Kata Scoring - The Perfect 10

 

2001

 

Victor and Joe Brague

My last post on Scoring Kata has brought several other topics to mind.

I was competing in my first tournament as a brown belt, in Wilkes Barre, Pa.  As luck had it in Kobudo competition the Brown and Black belts were competing together.  I did get through my form Chantan Yara No Sai, but in the division I was also competing against Cynthia Rothrock.

It takes no stretch of the imagination that my form was no threat to the Black Belt competitors.  But I survived my kata, and as the Brown Belts went first, I then settled down to watch the pro’s. Cynthia received a 10 from one of the judges (who as fate had it was her then husband and instructor, Ernest Rothrock).  I recall that clearly as a friend who was a Sho Dan in Kyokushinkai later discussed with me he felt it was impossible to receive a perfect score, and obviously this was just her husband’s choice.


Perfection can exist, however, in a time and place, for an instant, for a judge or judges.  You’ve seen it on occasion in Olympic diving and gymnastics competition.  Or watched a Billy Banks float over the air through opponent after opponent in a different dimension of time and space.  In many places in many different ways.  It just requires an open mind to clearly look at that time and place and find no openings, no imbalances, nothing to detract from the instant of incredible human perfection.

 

The first instance I recalled reading of the Perfect 10 in Karate involved the Okinawan Isshinryu instructor Angi Uzeu, being asked to enter a karate tournament in Pennsylvania long ago. He had never entered one before, as they didn’t have them in Okinawa at that time.  The report was after he did his kata, all of the judges awarded him a perfect 10.  Another well know and respected competitor of those days Hidy Ochai was due to compete next, and as the story had it, simply turned around and left the floor after seeing the judges scores.  [Now don’t turn this into Angi was obviously better than Hidy.  I am quite sure that is not the case in either direction. I’m sure there were many complex reasons behind this, and I also expect most or all of the judges were Isshinryu, perhaps creating a stacked house in Hidy’s mind.]


On other occasion I’ve seen 10’s, too.


In the late 70’s through mid 80’s Pennsylvania had a host of incredible kata and kobudo competitors, all of whom were, are and always will be champions. In no particular order, the students of Vince Ward and John Hamilton in Shorin No Tora, Gary and George Michak from Goshin Jutsu, the Shotokan of Tristan Sutrisno, the Goju Students of Ron Martin, John Chung from Jhoon Rhee, Cindy Rothrock, John Snyder with Bruce Heilman, and many others who were just as incredible, alas the years make the names fade for the moment.  While I’ve separated from the tournament scene over the years, when I attend on occasion those of today, I have not seen a group of so talented individuals as in those days.  [That is perhaps a moment of introspection for another day.]

 

On occasion they would draw other National level competitors into the region to test their mettle, too. Several of them entered the national level competition. Gary Michak received top 20 recognition in forms, weapons and kumite. Cynthia Rothrock in forms and weapons rose to stellar height in anybodies book.  Yet almost any of them had that potential to excel, chance, cash and serendipity were as much the driver of the larger recognition.


On any given day they could exceed.  And they had to be prepared for incredible levels of mental preparation.  They could not excel at one form or two forms.  On occasion I’ve seen them have to do three or four different forms to break ties.  Likewise in weapons, I remember when Cynthia Rothrock and a member of Manny Augreila’s Green Dragons, had to do four different weapons to break a tie. The judges having decided, doing the same weapon twice, would give the individual doing a different weapon the win, assuming they did a great job, which they did.


That was competition. And they weren’t competing for, training for or being satisfied with second place.


Who really was better?  The answer was obvious, they all were. The created a forge of excellence to drive them and those of us who dared to step up and try, to excel and find a way to exceed.


I cannot go back into that past to review those days.  Perhaps with older eyes I would see some of it differently.  Consider Gary Michak with his incredible choreographed kata “Superman” done to the theme music of Superman.

After all who was I to call Superman less than a perfect '10'.

The start of American interest in martial movies and TV shows

  

Note all real martial arts publications have Bruce Lee photos sooner or later.

