house of the pure martial arts

WWW.MEIBUKANMAGAZINE.ORG No 8 DECEMBER 2006House of the Pure Martial Arts

MEIBUKAN MAGAZINETHE INTERNATIONAL WEB BASED MARTIAL ARTSMAGAZINE AS A PDF DOCUMENT No 8 DECEMBER 2006

House Of The Pure Martial ArtsMEIBUKAN MAGAZINE

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Controlling the Effects of StrikesThe Indomitable ShinjosRisk and Injuries in Contact Fighting

Karate and Kobudo?Considering Sensei

Interview with Fred Lohse

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MEIBUKAN MAGAZINENo 8 DECEMBER 2006House of the Pure Martial Arts

Meibukan Magazine is published several times a yearin an electronical format with an attractive mix ofsubjects and styles. Each issue of at least twelvepages is published as pdf-file for easy printing. Publishededitions remain archived on-line.

Readers of the webzine are enthousiasts and practi-tioners of the spirit of the martial arts world wide.

Editor in chiefLex Opdam

Meibukan Magazine is pleased to submit views, con-cerns and experiences on any subject matter IF re-lated to the mission statement expressed by theMeibukan Magazine. Therefore articles, photographsand illustrations are welcome, although MeibukanMagazine is selective and can not guarantee that sub-missions will be placed. Submission can be mailedto our P.O. Box by floppy, CD or DVD, or can besent to our e-mail address.

MISSION STATEMENTMeibukan Magazine is an initiative of founders LexOpdam and Mark Hemels. Aim of this web basedmagazine is to spread the knowledge and spirit ofthe martial arts. In a non profitable manner MeibukanMagazine draws attention to the historical, spiritualand technical background of the oriental martial arts.Starting point are the teachings of Okinawan karate-do. As ‘House of the Pure Martial Arts’, however,Meibukan Magazine offers a home to the various au-thentic martial arts traditions.

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ColumnWe want your help!

FeatureKarate and Kobudo?Fred Lohse takes us on a journey through the history of karate and kobudo inan effort to explain why the two are actually inseparable.

InterviewInterview with Fred LohseLex Opdam interviews Goju-ryu and Matayoshi kobudo practitioner FredLohse.

Physical HealthRisk and Injuries in Contact FightingThe closer we come to modeling the reality of a military or self-defensesituation, the more likely we are to sustain (or cause) serious injuries.Joshua Landa on the risk and injuries of contact fighting.

HistoryThe Indomitable Shinjos of OkinawaAlan Dollar tells the tale of one of the most dynamic and renowned namesof traditional Okinawan Uechi-ryu karate.

ReviewKarate Masters by Jose Fraguas.Mind over Muscle - Writings from the Founder of Judo by Jigoro Kano.

FeatureSensei: some considerationsIs a martial arts instructor a spiritual leader? A leader of a community? Shouldhe be? Or should he merely disseminate the most effective and correct fightingtechnique as promulgated by his respective art? Gil Gillespie on the interpretationof "Sensei."

FeatureControlling the Effects of StrikesKevin Secours explains that although pain for the practicing martial artist maybe inevitable, suffering is optional.

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ContributorsFred LohseLex Opdam

Joshua LandaAlan Dollar

Marc van DamGil Gillespie

Kevin Secours

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Karate and Kobudo?In talking to many practitioners of the Okinawan martial arts, oneoften hears two separate terms used; karate and kobudo. One isthe unarmed practice common to the island, the other the weaponarts. On the surface, this separation makes sense; it's a very easydivision to make since the difference between holding somethingand not holding something is pretty obvious. Since the translationfor karate means "empty hand", the separation seems even moreobvious. However, although this separation makes sense on the

surface and is a common idea in Okinawa, in Japan, and here in theWest, I would suggest it is an artificial one, one that comes out of a

specific set of historic circumstances, and is not actuallyrepresentative of the Okinawan martial heritage.

