(Note: all pictures given
here are from the author’s private book collection)
Taira Shinken was born in Maja, Nakazato-son on Kume
Island on Saturday, June 12, 1897. This is the accepted date, although a
driver’s license issued by Gunma Prefecture in December 1935 gives his date of
birth as June 13th, 1901.
He was the second oldest among four sons. His father’s
name was Taro, his mother’s name Kamado. His ancestors were a wealthy family,
descended from the Yamahiga Dunchi of Kume Island. This bloodline he inherited
from his natural mother, who bore the name Maezato. Although later he was
adopted into the Taira family, his surname still remained Meazato in the
official family register. In his later years he would thus often used either
the name Maezato or Taira. In addition, according to Okinawan custom he also
had a child’s name, which in his case was Mousa (corrupted form of Maushi),
which approximately translates to “true bull”.
After graduating at the elementary school in Nakazato,
the now poor family finances forced him to pursue an employment in the mining
of natural phosphate on Kita Daitō Island, situated about 360 km east of
Okinawa. This meant heavy physical labor that had to be patiently accomplished
on a daily basis. One day he got involved in a mine accident: when a support
post broke and the gallery collapsed, Taira contracted a fracture of his right
leg and only barely escaped from inside the gallery to save his life.
One of twenty-eight photos of Taira Shinken with Mabuni Kenwa, performing Kata Bunkai. From Mabuni Kenwa’s Karate-dō Nyūmon (Karate-jutsu Kyōhan) of 1938.
In order to receive treatment and to recover from the
fracture he returned to Kume Island, were he led a scanty life. After his full
recovery he set out to find work on Minami Daitō Island, situated approximately
400 km east of Okinawa. While working on the island the great deal of walking
required for the job caused him great inconvenience and his old injury
considerably disabled him. This was also noticed by his co-workers, who mocked
him for being a cripple, causing him bitter times every day. However, keeping
his patience and perseverance up, he hoped for his colleagues to eventually
understand the circumstances and to show some compassion. Yet, the cold-hearted
attitude displayed towards him didn’t change in the slightest. When one day
they all jointly paltered with him particularly bad, the limits of his patience
were exceeded, and he fled the island.
Thereupon he made the important decision to not resign to
his fate and decided to move on to the Japanese main island with the intention
to train jūdō. Since that time fate befriended him little by little.
And eventually in Tōkyō he met Funakoshi Gichin (1870-1954), an expert of
Okinawa karate.
In 1922, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education,
the first Sports exhibition was held in Tōkyō. On occasion of this event the
Department of Educational Affairs of Okinawa Prefecture sent Funakoshi to
Tōkyō, where he explained and demonstrated Okinawan karate. Originally
it was intended for him to immediately return to Okinawa after completion of
this project, but Funakoshi received requests to teach karate from all
directions.
Three of twenty-eight photos of Taira Shinken with Mabuni Kenwa, performing Kata Bunkai. From Mabuni Kenwa’s Karate-dō Nyūmon (Karate-jutsu Kyōhan) of 1938.
The legacies of the Okinawan teachers, to whom he owed so
much – namely Asato Ankō (1828-1914) and Itosu Ankō (1931-1915) – provided him
the incentive to stay in Tōkyō and to start serious efforts for the teaching and
dissemination of karate. At the time, Funakoshi Gichin served as
president of the “martial union” of Okinawa, the Shōbukai, and the
authorities of the prefecture were of the opinion that he was best suited for
the deployment for this purpose. At that time, Funakoshi and Taira met in
Tōkyō.
Funakoshi was fifty-two years old at that time and a
mature expert of bujutsu. In contrast, there was the twenty-five year
old Taira, full of youthful vigor. In those days Funakoshi had a position at
the Meisei-juku, with which he made his living and the dōjō
of which he was allowed to use for karate lessons. Taira formally
entered this school and passionately devoted himself to the training of karate.
Snappish he endured the continuous training day and night.
The Meisei-juku was a dormitory for students
from Okinawa prefecture, which had been built in Tōkyō-bu Bunkyōku-ko Hinata in
1913. The first director of the dormitory was famous historian Higaonna Kanjun
(1881–1963), second director was Kamiyama Seiryō (1882–1978), and third
director was Higa Ryōtoku (1892–1975). Among the residents of the dormitory
were Matayoshi Kōwa (1887–1953), Nakayoshi Ryōkō, Toyogawa Zenyō (1888–1941),
Inamine Ichirō (1905–1989) and others. The Meisei-juku played a major
role for Okinawan politics and economics, and gave rise to many leading
figures.
