Pechurin Dai

by Steve

No I would never make a video of it. I am not asian, nor famous, nor do I head a ryuha. Also due to my promise to Matsumura Sensei of never bringing him into the limelight how in the hell would I explain it? He personally told me that Miyagi Sensei taught it to him. Her in is the problem, did Miyagi create it, did he learn it from Higaonna, did he see some kata in China that he derived it or based it on, did Gokeni teach it to him, and the questions go on and on. I cannot address them nor answer them, especially now that Matsumura Sensei passed away. Introducing this kata would open myself and him up for what reason or benefit? I consider the kata a gift. It is much more difficult that the standard Pechurin. It has moves and techniques not found in other kata, but it certainly fits the theory, principles, and concepts of Goju best. A Shuri stylist would look out of place running this kata. A Uechi stylist or Goju stylist would look within the realm of their art doing it. Personally, I love the form.

An interesting note, he also said that in the Pechurin we all know, the 360 degree spin when you kick your hand using a mikazuki geri, was originally done in the AIR! It changed because almost nobody could do it.

So no, there will be no video forth coming. You will have to visit me to see it, or I will teach it to all of you if we ever have that researchers reunion....

Steve

>An interesting note, he also said that in the Pechurin we all know, >the 360 degree spin when you kick your hand using a mikazuki geri, was >originally done in the AIR! It changed because almost nobody could do it. Interestingly enough, one of the bunkai for this technique that Sakai said Higa taught him was essentially a parry or joint dislocation with the palm of the foot- the spin- and it could be done in the air, as one movement. In the air or not it was immediately followed by a forward moving nidan geri- no height, two kicks at knee/groin/inner thigh/etc level, with very deep projection- in kata it moved over 6' forward with as little height change as possible. The two techniques together formed a very smooth set of movements, with a loading sense as the weight change, but no kime or locking stances down as found in most versions of the kata I have seen. His kata, with the exception of the long low ni dan geri, looked like most versions, with a lock after the mikazui geri, but not that particular bunkai.

thanks again for sharing,

 

Fred,

Fred I think you've made some excellent point here...I have had that dilemma. I learned a "Hakutsuru" form from a long-time friend of Patrick McCarthy, however this form seems to be the cause of some controversy between PM and Yabiku (Chuck Chandler's teacher).

Apparently they each say that the other stole the form, which Yabiku calls Kohokakuken. PM has told me that he learned this form from Xie Wen Liu, which is odd considering that it's not on the short list of forms that supposedly comes from Xie RuRu's lineage.

On the other hand, there are a number of questionable stories that come from the Yabiku / Chandler lineage as well. So, either way you look at it, the form has a "shady" past (for lack of a better term).

But, and here's my point, the form has some really great stuff in it: broom sweeps, kansetsu waza, throws, ear claps, and the list goes on and on. It has some elements of Saifa, Shisochin, Kururunfa, Seisan, Suparinpei, just off the top of my head.

So, I've decided to keep the form because of some of the great things it teaches. I've given up on caring where it comes from.

Russ

Ron - Passing things on

I think that there is a difference between passing something on so it is not lost and presenting it to the general public. Matsumrua taught me a second Pechurin. I in turn will also be teaching it. As such, it is saved and passed on, just not to everyone.

Matsumura Sensei had very strong feelings about karate, organizations, money, claims to fame, etc. To him, karate was personal not public. He never ever had even one Goju student, so he taught nobody. He taught family members personal protection and some Shorin. He was a Hachi-dan in Jo-Do. His instructor asked him to succeed him, Matsumura Sensei said no. He could have become famous in Shorin, Goju, or Jo-Do,
instead he kept all of them to himself. He did not study in order to teach. He studied for himself. Some people choose to become teachers and the head of Ryuha and others choose never to open a dojo or accept students. This is a personal choice. He loved art and was an art appraiser into his 70's. He practiced some bo and arrow (kyudo). He was a good horseman and had his own horses until around 72 years of age. In other words he had a lot of interest, many of them martial or martial related. Appraising required him to travel all of the time so he couldn't have a dojo or students as he would be absent too often.

Also, he really sincerely believed that Yagi, Toguchi, and many others made up stories and greatly exaggerated their training and time with Miyagi. He did not think Miyazato was very good at Goju. He respected Itokazu, Shinzato, Aragaki, and Higa. He very strongly told me that Yagi was an excellent student from age 17 to around 21 and then he NO LONGER TRAINED WITH MIYAGI EVER and became involved again after
Miyagi's death. It irritated the hell out of him that Yagi tells a different story and that the Government made him a national treasure.