- Frederick W. Lohse III -

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Conceptually, separating armed and un-armed arts is rather unusual worldwide.While many of the Japanese Shin-budoare extremely specific in their choice oftools- Judo is empty handed, Kendo usesonly a shinai (bamboo practice sword),Kyudo uses only the bow- these artsresemble the Western sports of fencing,boxing, or wrestling more than they domost martial arts. They were designed,much like their Western counterparts, tofit a specific need. Elements of practicethat were deemed unnecessary to theirgoals were eliminated. Hence, Judo doesnot contain many of the armed or strikingtechniques common to many traditionalJujutsu styles, Kendo includes no unarmedtraining or understanding of the spear,halberd, or thrown weapons as many clas-sical Japanese arts do, and so on. Theirspecific designs enable focused study ofa particular set of techniques, a practicedesigned for self-development, sport, fitness,or some combination of these. However,in more traditional martial arts the dif-ferentiation between armed and unarmedarts is often vague, at best. The classicalJapanese arts, Chinese arts, Philippine arts,Indonesian arts, all mix armed and unarmedtechniques, usually in the same system,using the same tactical concepts. Histori-cally, in looking at the Okinawan arts, thesame applies.

While today karate and kobudo are oftenconsidered separate practices, this is arelatively new phenomenon on Okinawa.

In the past, the leading figures in theOkinawan martial traditions practiced, andtaught, a variety of techniques. Looking atthe various figures of Okinawa’s martialpast, this becomes immediately obvious.Kosaku Matsumora was known for hisskill with the bo (staff) (Nagamine, 2000,p. 34). In the 1866 demonstration at thedeparture of the last Chinese Sapposhi,Seisho Aragaki, who went on to be KanryoHigaonna’s teacher, demonstrated a varietyof armed and unarmed techniques rangingfrom empty hand to tinbe (shield & macheteor short spear). The famous Yara Chatanpassed down both Chatan Yara no Kusankuand Chatan Yara no Sai. Perhaps mosttelling, the single greatest legacy of oneof karate’s most famous exponents, a manwho was nicknamed for his karate, “Tode”Sakugawa (Kanga Sakugawa), is the bokata that bears his name, not his karate.

Kanga Sakugawa

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The general appraisal of an article (checking offacts/sources/persons etc. and aptitude), the contactwith the authors and copyright holders, thepreparations of those articles which are effectivelyplaced, demand more time than most peopleimagine. We are always searching for goodmaterial, be it already published or new material.Often we have a mixture of both since our aim isnot to be newsworthy in the first place but to behelpful in providing serious martial arts materialto the interested. Both new and old material arefine for our magazine and when we ourselves havetime and energy we also actively create andcontribute to it.

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It is difficult to explain in short what kind ofmaterial Meibukan Magazine is looking for, butnow that the first 8 editions of our magazine haveappeared, I believe that the articles published sofar give a clear indication of the type of materialwe are interested in.

If you are in a position to provide us with material,the most convenient way for us would be if youcould supply us with a weblink or even a Worddocument by email concerning the article thatyou think would fit in our magazine. Ideally,provide us with information of where and whenthe article is/was published (webpage or magazine),who the author is and -if possible- how to reachhim and possibly the copyright holder. Even ifyou only have a weblink that you think could beinteresting for our magazine, please feel free tomail us by our submission email. Of course we cannot guarantee we will place the article(s), but wewill certainly take the effort to study the materialattentively.