Funakoshi Gichin (middle row, 2nd from left). Memory of the martial demonstration in front of his Highness the Crown Prince (Hirohito) on March 6, 1921, at the main hall of Shuri castle.
And in the Meisei-juku Funakoshi Gichin in 1922
established his base for karate training in Tōkyō, which was the first
formal karate dōjō on Japan’s main island. Later he relocated his dōjō
to Toshima-ku Zōshigaya, which was to remain a cradle of karate training
in Tōkyō for a long time. By Funakoshi’s sowing, Okinawa karate
instantly began to bear fruit throughout the whole country, powerfully spread
further and finally reached the whole world.
In those days Funakoshi had only a few other students
besides Taira, and they lived a simple and poor life sharing room and food.
During a demonstration, in which Funakoshi presented karate kata, it
had been reported that Taira smashed six wooden boards of about 3cm thickness
each. Sometimes he would even break one wooden board of 12cm thickness with a
thrust of the phalanx of his right middle finger. In those days Taira taught karate
along with Funakoshi in the following schools:
Toyama Military School
Chūō University
Waseda University
Japanese Medical University
Keiō University
Hōsei University
Agricultural College Tōkyō
the “Hall of the Nation” University
the National University
etc.
In his book Karate-dō Ichirō, Funakoshi
mentioned that he recommended Taira Shinken to Yabiku Mōden (1878-1941), when
the latter had come to the capital in 1929. Taira seized the opportunity and
began training in Ryūkyū Kobudō.
February 1933, Ikaho Onsen in Gunma prefecture. Photography of the meeting with Master Yabiku Mōden in the branch Dōjō.
Yabiku Mōden was born in 1878 in Shuri Gibo-chō just
around the time the transformation from the Ryūkyū fief to Okinawa prefecture
took place within the Japan-wide abolition of the old feudal domains and the
establishment of prefectures. Yabiku had three brothers and one sister and was the
eldest son of the family. In his youth he was of rather small physique. He
learned karate from Itosu Ankō, kobujutsu from Chinen Pēchin
Sanda, Tawada “Mēgantū” Shinboku, and besides from Kanagusuku “Kanī-usumē”
Ufuchiku. Finally, Yabiku became an expert of bujutsu himself. In the
prewar years, Yabiku and Ōshiro Chōjo (1887-1935) had the status of the leading
figures in Okinawa kobudō. These two persons particularly contributed
to the development and diffusion of kobudō and put great efforts in
teaching the younger generation.
Every day Taira Shinken trenchantly trained under
Funakoshi and Yabiku and completely devoted himself to the cause. Background of
this were probably the memories of bad treatment by his “colleagues” on
Minami-Daitō Island. Over time, with the training of mind and body and the
mastery of the art, however, the bitterness gradually subsided. Far away from
Okinawa, in Tōkyō he developed into an excellent trainer of karate and
kobujutsu who trained passionately and made great progress.
The teachers diploma in Bō- and Saijutsu granted to Taira Shinken by Yabiku Mōden, dated August 15th, 1933.
As a result, he earned the trust of his two masters, who
recognized his abilities and achievements, and his understanding of the
training in the martial arts. With the official permission of Funakoshi and
Yabiku, in 1933 he thus opened a branch Dōjō of Shōtōkan in Ikaho
Onsen, Gunma Prefecture, where he began his independent teaching activity in karate
and kobudō. In February the same year he invited his revered teacher
Yabiku Mōden for a seminar. This event has been preserved in a photograph. In
the same year Yabiku granted to him the certificate of shihan in bōjutsu
and saijutsu, signed August 15. Taira continued his training with
Yabiku from 1929 until July 1940.
In 1934 or 35 Taira invited the Shuri-te and Naha-te
expert Mabuni Kenwa, who lived in Ōsaka at the time, for instruction in karate
and kobudō. Mabuni stayed six months straight in Ikaho. On this
occasion, chiishi and saijutsu constituted the core of the
training, and Taira also learned the excellent Sesoko no Kun and
others. Taira remained Mabuni’s student for six years, until September 1940.
