The Way of Least Resistance

Continued from Part 1 , Part 2 and Part 3 of this article. In his book “Okinawa kempo” Choki Motobu mentions the kata seisan, seiunchin and naihanchi as kata that were in existence in Okinawa long before Kanryo Higaonna’s trip to China. He writes 1 : “Among those styles or katas which have been used in Ryu Kyu from ancient days are: Sanchin, Jo-Ju-Shi-Ho, Seisan, Seiunchin, Ippakku-Re-Hachi, Naihanchi (Ichidan, Nidan, Sandan), Passai, Chinto, Chinte, (bamboo-yari spear style), Wanshu, Rohai and Kusanku. And especially the three styles Nai-Hanchi, Passai (great and small), and Kusanku which are very widely known to many islanders. As I have mentioned, Ryu Kyu Kempo-Karate originally came from China. Sanchin, Jo-Ju-Shi-Ho, Seisan and Seiunchin have been used there for many centuries.” Is Miyagi’s seiyuchin the same as the original shorin form? We’ll never know for sure. Today’s seiyunchin appears to contain enough Naha te elements to suggest some modification by Miyagi. Certainly i...

Continued from Part 1 and Part 2 of this article. Shisochin begins with 3 opening sanchin stances making it superficially similar to cluster H. However it departs from cluster H in almost every other sense: the kata is “symmetrical” and has a high proportion of “soft” techniques. Moreover the opening thrusts are performed as nukite — knife hand thrusts. While it is said that cluster H were originally practiced open hand, it is more likely that, like the uechi-ryu kata, the nukite where executed palm down to a point just below the attacker’s nipple, not with a vertical hand to the solar plexus as per shisochin. All of this points to shisochin being from a very different source than the cluster H kata (and of the same family/source as saifa, seiyunchin, seipai and kururunfa). But what was that source? As I stated in Part 2 of this article, shisochin might have existed in Okinawa before Kanryo Higaonna even left for China: there is written record of Seisho Aragaki performing a kata n...

Continued from Part 1 of this article. Factors that might explain the “traditional” or “standard” history of goju-ryu There is a tendency for martial artists to venerate the past and play down innovation. It is tradition that gives legitimacy. In goju-ryu we are told that Chojun Miyagi passed down an art form established by his teacher Kanryo Higaonna. Yet everything indicates that Miyagi was an innovator and set the benchmark - not Higaonna, however skilled and knowledgeable the latter might have been. We know that Miyagi introduced tensho, his own sanchin and the gekisai. We know he performed his kata very differently from Higaonna, emphasising dynamic tension, closed fists etc. The art of goju-ryu was named by him. He is the one who is recognized as the "founder" of the system, not Higaonna. There must be a reason for this. The "standard" history is not backed up by any technical or historical comparison with tou'on ryu, goju's sister art. Furthermore, F...

Introduction Readers of my blog will be familiar with my previous discussion concerning what have become known as cluster “H” and cluster “M” goju-ryu kata (see my article The origins of goju-ryu kata: Part 1 ). Cluster “H” consists of Higaonna Kanryo sanchin, sanseiru, seisan and suparinpei. Cluster “M” consists of the remainder. Katas in both clusters follow a general design pattern as follows: A — an opening sequence B — the body of the kata, often capable of being broken up into smaller groupings, eg. B1, B2, B3 etc. C — a closing sequence. What differentiates the clusters in design terms is the portion I have labelled “B”: In cluster “H” this portion is largely asymmetrical (ie. right side biased). In cluster “M” this portion — and more specifically each sub-portion (eg. B1, B2, B3 etc.) is symmetrical (i.e. techniques — including turns — are performed more or less equally on both right and left sides). The particular asymmetry of sanseiru In no kata is the asymmetry of cluster ...

Introduction In recent years various prominent martial arts researchers have postulated that goju-ryu kata fall into 2 groups that come from different sources: The first is “cluster H”, being kata that were taught to Chojun Miyagi by Kanryo Higaonna and consisting of: sanseru sesan suparinpei sanchin (Higaonna style) The second is “cluster M”, being kata that Chojun Miyagi acquired, or developed from material acquired, from a different source and consisting of: saifa seiunchin shisochin sepai kururnfa (as well as the gekisai kata and tensho that Miyagi is known to have created). The theory and its supporting arguments were recently published in an article a few months back in Journal of Asian Martial Arts (16:4, 2007) entitled “A Preliminary Analysis of Goju-Ryu Kata Structures” by Fernando Camara and Mario McKenna. For those who cannot access the article, you’ll get the gist of Mario McKenna’s argument here: on his blog 1 . Researcher Joe Swift explores what is principally the same th...