Lex OpdamEditor in chief


WWW.MEIBUKANMAGAZINE.ORG No 8 DECEMBER 2006House of the Pure Martial Arts 3

Obviously, the pioneers of what was tobecome Okinawa’s karate and kobudo didnot see the two as separate arts. The lea-ding teachers practiced and taught both.This continued on into the next “gene-rations”. Kanryo Higaonna is said to havebeen skilled with a variety of Chineseweapons. Along with his karate, ChotokuKyan passed down the bo kata Tokumineno kon, a kata he considered an importantpart of his legacy. The noted bo mastersMasami Chinen and Modem Yabiku bothstudied Itosu style karate. (See Hokama,2005.) Indeed, virtually every legendaryOkinawan bushi is known for both armedand unarmed skills. This is, with a littleexamination, not surprising. In earliertimes, the martial arts were not practicedprimarily for self-development, or sport.They were practiced for self-defense, orcombat. In that light, any martial artistwould need to be able to use, and be ableto counter, not only unarmed attacks, buta variety of weapons. Over time, this ap-proach to the practice of the martial artshas changed, starting during the Meijiperiod (1868-1912), and intensifying in thepost-war years. However, in general themajority of late Meiji and early Showa era(1926-1989) Okinawan martial artists alsointrinsically connected armed and unarmedpractice.

The founder of Shito-ryu, Kenwa Mabuni,known for his efforts to preserve and pass

on a huge number of Okinawan kata, wasenough of an expert in kobudo to be oneof Shinken Taira’s main teachers; heobviously considered the armed arts im-portant enough to preserve as well. Taira,the founder of the Society for the Preser-vation and Promotion of Ryukyu kobudo,also learned from Jinsei Kamiya, a notedGoju-ryu exponent. Ginchin Funakoshi, thefounder of Shotokan, also practiced ko-budo, as the famous picture of him usingsai (a forked metal truncheon) demon-strates. In the early days, he also taughtsome bojutsu, though this dropped out ofmost Shotokan practice. (McMahon,2001.) Conversely, his student ShinkenTaira also taught karate. During the lateMeiji period and right into the post-warera, the Okinawan arts were undergoingmassive change. They were being ex-ported to Japan and becoming somethingnew in the process, while on Okinawa theywere being re-examined and renamed.With each generation, there had alwaysbeen change and crossfertilizationbetween styles and teachers. However,in this period there came to be a morefocused approach to codifying sys-tems,naming them, and creating clearer lineagesand lists of kata to go with them. Never-theless, throughout this process the conflationof armed and unarmed techniques con-tinued. As people developed new systemsand named them, they usually includedboth armed and unarmed kata. Isshin-ryu’s founder Tatsuo Shima-buko includeda variety of karate, bo, sai, and tonfa (right-angled baton) kata. The late JuhatsuKyoda considered armed techniquesimportant enough to add bo and sai katato the Tou’on-ryu he named after histeacher Kanryo Higaonna. When he

founded his organization, the Goju-ryuKokusai Karate Kobudo Renmei, SeikoHiga, who had also studied with ShinkenTaira, Shinpo Matayoshi, and KenkoNakaima, included kobudo in the title eventhough there are no weapon kata in theGoju system. Other Goju teachers alsoconsidered kobudo essential to theirpractice- Seikichi Toguchi added rhythmbo and various kobudo kata to his Shorei-kan, and Meitoku Yagi added Gekisai andSaifa practiced with sai. Zenryo Shima-buko taught Tokumine no kon along withKyan’s karate. Kenko Nakaima’s Ryuei-ryu has always included armed and un-armed kata. Hohan Soken was known forhis Matsumura style karate, but also for hisdeep knowledge of a number of weapons.Seikichi Odo’s Okinawa Kempo includesa variety of armed kata, taught, as in allthese systems, as part and parcel of thekarate they accompany.

“Throughout the history of the Okinawanarts, karate teachers have taught andpracticed kobudo, and kobudo teachershave taught and practiced karate. Thetwo have never been seen as separatespecialties, at least until recently.”

“The classical Japanese arts, Chinese arts,Philippine arts, Indonesian arts, all mixarmed and unarmed techniques, usuallyin the same system, using the same tacticalconcepts.”

Eisuke Akamine with bo and Shinken Taira with tonfa.