In order to understand the above mentioned details: Taira
Shinken had received exact instruction from all three teachers – Funakoshi,
Yabiku, and Mabuni. The creditable achievements of master Mabuni with his Shitō-ryū
in the region of and around Kyōto and Ōsaka and of master Funakoshi with his Shōtōkan
in the region of and around Tōkyō and their efforts related for the spread and
development of Okinawa karate are a well-known fact.
In 1938 the Karate-dō Taikan was published,
written and edited by Nakasone Genwa. In this magnificent record and
masterpiece of modern karate twenty photographs of Taira Shinken with
the old-style Shūshi no Kon (pp. 51-55) as well as relevant
explanations (pp. 275-298) are found. The names of each and every master, who
was active in training and dissemination of karate and kobudō
at that time within Okinawa Prefecture were listed in the Karate-dō Taikan.
From Karate dō Taikan (1938) are 8 photos of Taira Shinken and Mabuni Kenwa with Bunkai techniques of the Kata Sōchin (I).
Seeing the sudden spread and development of karate
in mainland Japan, he deeply regretted that kobudō with its long
history was following the path of decay even in its birthplace Okinawa. With
Funakoshi Gichin‘s permission this led to the decision to return to his
homeland in 1940.
Since then he continued his research on kon, sai,
tonfā, nunchaku, surujin, tinbē, tekkō,
nichōgama etc. in Okinawa, including the development of his own ideas,
as Jigen no Sai etc. He opened a kobudō dōjō in Naha and
began to exchange with people involved in the local karate scene.
Since that time he gave kobudō training in Okinawa and on the Japanese
mainland.
In those days, however, Japan at a rapid pace moved
towards war. 1941 the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor occurred and 1944 the war
in the Pacific raged ever more violently. The resettlement of old people, women
and children from Okinawa to Kyūshū and Taiwan began. In those days many of
Taira’s students were drafted into the Army and Navy, while Taira vigorously
continued to exercise in the martial arts.
From Karate dō Taikan (1938) are 8 photos of Taira Shinken and Mabuni Kenwa with Bunkai techniques of the Kata Sōchin (II).
The war grew worse ever more. In the course of the
forthcoming Japanese defeat in 1945, one of the fiercest battles of World War
II took place on Okinawa. Termed the “Typhoon of Steel”, this sad chapter of
history resembled hell itself. No stone was left unturned and the island was
razed to the ground. The civilian citizens were drawn into the chaos of the
general mobilization war of the opposing sides, whereby the tragedy was
magnified. Life and limb, goods and chattels, precious cultural heritage,
Okinawa itself was almost completely destroyed.
Taira participated in the “Encouragement of Fighting
Spirit” as was demanded by the Navy Department and with several students and
showgirls from the Tsūji district made hospital visits to army and marine
soldiers, where they would perform martial arts techniques. In 1945, when the
defensive battle in Kunigami district began, Taira participated as a member of
the so-called Defensive Forces.
from left to right: Toyama Kanken, Ōtsuka Hironori, Shimoda Takeshi, Funakoshi Gichin, Motobu Chōki, Mabuni Kenwa, Nakasone Genwa and Taira Shinken. From Funakoshi Gichin: Karate-dō Ichiro, 1956.
After the Japanese surrender in 1945 all those who had
narrowly escaped death gathered in the ruins of the districts of Shuri and Naha
or surroundings, and began the reconstruction. Taira returned to Kume Island
immediately after the war. There he could not bear to see the hard life of the
islanders. In negotiations with the U.S. armed forces, he received a generator
and a GMC passenger transport truck from privatized military equipment, which
was immediately sent to Kume Island. By this for the first time there were
electrically powered lamps in Kume Island, and furthermore the truck was used
to transport people. This glowing love for his homeland fits well with Taira’s
passion for karate and kobudō.
Although some karate and kobudō masters
had lost their lives, such as Hanashiro Chōmo, some major karate
experts fortunately survived the perpetual chaos, plucked up new courage and
again started the training of karate and kobudō. Taira
resumed personal instruction in karate and kobudō in Okinawa
since about July 1948.
In 1955, in order to continue and further establish the Ryūkyū
Kobujutsu Kenkyūkai founded by the late Yabiku Mōden, Taira established
the Ryūkyū Kobudō Hozon Shinkōkai in Naha Higawa. From about
November 1958 he more frequently visited the Japanese mainland regions in order
to teach what he called Ryūkyū Kobudō.
In October 1960 he received from Fujita Seiko, the
director of the Nihon Kobudō Kenkyūsho, the title of a Honorary
Teacher (meiyo shihan).