Bruce died before I began Isshinryu,

but I took Maureen on our 2^nd date to a Bruce Lee movie.

 

An interesting story is how I found about the martial arts.  When I was young I saw a fewTV shows that featured karate, but that was all. Just prior to going to college my father bought me a Brice Tegner book about katate, and while I attended college I began buying Black Belt magazine , as I  found it interesting.

 

Then in College I joined the dorm members watching the in the dorm basement and remember us watching the Green Hornet with Bruce Lee as Kato,   Several years late I recall meeting a graduate student. in the Speech Department. who had trained with Bruce Lee as an undergraduate at the University of Seattle. He demonstrated some of his kung fu training to us. However I admit not knowing what he was doing.

 

I lived out in the Pacific Northwest for a few years and when I returned to Pa. I began to work for my previous employer in NE Philadelphia,  managing a bargain store.  

One night in 1972 I went down to central city Philadelphia to see the midnight show of a new movie, The Five Fingers of Death. The old center city movie theaters were huge. The huge theater was packed, many thousands of viewers. Simply the movie blew all of us away.

 

After that kung fu movie followed kung fu movie. There were oodles of them, many were quite bad, but some were good. On the TV the show Kung Fu was showing. The martial arts were here to stay.

The Danger of the Carotid Choke

 

 

California karate instructor killed during class, police say

A 65-year-old karate instructor in California was killed during a class,…

 

ARVIN, Calif. — A 65-year-old karate instructor in California was killed during a class Thursday night, according to the Arvin Police Department.

A witness told authorities that a student was applying a "carotid" hold on the male instructor that had been demonstrated during class. When officers arrived, they found the instructor unresponsive and immediately began CPR.

Moments later, the Kern County Fire Department and Halls Ambulance arrived on the scene and attempted to revive the instructor. The instructor was pronounced dead at around 9:20 p.m.

 

Ed Sumner Part of why I don’t allow them on anyone over 40. Break some plaque lose in that artery and it is “instant stroke.”

 

 

Of course that brings a story to mind.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The carotid choke was not part of the Isshinryu I was trained it.

 

I was a new black belt going into the locker room to change. When I entered senior instructor Joe Brague (Goshin Jutsu) was talking to some of his students. Suddenly he turned to me and asked “Smith, could you help me out I want to show my students something.” And of course I went over, I recall he grabbed my neck, the next thing I knew I was coming around laying on the floor. He said “You’ll be ok, I just wanted to explain to them how the carotid artery choke works.

 

That was a new one on me, and I began to seek it out, mostly on the magazines from a variety of articles.

 

What I read it worked by the pinching of the carotid artery shutting off the blood flow to the brain, And that could cause a black out before you could count 1,2,3,4,5,6 to yourself. But when it was released the blood flow continued and you regained consciousness.

 

From the magazines I worked out about 4 or 5 ways to do it. I was at that time just teaching youth and did not want kids to know it, beyond the general knowledge that if you have to know when to go crazy on an attacker, anytime they grab your throat was the time to go all out.

 

Then I was attending a summer camp (the attended were not Isshinryu) and asked  to give a clinic, and decided these techniques would be an interesting topic. But when I began to show them, the camp director became very agitated and made me stop. So he suggested a different topic. Not explaining to me why this was so.

 

Years later one of my seniors showed me a different way to enter that lock. And I am sure there are more too.

 

Eventually I began training adults, and one of my students was a surgeon. Privately describing this to him he explained what actually happened. He explained all the magazines and books where I had read about this were wrong. What the carotid choke actually does is it stops the heart from beating, and that is what leads to unconsciousness. The blood flow to the brain if pinched off does not cause unconsciousness. The secondary blood vessels supply more than enough blood to keep the brain awake.

 

He further explained in neck surgery the carotid artery is often clamped off, closing it for blood. And the surgery proceeds with the patient conscious through the procedure. He then proved his point to me most dramatically. His fingers pinched off both my carotid arteries and I remained conscious for a count of 20.

 

In fact what happens is that when pressed, the carotid sinus signals the heart that the blood pressure spiked and stops the heart to lower the blood pressure. That and the body had carotid sinuses in several places not just the neck, all for the same purpose.

