If
a photo is worth a 1000 words, what is a video explaining the story behind the
picture!
Shimabuku
Tatsuo Sensei use to condition the edge of his hand for shutō-uchi. I saw him
drive a 16 penny nail trough a plank which was about 1/2 inch thick at a demo
in Agena, Okinawa.
On
another occasion, he could not drive the nail using a shutō-uchi but did drive
the nail using the heel of his foot. According to Michie, the Okinawan announer
who introduce Tatsuo Sensei said Tatsuo Sensei apologized saying he had just
had his appendix taken out.
It
is important to document the history of our founder and what he did. The
importance of Isshin-ryū karate
MASTER
SHIMABUKU TATSUO,
driving
a nail in a block of wood with the edge of his hand.
Agena
Village Demo in 1960.
Photo
taken by Jake Echenrode.
Karate Grandmaster Tatsuo Shimabukua
hmmering a railroad nail into the side of a wooden
board
with a shuto (blade of the hand) strike
Victor Smith on day of my Shodan examination, during a
separate clinic Mitchum Sensei was giving, he gave a different interpretation
about one Tatsuo demonstration.m How one
time Tatsuo missed the nailand the strike sliced open the back of his hand which then bled profuslely. According to Mitchum Sensei he never did this again.
While
I can't prove Shimabuku Tatsuo did drive nails with his hand, I have had
instructors who did their own version of this. So this is possible, it speaks
to an earlier days and style of training to my mind. He was powerful and
enjoyed showing it.
One example, he used to be able to climb up a
pole, turn around and climb down upside down. This is a photo of him doing
this.
So on the whole the 'nail' seems credible to
me.
When I had written this there was no
internet access to show the photos that came to light later.
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