He says this occurred because the Government is of a new generation and that they were not there and do not know, they just go by what people tell them. He thought Yagi was unrightfully arrogant and he did not like him, so some or all of Matsumura's opinion may be personally biased. He personally felt that Yagi's kata was horrible and full of flaws, which he says came from so many years between when he trained and then resumed training/teaching.

To Matsumura's credit, he does have a very good way of evaluating Miyagi's personal students and their ability, Sanchin. He says that if they do not have good Sanchin then they did not train with Miyagi long enough or their Sanchin would be good and correct. He told me to watch Yagi's Sanchin myself. The elbows are too far away from the body, the arms are held too high, and the breathing is not one tenth the depth that Itokazu Sensei did.

I personally can testify that Matsumura's breath was much deeper (uncanny) than Higaonna Morio's, Miyazato's, or Miyagi An'ichi's.

Anyway, I began rambling, sorry. He does not want caught up in all of this political shit, fame, argument, lies, deciet, etc. It does karate no good, period. If I expose him to the world, he is in it whether he wanted to be or not, it's that simple. However, I share his experience, knowledge, words, and other info with you guys (for the new guys, read old post, lots of info & check files section) and with my students so it is being passed on to some extent.  

Steve

Kimo Story

I have a Sandan student who dated Teruo Chinen's adopted daughter for years and who trained with Chinen. He also trained with Kimo in karate and kobudo. He primarily trained in Shorin Ryu (Seibukan) for around 15 years or so. However, he visited my dojo once a week for around three months and then joined.

He shared with me that Kimo shared with him personally, that when Miyagi went to Hawaii Kimo's father trained with him and learned a second Pechurin, which Miyagi created to leave as a gift to the Hawaiians. Kimo now does and teaches this kata and he taught it to my student. It is NOTHING like the one Matsumura taught me. It kind of
looks like some Sepai, Sanseiru, Kururunfa, etc. put together.

The above story sounds bogus as hell to me... Then again I'm a hertic. Any Kimo students able to shed some light on the above?

Please do not take offense, but it appears to me from the above and from other stories and train of thought, that Kimo seems to be very imaginative, is a story teller, or just fibs to substantiate what he is doing. Any feedback or opinion?

Steve

Hey Steve,

this kata is a sticking point for me as well. Kimo sensei has called it Pechurin, and also Paranku. he has said that it was taught in Hawaii by Miyagi, and that it was taught by Kina Seiko. Personally, I feel it is a kata Kimo sensei created. It reminds me most closely of Toguchi's series of forms, and has a feel in some techniques that simply remind me of Kimo sensei. I think this is a case of insecurity. I have great respect for Kimo sensei's technique and teaching ability. I also think that he is, at heart, a good guy. However, he also has some personality quirks. I feel that many of them are rooted in his Vietnam experience, but am no psychoanalyst. This kata came to light a few years after he showed some of us the papuhaku bo katas he made. He also showed them to Matayoshi, who said they were nice, but didn't like the idea Kimo had of marketing them as a Kobudo intro so that the rest of the system could stay "in-house" but there could be some market presence in the manner of other systems. In the years following that, Matayoshi, Kina, Higa, Toguchi, and a number of Kimo sensei's seniors died. He was removed from the Matayoshi system, around the time Sanguinetti was made more of a honcho, which bothered him (I also see a huge ability difference, but also a political one- Kimo is not good at having a boss.) At one point in here, he mentioned to me that he felt "Now
i will never become a master") He was referring to grade and public recognition- the teachers who knew him and put up with his personality traits were gone. No others were going to take him at face value, if he didn't conform to their take on things, and continue to promote him. I think he took a creation of his own, and decided no one would like it if it came from him, and put a story to it. Its too bad. I don't really like the kata much, but I respect the work that went into it, and its better than many of the other training kata I have seen from Toguchi and Yagi.

Kimo sensei's history is not set in stone. It is not his main concern, and he, I feel, lives by the Irish saying that a story can be truer than the truth. This has been very frustrating to me over the years, as I am a stickler for the facts. So on one level, yeah, he fabricates stuff. On another, he tells the truth as he believes it. He also picked up some of this from Matayoshi, who told me once that he thought changing kata and making up origin stories at public demos was a hoot- those really interested would stick around and learn the truth, and the public would get some good entertainment in the mean time.   Go figure.

Fred