Miyagi Sanchin
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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 And that it may have been replaced by standardization for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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