 

I have heard that for older individuals there is risk of plaque breaking off leading to stroke. That and at one time this was thought to be a more humane way for police to control a violent individual. But what they found out was most often that individual was attempting to kill the officer and that often meant when established they would not release the lock leading to undesirable consequences.

 

I explained all of this to my senior students, but it never became part of our practice, I deemed it most problematical. I just wanted them to be aware of what could happen and learn how to neutralize those situations.

The times I have seen Fusie Kise

 

 

Back about 1983 I attended a tournament in Pennsylvania where Kise Fusei was the guest, it was held by Al Smith and his Red Dragon dojo (no relation). I don’t think they did the Shorin Ryu of Kise Sensei, but heard they had there for several weeks of clinics for his students, and they held a tournament in his honor. Of course he demonstrated kata. But I remember it more for the controversy that occurred.

The day of the tournament we were told women’s black belt competition would not be a separate event as was the men’s black belt competition, because Kise sensei did not want the women seen competing. Instead their competition would be on the floor along with the rest of the forms competitors. There were a lot of mad competitors and I recall Al Smith held a special black belt meeting about the issue.

The next year there was another tournament in Pennsylvania and Kise Sensei was also there and demonstrating.

After that I moved to New Hampshire and re-established my program there. Then I was invited by Greg Lazerus (Sensei’s Kise’s student) to attend a basic kobudo seminar over in Portsmouth, NH. My senior student, Mike Cassidy, and I went. Kobudo was not new to me but I was interested in seeing what was shown. Kise Sensei sat and watched and Greg Lazurus led the instruction on a basic bo, sai and kama form. Kise Sensei supplied some interesting remarks on Kama, among them they would be purchased on Okinawa as the hardwear store, because every home used them for gardening. He also explained on Okinawa, at that time, the Police were asking instructors not to teach them to youth. It seemed that many kids would take them to school to go to work in the fields after school and they were seeing youth gangs begin to use them in fights. Hence their request for instructors there.

 

I made the following notes immediately after the clinic, a habit I had got into.

But I decided not to continue the practice of those kata, for as interesting as they were, I had more than enough to work on with my Isshinryu kobudo and many other studied I had made with friends in many different styles.

However, what was shown was interesting too.

https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2014/06/fusei-kise-all-okinawa-shorin-ryu.html

 

It was also my son’s 2^nd birthday that day.

 

Marlon Laws I believe what you call a “bone block” is after you do a striking type motion with the Sai open you close it and now the long tine runs the length of the forearm and the hand is palm down. If the hand was empty this is called a single bone block. This is called Sai Shodan is Kenshinkan. Sensei Lindsey said it was the second Sai kata taught when he was in Okinawa so we call it Sai Nidan.

The bo kata is called Bo Nidan in Kenshinkan. Sensei Lindsey learned the kata first and we call it Matsumura Sakugawa no Bo Dai.

The kama kata is Soken no Kama Sho and could possibly be based on the kata Rohai

 

 

Why I created the Bushi No Te Isshinryu Kama Drill

 

isshin-concentration.blogspot.com

Okinawan Kama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKUuiYLgtao

 

Ken Jack This is actually a demonstration of the Okinawan kusarigama, not to be confused with the one used in ninjutsu.

 

After learning the Tris Chosen No Kama Sho, 

and Chosen No Kama Dai

I felt their handling was so complex, 

good for advanced handling skills,

But not so good for reality.

 Then I saw this Okinawan form and realized its potential.

So I created my Bushi No Te NO kama exercise.

There are some echo’s of that Okinawan form.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3epeCzMp-k

 

Kama Drill Bushi No Te Isshinryu

Of course I don’t see a need for kama in current self defense.

Yet another skill building exercise

Kata beginning and ending at the start point (kiten) in Isshinryu

  Annonkan Isshinryu Karate - 安穏館一心流空手

The topic of kata beginning and ending at the start point (kiten) along the embusen seems to be popular as of late. Though some lineages have adopted the practice, adjustments to the movements having been made at some generation during their reception of the kata, it was not a concept taught by Shimabuku Tatsuo Sensei as a matter of principle. The kata shown here do not have an inherent symmetry in their design which leads one to end where they began. Seisan, Naihanchi, Sanchin, and Chinto to follow

 

This is brilliant I wish I had thought of this. It makes the  case I was talking about earlier was Chinto kata.