1962, at the establishment of the headquarter of the Kokusai
Karate Kobudō Renmei with president Higa Seikō, Taira was proposed and
elected vice president of the association.
1962, establishment of the Kokusai Karate Kobudō Renmei, with president Higa Seikō (first row, 5th from left) and vice president Taira Shinken (first row, 2nd from left)
Higa Seikō’s Gōjū-ryū dōjō in Yogi was just a
stone throw away from Taira Shinken’s tenement, and Miyagi Tokumasa reports how
he would pass it by many times after training during his University years.
Later, on a summer day arguably in 1964, Miyagi visited Taira at his home and
conducted many interviews and asked a lot of questions. The appearance of his
apartment during his visits made it obvious that Taira lived a “poor but honest
life”, to put it in one of the Okinawan proverbs. Usually almost all bujutsu
experts of that time were thrifty people. Later Taira moved to a different
location, but Miyagi continued to visit him at least from time to time.
On July 1, 1964, the president of the Zen Nihon
Kobudō Renmei, imperial Prince Kaya Tsunenori (1900-1978), granted to
Taira the title of hanshi, the highest title in budō. In
August of the same year Taira he published the Ryūkyū Kobudō Taikan.
Sometime in the mid-1960s, every night karate
and kobudō demonstrations were performed in a first class traditional
restaurant for travel groups from outside the prefecture. Higa Yūchoku, Miyagi
Tokumasa and other well-kown experts would often demonstrate kumite, bōjutsu,
and breaking boards. They would often be there together with Taira Shinken.
Owing to occurring criticism on the performance of traditional Okinawan karate
in restaurants, this practice was discontinued.
The first grading at the Shōdōkan, April 23, 1963. Middle row from left, 2nd Fukuchi Seikō, 3rd Higa Seikō, 4th Taira Shinken, 5th Matayoshi Shinpō.
In 1968, the deputy director of the
press depaptment of public relations of the American civil government of the Ryūkyū
Islands, Samuel Kitamura,
recommended the practice of martial arts in the Kubasaki
High School and Oroku High School, which were affiliated to American military
bases and thus attended by American students, and received a favorable
evaluation. The press department of the civil government as well as the
newspaper “Morning Star” (the official newspaper of the U.S. Pacific Command)
made a large scale report about it. This in turn attracted the attention of the
Government Commissioner at the time, Lieutenant General Lambert, who absolutely
wanted to see the ancient martial arts of Ryūkyū introduced to the United States.
He, therefore, inquired via Mr. Kitamura whether Taira would like to introduce
these ancient martial arts to the Americans for a better understanding, and
Taira agreed. 15 different types of weapons of Ryūkyū Kobudō,
different types of weapons handling methods and demonstrations, explanations of
the kata etc. were photographed and filmed and sent as a gift to the
National Museum of the United States in Washington. Thus preserved and
exhibited at the United States of America, it is a matter of much pride for the
Okinawans.
When it became known that his disease was incurable, his
best students visited him every day, staying at his bedside and obtaining his
instruction to pass on the traditions of the kobudō kata to the future
and forever. On July 16, 1970, Taira’s dōjō in Naha-shi Yorimiya was
designated the headquarter of the Ryūkyū Kobudō Hozon Shinkōkai. The
goal was the detailed preservation and promotion of the traditional martial
arts of ancient Ryūkyū. What was this all about? The answer is found in a later
program of the Ryūkyū Kobudō Hozon Shinkōkai, where the situation and
reasons of 1970 is clearly described:
“Although kobudō is supposed to be developed and disseminated internationally,
the headquarter must not be moved to other prefectures or other countries
because Ryūkyū Kobudō was created and developed in our Okinawa, and
because we have to preserve it for our children and grandchildren.”
At this occasion, the Okinawan students that had trained Ryūkyū
Kobudō for many years gathered and were granted teacher’s licenses (shihan
menkyo), souvenir photos were shot, and a board election conducted, in
which the founder Taira Shinken was unanimously elected first president of the Ryūkyū
Kobudō Hozon Shinkōkai. The general assembly at this day was composed only
of the Okinawan students and friends of Taira Shinken (Akamine Eisuke, Kinjō
Kazufumi, Nakasone Kūshin, Nagaishi Fumio, Minowa Katsuhiko, Nakamoto Masahiro,
Higa Yūchoku and others).
