The Way of Least Resistance

Further to my article “ The origins of tensho ” I came across this video recently.  It shows Lee Kong Sifu demonstrating a white crane form of an unknown name.  The form is the closest I’ve ever seen to the goju kata tensho. The form is from Fujian white crane. What is most fascinating to me is that, like tensho, it proceeds with forward steps in sanchin/sanzhan, where the “up, down, side, side” action (which some call “rokkishu” or “fishtail exercise” ) is repeated - first with one hand, then with the other, then with both simultaneously . This is the only time I have ever seen this exact sequence in a Chinese system.  (You'll note from my previous article that the form bafen only performs the sequence with both hands simultaneously - never the hands individually.) The form then goes on to various finger thrusts that might be counterparts to similar thrusts at the end of tensho, some more palm/hand movements (which have no parallel in tensho), a double ha...

Tensho is a kata that is steeped in mystique.  In particular, there is a lingering "cultural memory" that it stems from an "older" Chinese form known as "rokkishu".  But what is the likely truth about the origins of tensho?  What do we really know about this enigmatic form? We know that Chojun Miyagi openly took credit for developing the kata, just as he did for his version of sanchin (known as "Miyagi sanchin" - where there is no turn), and as he did for the two beginner kata gekisai dai ichi (also known as "fukyugata ni") and geki sai dai ni. It seems Miyagi developed tensho after his trip to China in 1915 1  where, according to orthodox history 2 , he had been researching the origins of Okinawan martial arts, and that he developed this form as an advanced "breathing form" to complement or extend sanchin kata. So what does "tensho" mean? The kanji of are sometimes said to be  天 手  ("tenshu" me...

It was as a youngster in the mid-70s that I first considered the feasibility of the “holy grail” of the martial arts: a synthetic form that would combine all the best elements of the disparate styles into one cohesive, all-encompassing and succinct system: in other words the ultimate martial art . I pored over the various books listing various styles. I pondered the encyclopaedic, sophisticated variations of jujutsu locks and holds, the smooth flow of the myriad Shaolin styles, the brutal efficiency and directness of karate, the effortless efficiency of the internal arts. I wondered about the exotic arts I’d never seen such as pencak silat and bando or legendary arts such as Mongolian “go ti”. Then there were the popular and impressive schools of taekwondo, the no-nonsense effectiveness of Muay Thai, the ubiquitous shadow of the late Bruce Lee and his Jeet Kune Do, the bewildering Filipino arts of kali/escrima/arnis, the elegance and philosophical beauty of aikido, the “sweet scienc...