 

And here are the other kata.

 

The Throat Choke

 3-25-2018

A subset of karate perhaps, but there are times that karate does use a throat choke. 

Of course there are a variety of methods to do this. I am just going to focus on one of them, when the windpipe is grasped by the hand to make the choke.

 

It can vary by style.

The choke can be a simper grab of the hand and squeezing to make the choke.

There are systems that use a special method of choking, grasping the throat with just the thumb and index finger in a pinching motion and using the bent knuckle of the index finger to also press into the trachea for additional pressure for that choke.

 

By far the strongest choke method, I have seen, was taught to me by Ernest Rothrock when he taught me one Eagle Claw form.

 

I am far from an Eagle Claw expert, I haven’t spent the decades working on Eagle Claw grip for one thing. For them, the formation of the Eagle Claw grip gives intense pain when it is employed. But I paid attention, and I understand how the Eagle Claw is formed, abet with an untrained hand.

I still work the grip formation as a method to retain as much hand grip as possible as I age.

 Properly done, the 4 bent fingers work together to produce one side of the grip, the bent thumb forms the other side.

This is what Ernest Rothrock looks like when he grips the trachea.

Not just a grab of the throat. The technique works like this.

 

1. The web of the open hand strikes into the throat, the fingers and thumb stretched open. This movement presses the trachea in.

2. Then after that compression, as the hand retreats the eagle claw is formed. Pressing into the cords at the side of the neck. The pressure is immobilizing.

3. Once formed the Eagle Claw is maintained, or other things can happen.

 

Personally I find this more powerful than just grabbing the throat.

And the grip can work well with whatever karate movement is selected.

Other articles about the Eagle Claw 

Making the Eagles Claw http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=132

Inside The Eagle Claw  http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=131

 

Further Thoughts for Mario McKenna

 
Evening All (at least the night is falling on a perfect May evening in New Hampshire, far from the heavy snowfalls of March

5/1/2001

Mario,



Thank you on your confirmation of Sifu Jamal Al Bakkar.  I am not familiar with him, but I am well aware of the Hung Gar system. I’ve long had Bucksam Kong’s book on the Tiger/Crane Form, one of their major sets.  Unfortunately the book itself cannot convey the essence of Hung Gar.

It seems to me that the book he’s written of most interest, on Iron Thread and Sanchin is not available to the public.  That of course makes it impossible to determine whether his analysis is correct or not, either.  It also seems to me to be the only text he’s offering which addresses this issue.   It may well be there are parallel interests in these arts.  If so we then have to surmise if they originated from a common source.

As for the rest, it would appear we either wade through the books (or the charts) and determine if there are enough parallels to Okinawan arts for a direct correspondence to Hung Gar.  

From my own vantage point, as clear as Bucksam Kong’s text is, I do not see a direct correspondence to Okinawa.  Perhaps this means we really need to obtain some video record.

My friend Ernest Rothrock’s contention is that the Chinese Art of Hsing Yi is the closest overall Chinese Art he’s seen that compares to Okinawan Karate.   He’s referring to the means of generating and issuing energy, not parallels in form technique.

Does anybody have any reasonable suggestion how to obtain video tape of Hung Gar Form Iron Wire (Tiet Sin Kuen)?  I believe I would pursue that before buying charts, or books about Hung Gar.

To Change the topic now, most of this afternoon I’ve been thinking about Fernando’s post to Travis about Matayoshi and Kingai-ryu.

I concur with Fernando regarding Matayoshi’s Seisan and parallels to Ueichi Seisan.  Now I don’t know a great deal about Matayoshi Sensei.  I know he was primarily a weapons instructor, with a bent to Chinese influenced weapons alongside the Okinawan arts. I have his first Tsunami tape and vividly recall his Eku form on the beach, how he was using Nihanchi style stepping to flip sand into the eyes of an attacker, and saw definite Bunkai of same to Nihanchi stepping, too.

