial art, people might not be able to do Yamanni-ryu and it might disappear.
DT: Thank you, sensei, for granting me
this interview and sharing your views with us.
Dong Tran first met
Oshiro sensei in 1986 and has achieved the rank of nidan in Yamanni-ryu in
1998. He brings Oshiro sensei out to New Jersey for an annual workshop in June.
His dojo, the Asian Arts Center, is located in West Caldwell, NJ. His web site
is: www.asianartscenter.com
just some thoughts on
menkyo kaiden
I'n not here to change anyone's mind, because it seems people have
their minds made up already. I will, however, contribute a little to this older
conversation (i just came across it today) with a bit of my own thoughts.
Quote:
If Kishaba Chôgi - who
maybe studied under Masami Chinen in whatever meaning you may interpret
"study" - should have such a written diploma it may be allowed to
ask for it's existance and what it states (Shihan Menkyo, or Menjô etc.).
Also there are maybe more hints on such a diploma, like "the person
learned Bôjutsu for a long time" or "... reached this or that
level" etc. It should be in your mind to provide such an information, if
it exists (as Miyagi Chôjun did not give our diploma or ranks, it would also
be intersting to know how long Kishaba trained under him, if he continued
training with others). |
I trained in Yamanni Ryu with Oshiro Toshihiro for almost 20 years. I also
trained with Kishaba Chogi for the three years I lived in Okinawa (1994-1997).
I remember a conversation I had in Kishaba's dojo one night. During one a
mid-class break in one of Kishaba's classes, I asked sensei about the menkyo
kaiden.
We were all sitting in a corner of a room, and Kishaba answered me with a very
short reply, one in which I could not understand at all, given that it was a
mix of hogen and very masculine Japanese. It was up to another member of the
group to explain to me in more simple terms (I forgot who it was), but the gist
of it was that at the time Kishaba was training with Chinen it was not a given
that people got menkyo kaiden in Okinawan martial arts: that tradition was more
a practice seen in Japanese martial arts than it was in Okinawan ones. Okinawan
martial systems traditionally did not place such a deep emphasis on records,
certificates, and licenses.
Oshiro, in fact, said a similar thing in an interview with Dong Tran. (http://www.oshirodojo.com/kobudo_int_dong.html)
OSHIRO: "I believe there were other Yamanni-ryu instructors. They learned
from Masami Chinen or his grandfather Sanda but I heard that only Kishaba
sensei knows all the Yamanni-ryu katas. Other people may have studied from
Masami sensei or Sanda sensei but how many people can really say they learned
from them? No one can claim Menkyo Kaiden because there's no such thing. The
word doesn't even exist in the Okinawan language."
I am not saying that okinawan martial artists never received these papers, as
it has already been pointed out that some of them did. And I am not asking any
of you to believe what has been said to me. I myself have no reason to doubt
the knowledge and honesty of the poeple I trained with. Even so, given what
they've said, I am wondering how many people received these menkyo kaiden in
Okinawa prior to World War II, when schools started to get more students and
organizations were forming in a big way.
if it really wasn't a common practice, then it might not be so unbelievable
that a smaller more secretive style such as Yamanni Ryu didnt give them out, as
they were looked upon merely as pieces of paper.
Nobida
Roy
Blackwell was my first black belt student.
He
began his training under Charles Murray who was also training me, when Charles
began a youth program in his church in Providence Pa. When Charles returned to
the USAF the Blackwell brothers continued their training with me.
A photo I took of some of the students of Charles Murray back in 1978,
When
I began my program for youth at the Scranton Boys Club, they assisted me with
the program as they continued their own studies. Often they accompanied me to
get additional training at the many schools I visited.
Roy
continued the training and eventually reached Black Belt, prior to moving with
his family to Texas.
At
times he would visit me for varying times and eventually reached 3rd
dan.
In
Texas he chose to join the USMC reserves.
In
life he faced many trials and eventually succumbed to them, passing away.
I
would like to remember Roy best through these photos
Mike Toomey (my
2nd black belt), myself and Roy
Myself and I preparing to participate in a karate camp war game.
My senior student was Roy Blackwell. He actually
began training along with his two brothers in the church program Charles Murray
started in his church. When Charles returned to the USAF the Blackwell brothers
kept training with me and when I began my program at the Scranton Boys Club
they greatly helped me launch that program.
As the years passed
often whey you train siblings as one
pulls ahead of the others in skill, the other brothers turn to something
else and only Roy remained training.
When he entered his Junior year of training his
parents put it to him it was either Football on the School team or dropping
karate for that time. Roy chose football and discontinued karate training for
that time. At that time Roy was a brown belt and I did understand why his
parents made him make that decision.
Of course my program continued at the Boys Club, they
for an upcoming Parents evening I was asked to provide a karate program for the
parents to see. I proceeded to design a
program.