Page from an original edition of Ryūkyū Kobudō Taikan. The Tinbē on the lower right bears the words “Inoue Dōjō”.
In the last two to three days prior to his death, still
unusually vigorous, Taira individually summoned his uchi-deshi, had
them demonstrate martial arts in front of him and gave final instructions. At
this time, Taira had various picturesque dreams, which he told the students
about. He spoke of a dream of broad realms of lotus flowers standing in full
bloom, and that a white crane just had flown with five or six beats of its
wings from the head of his bed, whereupon the students all looked at each other
in astonishment.
On September 3rd, 1970, at the age of seventy-three
years, Taira Shinken passed away due to stomach cancer in his flat in Naha-shi
Yorimiya 290, banchi 6.
Matsumoto Yukio, an old friend of Taira Shinken since
1928 and director of the Shōtōkan dōjō in Hamamatsu, described Taira
as Funakoshi’s most senior student and favorite pupil, with whom he lived
together under one roof. Given the photographs from his youth he really
had a good physique and delivered a powerful impression. With his protruding
jaw bones, his broad-bony figure and dark skin, Miyagi Tokumasa described him
as actually appearing like the typical Okinawan himself and characterized Taira
as a good-natured old man of gentle nature.
It had also been handed down in written form that Taira
had an aversion against the trend of those days, namely the trend of
self-manifestation, bouncing embellishments, and the spread of inappropriate
historical reports as self-advertisement. His attitude towards such persons was
like “I cannot believe it!” Instead he was convinced that one should never
praise self-painted pictures. On the other hand, when from time to time
Matsumoto Yukio talked about his own failures, Taira rejected this as an
unreasonable humility, because such sincerity regularly evokes
misunderstandings. Instead Taira told him “The failure will not repeat itself
the second time,” and “Your achievements are in your own hands.”
Higa Yūchoku of Kyūdōkan fame called Taira his
“great older brother” and reported that Taira used the method of consulting
each karate dōjō director and to travel around for instruction.
According to Higa, in conversations on the walk each of us has to walk one day,
Taira used say “To live a long live – this is bu (the martial arts).”
Taira led a difficult life without making a sour face. While studying kobudō,
he would forget to sleep and to eat. And also being extremely busy with
instructing the students and developing the Ryūkyū Kobudō Hozon Shinkōkai,
Higa never once heard a complaint from his great older brother. “In this way
keeping his faith” noted Higa, “he was a person that led a happy life. This is
the picture I carry in my heart of my great older brother.”
Taira (seated) with Akamine Eisuke (left) and Inoue Motokatsu (right). Fom the Inoue edition of Ryūkyū Kobudō Taikan.
Following Taira’s funeral, his older brother – who still
lived in Kume Island – for the first time put forward the entire kinship’s
opinion that Taira Shinken’s remains should be transferred to his homeland of
Kume Island. They reasoned that he was a person of Kume Island and that he had
earned great merits in the power generation and land reclamation of the island.
But, as he wouldn’t even talk about his own meritorious achievements, only a
few of his students and friends from Okinawa and Japan understood this point.
The gentlemen from Kume Island, on the other hand, where surprised by the many
experts from the world of Okinawan karate participating at the funeral.
Page from Nagamine Shōshin’s original
edition of the 1938 Karate-dō Taikan, photographed with permission of Nagamine
Takayoshi in Naha, 2008. The illustration shows Taira Shinken with a move from
Shūshi no Kon (Koshiki), describing the hidden thrust in the Soto-uke movement.
During his lifetime Taira Shinken would not speak of
other renowned masters of karate. And that Taira’s grandfather
Kanegawa no Gibu had been a master of kobudō is not known in general
(this was noted for the first time in 1972 by Taira’s close friend since 1928,
Matsumoto Yukio). This is proof that Taira had no desire for
self-manifestation, but in fact was a person of modest and polite character.
Taira Shinken studied karate with Funakoshi
Gichin Sensei and kobudō with Yabiku Mōden, and both with Mabuni
Kenwa. Throughout his life he immersed himself in the spread and teaching of kobudō.
Thanks to Taira Shinken, Ryūkyū Kobudō did not disappear. And he
reached his goal to bequeath it for posterity. Just like Funakoshi, Mabuni and
others with their development from Tōdījutsu to Karate-dō did
Taira Shinken complete the restoration of Ryūkyū Kobudō.
©
2015, Andreas Quast.
All rights reserved.
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