"Analysis of the Bubishi" from KINAWAN BUBISHI

 From KINAWAN BUBISHI by Fernando P. Camara

 

In my article "Analysis of the Bubishi" I classified the basic, technical, and particular teaching of these figures, but in the present article I intend to go a little deeper in this research. We can divide the 48 figures in the following elements:

 

1,Basic blocks:

Figures 25 (mawashi-uke tora-guchi), 32 (crane fist chudan soto-uke), and 37 (closed fist chudan uchi-uke) seem to exist only to remember the basic blocks used by the school represented in the Bubishi.

The jodan-uke block occurs in figures and is performed with both hands (augmented or as X-block). Here it is used to defend a strike above the head or a hair grab. This block is naturally completed with a front kick in the groin of the adversary.

 

2. Hand strikes:

These techniques used along the 48 figures are performed with four fingers (nukite), one finger (ippon-nukite), crane bunched fingers (kakushiken), palm hand (teisho ate), punch (seiken or hiraken?), hammerfist (kentsui), elbow (ushiro hijiate), chokes with fingers and squeeze of testicles and biceps with the fingers. Training of the fingers should be encouraged in that system.

 

3. Kicks:

Front kick is the only kick showed and the kicker always loose (figures 5, 12, 21, 26.

Note that figures 21 repeat figure 12). This show us that kicks were not considered good technique in that school, and perhaps it were used only as a complement of some defense techniques.

 

4. Kyusho jutsu:

We have also figures where the purpose is to call the attention for specific painful points and how it should be manipulated. These are showed figures 14 (insertion of triceps above the elbows), 16 (armpits), 30 (side of the thorax), and 40 (intercostal space below niples). Vital points showed along the 48 figures are testicles, throat, eyes, jaws (side), and carotids (see figure 31).

There are not strikes to back, legs, or arms in the 48 figures. This is an example that "36 kyusho" or "sichen" doctrines were not important, what is important is if the technique works or not.

 

5. Lethal techinuqes:

Most of 48 figures techinques are dangerous, but one of them is particularly lethal: breaking the neck of someone in a close fight (figure 4 and 7, that are the same technique). This is a easy technique, but extremely dangerous and not should be teaching in regular classes.