Just before that program, Roy’s football year ended
and he was very eager to return to the karate training with me.
So he got
into the training and practicing with the rest of the group for the program.
It was just the standard overview of what the kids
were studying in our Isshinryu karate program.
Toward the end I was going to perform a simple head board break for all,
Really a simple pop break with my
forehead. Then have several of the youth perform a dynamic self defense skit I had
originally put together for the Blackwell brothers for a tournament several
years before.
In actuality, a very simple set of drills for the
youth to perform before their parents.
The
night of the program Roy came up to me with a begging request. He wanted to do
the head break. It really was a simple break and I knew he had the body mass to
do so. However I also knew it was a bad idea.
I
really did try and dissuade him from that request. But he pleaded so hard
eventually I gave in against my better judgment.
Then the demonstration began.
You know some group and individual kata
performances, several sparring demonstrations. Group basics, etc.
As it was winding down I announced Roy Blackwell was
next.
I decided to have some fun with it. (which as it
turned out was a very bad idea).
’
I told the group Roy had just returned to karate, choosing to stop to play
football for his school team. So for deciding to stop karate training I think
it would be reasonable for him to pay for that choice and have him break a
board with his forehead.’
I stood before Roy, holding the board in my hands.
He prepared himself, then suddenly drove his head forward, he smashed his head through the board.
But as I was holding the board I clearly saw is was
not his forehead that broke the board, instead he did a face break. It was his face I saw breaking the board.
I had Roy return to the group and began my
explanation of the final self defense demonstration that would conclude the
program.
But as I was talking I saw Roy had blood streaming
from both nostrils. I realized I had to act, and of course it was before
everyone there.
So as I continued with my explanation I began moving
toward Roy. When I reached him I quietly told him he was to leave, enter the
locker room and clean his face and place pressure on his nose to stop the
bleed.
And of course as he was pumped up for the
demonstration he wanted nothing to do with that.
I had to get insistent before he would leave. He did
so.
All the time I had to continue talking to the crowd.
I selected a replacement from the group.
The demonstration concluded the show.
I then went into the locker room to find Roy had
stopped his nose from bleeding. I also got an explanation from him as to what
happened.
It
turned out Roy had a new girlfriend in the audience. He had her come there to show off his karate.
I learned a very big lesson that day, Never, never….
never let a student suggest you change your planned program for them.
Saved from from
the Journal of Asian Martial Arts
Volume 3, 2009
Probably the best article on the Cartoid Choke I have seen.
https://ameblo.jp/motoburyu/entry-12667916484.html
Related articles
https://ameblo.jp/motoburyu/entry-12666402573.html
https://ameblo.jp/motoburyu/entry-12665059384.html
These pages are a really superior resource.
This article describes how Kyan Sensei wrote about the use of protective Kendo gear to be used in kumite matches. At almost the same time a Japanese University group started doing the same thing.
Shimabuku Tatsuo did the same thing and
used that gear in his dojo back as early as the 1960’s. Surely his practice was
influenced by Kyan Sensei.
Here is a photo of Sensei with a set of the gear he possessed in the Salisbury dojo.
I remember Sensei telling us it was a hot as hell to spar in, nor could you get your breath. You had very limited tunnel vision to see, and as you could not be injured most fignts in the dojo were till the partner was on the ground. He also said the Okinawans often used a front heel thrust kick to knock their opponents to the ground.
From the
Hayanawa Kappo
Kenpo Kyojan Zukai, Zen
Complete Illustrated Book of the Teaching Method of Tying (Hayanawa),
The Striking
Methods of Jujutsu (Kenpo)
And the Method
of Resuscitation (Kappo)
Plagiarism, Plagelism, Pugilism
Phantastic play pon pwords pafter pall
When a communication channel is created it takes both sender and receiver, original communication and feedback to try and bride the gap and make communication meaningful.
Tools like dictionaries try and bridge that gap in part by showing common usage as accumulated.
But language is living and flows and changes, as the user lives, flows and changes.
It’s easy to look at something and take it to the extreme one way, but as words really have no meaning but in context, and the receiver can interpret them alone as they wish, and the sender has no idea if they have communicated, there in lies some of the true openings for misunderstanding.
I’m reminded of a very old science fiction story. Earth discovered there was intelligent life on Venus and sent a ship to represent the earth. It broadcast the message “We come in Peace”, over and over. Before the ship landed on Venus a ray struck out and destroyed the planet Earth for all time. The Venusians acted correctly hearing a direct challenge that we were ready to destroy them, as all Venusian dictionaries define ‘Peace’ as the declaration of a war of total extinction.
Alfred Korzbyski realized how much misunderstanding how language functioned was an underlying cause for many of our problems. Long ago he explained how language functions with his levels of abstraction.