As many have commented on Matayoshi changing his kata for public demonstration, I wonder if his long years of training had created a Personal Art, as opposed to a system.

One of my original instructors always maintained the first 20 years you were the product of your instructor. After 20 years your art became yours.

In the older tradition of personal instruction, with nothing documenting their practices, except the template of the kata, with one-to-one situations, it would be easy to change things for different students. This could be the result of 1) meeting the individual student’s needs 2) changing as the instructors viewpoint changed 3) originally being taught multiple versions of the forms, among still other reasons, too.

Does this mean that Matayoshi was really showing his personal art?  It may be the case if as Fernando maintains.

This might also explain why a Kyan Sensei or a Shimabuku Sensei taught their kata differently to different students.  The template of the kata in their minds, may well have been influenced by their personal art.  

Well I don’t want to descend into the babble complex at this time, so I’m drawing this to a close.

Victor

Kiya (Kyan) Taketoku (Chotoku) no Kumite

 

Motobu-ryu   September 27, 2023 11:13 PM

 

Previously, I introduced a photo of Kiya Taketoku's kumite in Ameblo.

Source:

Karate e Kobudo Tradizionali di Okinawa - Okinawa Dento Karate-do

 

As you can see in the link above, the source was uploaded to Facebook by an overseas karateka, and the author was taught by German karate researcher Andreas Kvasto.

 

I had seen photos of Kumite of Takeshi Kiya's students before, but I think this was the first time I had seen a photo of myself. I was asked about the source, so I looked it up at the time but couldn't figure it out. However, after that, I heard that he apparently copied from a book published by a person from the German branch of a certain Kiya Takeshi dojo in Okinawa. I have not seen the book.

 

Later, information was received from various people, and it turned out that these photographs were from Okinawa Kenpo Kara-tedo Basic Kumite (1932) by Taketoshi Kiya.

 

Come to think of it, when I attended the inauguration ceremony of the Okinawa Karate Kaikan in 2017, I remember hearing that a book by Takeshi Kiya had been discovered. I didn't think much about it at the time, but looking back now, it seems that it was the above book. The original is handwritten and seems to be about 70 pages long. More detailed images have also been uploaded to the Facebook page of the Shaolin-ryu Tsukamoto Dojo.

 

All Okinawa Shaolinji Karatedo Association Zen Okinawa Shorinji-Ryu Karatedo Kyudoukan Tokyo

 

When I saw these photos, I thought they were similar to the kumite of Motobu Asamoto. It has been pointed out that Professor Takeshi Kiya's counterpart in the photo may be Motobu Asamoto, but I don't think so. Probably one of his apprentices. Of course, as mentioned in "Honaga Asanoku - Kiya Taketoku's Real Name", the two are relatives and have been practicing karate together since they were children, so I think they naturally practiced kumite as well.

 

Previously, I wrote about the characteristics of Koryu kumite such as "entering the body", "body preparation", and "removal". It can be seen that the above kumite also applies to these principles.

In addition, the description of the photo above says "back throwing type", which shows that it is a photo of the throwing technique. In other words, it is a photo of the handle.

 

The picture is blurry, but it looks like the moment you go deep into the enemy's bosom, put your right arm around the enemy's back, and throw it. In the Motobu style, this type of throwing technique is called "entering throw". Unlike judo, enemies will poke you, so you need to devise ways to prevent them from hitting you.

 

In the past decade or so, Toride has been attracting attention in the karate world. Even in the breakdown of the WKF (World Karatedo Federation) group type, flashy throwing techniques have been demonstrated recently. Unfortunately, they are not the original handles. It is a newly created acrobatic handle.

 

In the Showa era, it was often claimed that "there is no throwing technique in karate" or "it is an evil way to use such a technique in karate". Many older people may still believe so. Professor Takeshi Kiya's photographs would serve as proof against such claims.

 

Source:

"Kiya Taketoku no Kumite" (Ameblo, May 10, 2020).

"Kiya Taketoku's Throwing Technique" (Ameblo, May 13, 2020).

