Ever since the Armstrone film showed Shimabuku Tatsuo performing his Kama kata labeled as Chia Fa, there has been controversy about that naming for the kata. I have written about that before.
Chia Fa Tonfa at 25.58
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-cMzS2i8r8&t=345s
MCC - 178 Shimabuku (Tonfa)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS5NEeG9O6Y&t=10s
Among my prior blog posts on this topic.
https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2021/05/tonga-chia-fa-hama-higa-no-tuifa.html
However this time I turned to Robert Orozco whose Okinawan Goju instructor had him study the Okinawan language, for his take on the name Chia Fa. This was his reply.
Chia Fa Robert on my tonfa kata
Dante Da!
Dante Victor,
I hope this message finds you well. I often frequent your blog as I find many of the things you present very interesting. I understand that it is a blog meant for your students but I think it is something that many people should review. I watched the video you presented with the word "CHIE FA" in the video. I found this interesting because the Katagana used under the Roman Letters is a bit different.
ツィファー
This translates as Tuifa- using roman letters.
ツィ = "Tsu" ツ followed by a small "i"ィ. This seems like it would be Tsi. However this is how to say Tui using Japanese kana rules.
ファ = "Fu" フfollowed by a small "a" ァ. This turns this into fa
ー = Elongate the vowel this follows
The word Chiefa would be the following in Katagana:
チ = Chi
エ = e
ファ = fa
The roman letter conversion is what interested me the most as it may be just an Uchina-Guchi issue on how to reference an Okinawan word using Katagana. It is important to note that there isn't any "tsu" ツ sound in the Okinawan language. For example, the word for punch in Japanese is Tsuki but in Okinawan this is Chichi.
However, there is one BIG issue with this direct translation of the katagaan used for the kata name. The Big, BIG, issue and one often overlooked by researchers that do not know the history of written Uchina-guchi is that when reading Japanese words, even in Katagana, an older person that spoke Okinawan would automatically replace the Japanese pronunciation automatically with the Okinawan. For example, in the text called the Omoro Soshi, おもろそうし, even though a person can read this in Japanese, the pronunciation would be in Okinawan since it's origin is Okinawan. Here is how this reads in Japanese followed by the Okinawan pronunciation of the same symbols.
Japanese
お = o
も=mo
ろ = ro
そ= so
う=u (In Japanese a long vowel "o" will not be followed by the kana representing "o" but instead followed by the one that represents "u")
し = shi
Okinawan
お = u
も= mu
ろ= ru
Okinawa language will insert an U sound here
= u
そ = so
う = o (long O)
し = Shi
Therefore, the katagana for Tsu would automatically be replaced with the Okinawan pronunciation of Chi for anyone that spoke Uchina-guchi as their primary language.
Modern Okinawan now uses hiragana or Katagana to represent something close to the actual pronunciation. So in katagana the Omoro So-shi would be ウムルウソーシ
ウ= u
ム= mu
ル = Ru
ウ = u
ソ= So
ー = long Vowel from preceding symbol
シ = shi
or in Hiragana
う = u
む=mu
る= ru
う= u
そ= so
ー= long vowel from preceding symbol
し= shi
Please note that this information can also be found in the Wikipedia for the Omoro Soshi
Omoro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omoro_S%C5%8Dshi
So one may ask if the word Chie fa really a wrong spelling from Japanese to Roman Letters? This may be the reason why there was some confusion on this word. The modern Okinawan way to represent Tuifa is トゥイファ
トゥ = To followed by a small "u" = Tu
イ= i
ファ = Fu followed by a small a = Fwa or Fa
and to create even more confusion, the New Okinawan written language uses a new character for representing Tu = tu which is a mixture of Hiragana To (と)and U (う)
The modern method of representing Okinawan definitely takes out the confusion but Chie fa is more than likely how someone that spoke Uchina-Guchi would translate those symbols into Roman Letters prior to the formalization of kana for Okinawan.
As a side note, I learned a kata from my teacher a long time ago that is just called Nunchaku. So it does not seem strange to me that there may be a kata named Tuifa (Chiefa) after all the current method of naming weapons kata actually follows Japanese rules and not Okinawan. Just some food for thought.
Respectfully,
Robert Orozco
On Monday, November 30, 2015 7:11 AM, replied to Robert.
Dante Da!
Dante Robert,
Another day, much colder this time, Temp won't make the 40s, still it is clear an sunny.
Boy mail from you is an education in itself.
Your analysis of Chia Fa is fascinating, and of course above my pay grade. I will be reading it for some time.
I think the form was to have been some variation of Hama Higa No Tonfa. But there are many questions about which version I have.
For myself, what I do works. is the same as Shimabuku? No idea. And at some level it makes less difference. I can no longer work the weapons, not enough hand strength. I never filmed it. And while 10 years ago the guy's were working it. we have let it slide of late, focusing more on Bo, Sai and Tanto. Personally I think it is a bit repetitive and not necessarily the best way to tear into someone with a Tonfa. But that is theoretical in any case. It does serve conditioning purposes.
Thank you for your replies. As always they will require much study.
Have a great week,
Victor Smith
Footnote: Robert's analysis is way above me. But it might explain what the issue really is.
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