Saturday, March 18, 2023

Robert Orozoco Miyagi Sanchin and the Okinawan Language

 

Miyagi Sanchin

 



 

Hello Everyone,

 

I hope that everyone is doing well. As some of you may know, I am currently translating a letter written by Miyagi Sensei to a student. Although I wish that I could share it's contents as a whole as well as a replica of the letter (Note: I am transposing the letter into printed form using standard print kanji and kana as well as translating)  please forgive me as I can not do such as thing. The reason is because I have not been given permission. Please note that I did not ask for permission nor shall I in the future as that is not my place to decide. At any rate, I can share some tidbits of information. 

 

It is interesting that he writes "Sanchin 'in conjunction' with Tensho" in the previous sections, he does not use the word "and" or the word "or" when he says this statement. This is in the section talking about the basic kata of goju-ryu. This makes me think about when I teach my students this kata and when I learned it from my teacher.

 

In the third part of Miyagi's letter regarding sanchin, he writes about how the metacarpals, fingertips, and thumb (Note: there is more but I have to limit my direct transmission of the letter and for that I apologize) position are very important in the execution of Sanchin. Some people write about the stance of sanchin, the breathing of sanchin, the tension of sanchin, etc. However, most things written are just mentions and nothing really exact. So, the question that remains, is where are these things in relation to sanchin kata and does a person think about these when they execute the kata. The same can be said about the big toe, how does the big thumb relate to the big toe in Sanchin.

 

Anyhow, just some food for thought. Back to my translations and getting cross eyed looking at hand written kanji from 1932. I am working on Page 4 now and it took me forever to get this far. 

respectfully,

 

 

 Dánt’e Da!,    Robert Orozoco

 

 

 

 

Dánt’e Robert,

 

Things are well here, I trust they are the same with you.

 

You certainly have been giving me a furious think of late. I’ve been mostly thinking on your contention that the older way of karate, meant each stance was unique to each kata. And that it may have been replaced by standardization for ‘modern’ reasons.

 

However, the mentioning of the hands, fingers and the big thumbs with sanchin development makes sense to me. It parallels something I have learned about tai chi alignment theory, which also applied to my Isshinryu.

 

When the body is correctly aligned there is more power. Every particular is involved. A karate example, the chambering fist when the low block is used in Nihanchi Kata, increases the full power of the low block. Even tightening the fist at the right moment when it is already in chamber increases the power of the low block.

 

The individual components of the body work together more harmoniously through correct alignment theory use. When an element or element is unaligned it becomes demonstrably evident that less power is present.

 

This has been documented in great detail is some tai chi texts. I had studied for 15 years before my instructor showed it to me (as his instructor waited 15 years before he showed it to him). Of course no reason for the wait, I saw the immediate benefit to use it to prepare my karate students immediately.

 

I suggest this may be similar to what Miyagi was writing.

 

I hope you remain in good health, and am waiting to hear more of your translation.

 

Victor Smith

Bushi No Te Isshinryu

Derry, NH USA

 

 

On Okinawan Translation

 

Hello Everyone,

 

I hope that everyone is doing well. I apologize for the seemingly lengthy absence as I have been doing a few things:

 

1. Translating a letter written in 1932 by Miyagi Chojun Sensei to one of his students.

2. Translating the Umuru Uso-chi

3. Learning to play the Sanshin 

4. Reading Okinawan Poetry and Songs in Uchina-Guchi

5. Learning more about Uchina-Guchi (Okinawan Language)

6. Karate Training (I guess I should have put this first)

 

As I learn more Uchina-guchi, I feel the urge not to talk about it too much on the internet. The reasons are many, but here are the major reasons:

 

1. Some of what was written by "historians" seem to be a bit strange when one learns more about the Okinawan language.

 

2. Do people really want to learn or is it a novelty. The reason I am learning is to learn more stories from my teacher and my teacher speaks the language.

 

3. Some people may take some words and use them to make up their own style to make it seem more Okinawan.

 

Some people know about the phrase, Tee Chikate Mani. This phrase was made popular in a book written by Toguchi Sensei of the Shoreikan. I have seen other people use this phrase when talking about "old style" kata training. However, there are a few things that stand out when learning the Okinawan language. For starters, there is a huge absence of "e" and "o" sounds in the Okinawan Language. This does not mean that the "e" and "o" sounds do not exist in Okinawan but for the most part it is not common. 

 

Tee is perhaps phonetic for "Ti-" or"Tii", this is usually written by Ti by others but really it is an elongated "i" sound and not just a short "i" sound. Ti- in the majority of usage means hand but can sometimes also mean skill. 

 

Chikate does not seem correct as it ends in a "e" sound. This is probably the gerund form of the verb Chikain which means "to use". The gerund form of this word is "Chikati"

 

Mani is the same as the Japanese word "Mane" which basically means copy. Note the change of the "e" to "i" from Japanese to Okinawan.

 

Tee Chikate Mani (Ti- Chikati Mani) can be translated as "copy of the use of the hand/skill".

 

There are more examples of people using Okinawan language in recent times and discussions but no one seems to question their authenticity but will almost use these things as sources. To me this is very strange.

 

Some might state that this detail is not really important and has nothing to do with Karate. However, I will quote my teacher, "Imitation karate is the absence of the small details"

 

Respectfully,

 

Robert Orozco


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