A Victor Smith simplification.
There is the event level of reality. The atoms, molecules, physical reality of matter, energy, heat and light.
Then there is the perceived level of reality. The sun shines through a window and the dinner table glows from it’s polished wood.
We abstract that perceived level of reality and end up with
words, Table, Wood, Sunshine.
Those words are not the thing. Table as a term describes many, many, many
tables. And if you want it to be understood as close to 100% of the time, in a
room with 5 objects which can handle the label table, you need to add many
descriptive modifiers. To make this simpler is when you wife tells you to get
something out of the kitchen drawer, and you look in a few and can’t find it,
because as a husband you’re supposed to know in which drawer she was referring.
But words can describe words too, at a higher level of abstraction. An example of this would be the pride in the word table by a cabinet maker, where table is a much more abstract knowledge of each piece of wood, each shaved plane, each joint constructed.
This is but a simple view of Korzbyski’s General Semantics, but it is at the heart of the discussion these past days.
Someone reads something and jumps to an assumption about what was written, then layers of abstraction and miscommunication occur ad infinitium.
My response of course is a classical rhetorical device, "reductio
ad absurdum".
Hence we go from Plagelism (original usage) to Plagiarism to Plagelism (my definition) to the implied Pugilism I suspect of Len.
It’s best to keep in mind what difficulty we face when we try to communicate.
In fact its the base of all of the problems that exist within Isshinryu if you
delve deeply enough.
For myself rather than talk I’d rather grab a handful of Plagels and start heaving them at everyone!
Chopin and Karate – a
parallel?
I find I have many passionate
interests in life I try to follow a bit.
One of them is to try and
understand classical music better. I enjoy an extremely wide range of music but
my musical education has always been extremely limited.
Over the years I discovered
BBC Music, a British magazine dedicated to classical music that also includes
CD’s with complete works (unlike other classical music magazines that have CD’s
with pieces to try and get you to buy those CD’s). I find it very interesting to gain some more
knowledge about things I enjoy.
The May 2004 issue has an
article “the Final Score – can a score ever tell us exactly what the composer
intended us to hear” by John Rink that I feel incredibly parallels many issues
in the transmission of Karate, especially on the question about a kata’s
original composer.
Consider how exacting music
has been transcribed for hundreds of years.
Exact notation in infinite detail, much more than the shape of kata. Yet
the article suggests other issues worth considering. From page 30.
“Performers often say their goal is to realize ‘the composer’s intentions’. On the face it seems noble enough, but can such an ambition ever be achieved, and if so to what avail? And which composer’s intentions’ do they mean: those at the time of the music’s conception, or when the first manuscript was finished, or when proof sheets of the first edition were corrected, or at the first performance, or after years of performances and if so corrected by whom? What if those intentions conflict – and what if the composer’s view of the music was less fixed than our own might be, whether as listeners or performers.”
“These questions are
difficult to answer, and they challenge any simple truths we might choose to
hold about how music “should” sound. The
fact of the matter is that when it comes to composer’s intentions, we believe
what we want to believe – and our beliefs are inevitably based on knowledge
that is less than complete. Taking hold of someone else’s music, whether in
words or in performance, requires educated guesswork on the one hand and our
own creativity on the other. That partly
explains why no account of the music could ever conform to what the composer
intended: we as interpreters and co-creators get in the way. And for all the
convictions we might have about how composers X and Y wanted their music
performed, no one has the requisite insight or authority that some have
proclaimed over the years…..”
“Chopin offers a particularly
interesting case study of how ‘composer’s intentions’ can change over time. His
artistic convictions were more or less immutable and passionately, if quietly, held,
and with few exceptions, he dismissed those performances of his works violated
the aesthetic principles that he professed.
But he was far from rigid when performing his own music. ……we know from
Alfred Hipkins… that Chopin never played his own compositions twice alike, but
varied each according to the mood of the moment.’…..”
“…his creative genius was irrepressible
and forever engaged. To that extent he
continually modified his compositions on paper as well as in performance…..
Chopin reveled in the music’s creative potential by indulging in all manner of
variants, whether in a given piece or at successive stages of the compositional
process.”
“… So which reflects of the
two extant manuscripts best reflects Chopin’s intentions: the earlier of the
two, prepared when he was most alert and his ideas freshest, or the later one,
copied out more of less mechanically but with the opportunity to refine initial
thoughts and introduce new ones?”
Think how this parallels so
many questions we hold about the origins of the Okinawan arts? What was the right version of Seisan kata?
The original created one? Or later
versions on the theme?
I think that a link such as karate to Chopin’s music may suggest
the study of the kata may never have been a fixed shape as much as a themeto
work with.
If the originator of a kata
could return today? Would they be distressed that kata drift occurs, or would
they be thrilled their original theme continues with new life generation after
generation?