 

Grand Master Fred Villari

I have a vivid memory of watching Grand Master Fred Villari giving a clinic to a group of his students. A name I haven’t heard in a long time. He founded a large chain which defined McDojo’s, In fact I think he used the term in the sense he thought karate instruction should be marketed as successfully as McDonalds did. I never trained with them, but my friend acquired the video from another of his friends who did study there.

 

In the video he was teaching a knife defense, against a straight knife thrust. The movement he used was kicking from the crane stance pose (just as used in the Karate Kid). Of course what do I know it seemed to be a good way to get killed to my way of thinking. I never paid much attention to that system after that.

Here is a representative video selected at random from YouTube.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDGirJG_bW0

 

Ogawa Ryu

 

 The Ogawa Ryu and a very interesting martial tradition that has been fully documented on You Tube for years.

I have found their videos extremely useful over the years and I can recommend their quality to you.'

Below are several examples for you to enjoy.

 

 

Ogawa Ryu - Time Travel 1!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-B8pWVJ1LU

Ogawa Ryu - Excellent explanations!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRb28xG8M-g

 

 BUGEI (pronounced 'Buguei')

 means "Art of War", or "Military Art"

According to Augusto Yamazato (Illustrated History Japan Square, 5 Cores Editora, 1967), military arts originated in the Heian Era (794 AD to 1192 AD), with the formation of the warrior class (Samurai). "As the leaders of the central government had a disorganized life, regional officials also wanted to emulate where the provincial administration was soon ended in utter chaos and anarchy. Taking advantage of the situation, groups of pirates and bandits attacked and looted villages and cities (931 AD)."

"To fend off the attackers, each territory had to form a guard compound selected from young families living there. Such youths, who were trained in the art of war, gave rise to the warrior class' of the 'Samurai' ".

"They were organized later in groups led by descendants of noble families and regional officials. The Heishi, who descended from Kammu and Emperor of Genji, a descendant of Emperor Seiwa: Among them, two lines stood out. The two families, from the beginning, became rivals, both seeking to expand its political and military power in the capital (old Heian-kyo) " Kyoto. The essence of the culture of the Heian period, however, almost completely disappears due to constant wars. The writings, artwork, records and almost everything was destroyed.

In 105, the groups began to emphasize the samurai. In 1185, the victorious Genji definitely and finally quoted a military government.

It was in the Tokugawa Era (also known as Edo Period - 1603 AD to 1868 AD) that the military culture reached its historical and technical peak. The population was divided into four classes: samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants. The samurai were the ruling class. They had absolute power over the people and land, taking the sword and the nickname as their symbol. They had the right to punish the people, but the responsibility for the acts came on them. Also, they had a code of honor called "Bushido".

Approximately nine centuries expression of military power in Japan show that the nation was imbued with ideals and ethics for these warriors, with an impressive sense of mission. These elements, which prompted the bushi to act in the stages of Japanese history, were tightly surrounded by a strong belief in the divine origin of Japan, with a determination that would confirm the belief in the force of arms, even if it meant death. The code of behavior demanded unquestioning obedience to the orders of his immediate superior, who was assigned to a thread of connection to the divine past. As such, the commander knew the walk that lead to victory.

The Bugei was taught in military schools (bujutsu ryu), distributed throughout Japan. It is impossible to specify the exact number of those schools, since the amount varies from one period to another. According to RP Dore, in 1983, some 159 large schools were listed in the "Bujutsu Ryuso-roku", but the list does not include minor and / or clandestine schools.

Each style or lineage of Bugei is called "Ryu". The Central American Bugei Society preserves the tradition of "Kaze no Ryu" - Wind Style.

DOCUMENTARY VIDEOS OF SOME OF THE DISCIPLINES WE TEACH:

1. Aikijujutsu 

2. Kenjutsu 

3. Jujutsu 

4. Iaijutsu 

5. Battojutsu 

6. Koppojutsu 

7. Kumiuchi 

8. Yarijutsu (Fuko and Mago ) 

9. Bojutsu 

10. Tantojutsu 

11. Jojutsu