Isshin-ryū History Sumuchi

 Arcenio Advincula

Shimabuku Shinsho (Ciso) brings out his father's Fortune Telling books and Feng shui tools of the trade.

 

April 15, 1999 At Shimabuku Shinsho’s home in Takaesu, Gushikawa City, Okinawa

 

Shinsho is the second born son of Shimabuku Tatsuo Sensei. He is called Ciso for short by most Americans. A little background on Ciso. When I first began training in Isshin-ryū karate at the Agena dojo on December 1, 1958, Ciso was training. He was a white belt at the time but because he could speak a little English he would interpret for his father. Many Americans have given credit to Ciso for assisting them.

 

Here is what others have said about Ciso:

 

Harold Long went to Okinawa wit h Richard Keith and started Isshin-ryu karate at the Agena dojo from 1957 to 1958, praised Ciso saying he translated for his father an helped him when he trained at Agena dojo.
Ref: Isshin-ryu Karate: The Ultimate Fighting Art, by Harold Long and Tim McGhee

 

Richard Keith who studied with Shimabuku Tatsuo at the Agena dojo in 1957 to 1958 remembers Shinsho. He remembers how Shinsho, as a teenager did much of the training and teaching marines and interpreting for his father when Keith first arrived and trained in the Agena dojo, In early 1957.
Ref: Telcon Interview with Richard Keith and Arcenio Advincula 10-13-97

 

Jake Eckenrode who studied at the Agena dojo 1959 to 1960 said this about Ciso. “Ciso is an outstanding young boy, and friend, and a great Karate-Ka. He taught and polished me up to receiving my Shodan. He taught me all I could ever want to know and he teaches the marine black belts although he only holds a white belt - you figure it out! Guess it does not matter to the Okinawans as they are pure and don't boast.”
Ref: From Don Bohan web page

 

Clarence Ewing who studied at the Agena dojo 1959 to 1960 when asked about Ciso said, “Ciso Shimabuku- He always helped me with katas; he was the greatest! My pet name for him was “Sukoshi Sensei” meaning little sensei.”
Ref: From Don Bohan web page

 

Tom Lewis who trained at the Agena dojo 1959 to 1960 “I was very saddened when I heard the passing of Ciso. I liked him a lot and thought he was very much like his dad. What I remember most about him, aside from his superb technique, he had a good sense of humor and his goal was to become a school teacher. I think a lot of us wished he had been more involved in his fathers karate, he had much to offer. He will be missed. Tom. p.s. I saw him dump Steve Armstrong on the floor when they were just horsing around.”
Ref: Posted October 7, 2006, on the Isshinkai Yahoo, group, Message 23449:

 

Shigema Genyu, Kaneshiro Kenji and Kaneshi Eiko, Tatsuo’s right-hand-man on December 24, 1984, in an interview with the three, they all said Ciso was a good man.

Ref: In an interview 12-24-1984 at Taba, Gushikawa City, Okinawa

 

 

Shimabuku Shinsho (Ciso) brings out his father's 

Fortune Telling books

 and Feng shui tools of the trade.

 

Visit with Shimabuku Shinsho, April 15, 1999 At his home in Takaesu, Gushikawa City

 

Tatsuo gave Ciso the ancient Chinese fortune telling books of Ganiku. Ganiku was Tatsuo’s uncle on his mothers side who first taught Tatsuo to be a sanjinsoo or sumuchi. A sumuchi in Okinawan dialect Ucninaguchi, or hogen (dialect), is a practitioner who engages in fortunetelling. divining, and geomancy, deriving their knowledge from books rather than from the supernatural. The I Ching and kuyumi or lunar almanac besides other books on occult lore are used by a sumuchi. These ancient books were all written in kanji or Chinese characters. Ganiku also taught Tatsuo Shorinji karate according to Ciso.

 

Ciso brings out these books. They are wrapped in the Japanese fashion in a cloth wrap. Ciso un wraps them and states.

 

Ciso: “One of these books only two people on Okinawa have. These books are difficult to read. One of these books say kami (god). My father was smart, a common person would not understand. All the books are in kanji. Ganiku was a school principle and learned Shorin-ryu (Shaolin karate). Ganiku went to China and learned Shorinji (Shaolin temple.) He learned Shorinji karate from Kosi and Mosi.”

NOTE: Kosi and Mosi are Okinawan hogen pronunciation.

 

Ciso continues talking about Tatsuo learning fortune telling: “Most who try to learn do not understand and only one out of a hundred who start, will. Several paid to learn but only my father learned.”

 

 

 

Victor Smith

This is something I studied in University long ago. The I Ching is an ancient book used in divination. To do so there are a specific set of rules to follow. The interpretations are not the description of what happens, they go back to cracks originally in heated tortoise shells, later random patterns in sticks that drop, even more recently in the pattern formed by 3 dropping coins. The answers revealed, are just observations of the change that is shown, The divination if the skill of the caster to understand how those changes apply to the question of the moment. And change is continual, subsequent attempts will yield new answers. Believe it or not, it requires your belief in the skill of the one using these texts.

 

I never gave this much credence, but at the time Maureen was firt pregnant long ago, I decided to chech the I Ching. I wrote down my answer, not understanding it, then setting the book with the divination aside for another day. Maureen had a miscarriage that time, long ago, much, much later I located the book, and reread that divination.

 

The answer included these words, “the Hidden Dragon decided to remain hidden.”

 

That chilled me to the bone, Confucius said the I Ching is never wrong.(I Ching is a very, very old Chinese tradition). Of course I don’t really know if that is the case. But for myself, I decided that I would not let such knowledge lead my life.