Throughout the history of the Okinawanarts, karate teachers have taught andpracticed kobudo, and kobudo teachershave taught and practiced karate. The twohave never been seen as separate special-ties, at least until recently. Starting some timein the early part of the last century a sepa-ration began to develop, at least in manypeople’s minds, between Okinawa’s armedand unarmed techniques. Some of thischange probably grew out of the existingtraining environment. While virtually all theold masters practiced both, different peo-ple were known for different things. WhileChojo Oshiro practiced karate, peoplecame to him to learn the bojutsu he wasmost famous for, and while people wouldgo to Itosu to learn karate, they wouldperhaps not seek him out for the kobudohe knew. In each generation there wouldbe teachers that were better known fordifferent skills. In time some of these tea-chers’ students also became known fortheir teachers’ skills, creating lineages thatheld certain knowledge, more or lessloosely. This is a general tendency however,and I would suggest that the real reason



for the increased separation betweenarmed and unarmed techniques was aparticular set of historical influences onthe development of the Okinawan arts inthe early and mid 20’th century.

In looking at the Okinawan arts that havethe least connection to the armed tech-niques of the island perhaps the starkestseparation is in the Naha-te based Goju-ryu1. While a number of Goju teachershave incorporated armed techniques intotheir teaching, the base system as foundedby Chojun Miyagi is almost unique onOkinawa in its complete exclusion of wea-pon techniques2. Since Goju is so stark inthis respect, examining some aspects ofGoju’s development in this period can shedsome light on how this separation mayhave become more common in the Okina-wan arts in general.

While Miyagi sensei’s teacher KanryoHigaonna was said to also be skilled inChinese weaponry, he is not known to havepassed any of this down. Among his stu-dents, Kyoda sensei went on to include boand sai kata in his system, though it is un-known who he learned them from, whileMiyagi did not. Higaonna’s history mayhave some bearing on why Miyagi, whoconsidered himself Higaonna’s heir, did notinclude armed practice in his system.

Kanryo Higaonna began teaching his Naha-te in Okinawa around the start of the 20thcentury. At that time, the school systemon the island was undergoing a series ofdeep changes brought about by the Meijirestoration. Among these changes was anew focus on physical and moral educa-tion (with a strong nationalist component)in the schools. Judo and Kendo were bothstandard subjects in schools in Japan, andwere seen as ways to develop these traits.On Okinawa there was a push by a num-ber of important teachers to have the localart, karate, become nationally known forits benefits, and to have it included in theschool curriculum as well. Higaonna taughtin the Naha Commercial High School star-ting in 1905, but was not the first karate

moral education” (Higaonna, 1995: 21-22). He also relates that it may have beenwhile teaching at the school that Higaonna“closed the fist” as a part of moving hiskarate from a purely fighting art to one alsofocused on health and moral develop-ment. (See Higaonna, 1995.)

While Kanryo Higaonna left nothingwritten about his feelings regarding thedevelopment of karate in the schools, onecan imagine that he was disappointed thatItosu’s karate, not his, was accepted. Inthe years ahead, Itosu continued to pushfor his karate, bringing it to the attentionof the Ministry of Education, publishinghis 10 precepts, and eventually having itthrive through his student, Funakoshi, whobecame the premier Okinawan teacherin Japan. Watching this take place, it iseasy to see how Higaonna might mimicsome of the changes Itosu made, focus-ing his art more on mental and physicaleducation, and perhaps away from purelymartial application. If nothing else, at sometime in this period, he “closed the fist” inthe system, a change considered to be amove towards a less directly combative

model of training. This process of develop-ment continued with Chojun Miyagi.

As Miyagi took over the mantle of Naha-te’s leading instructor, he also was parti-cipating in what amounted to a sea-changein Okinawa’s martial arts. With things likeadmission into the Butokukai, the changeof the characters from “Chinese Hand”to “Empty Hand,” and the model of Judoto go by, it may have seemed there was aclear path for Okinawa’s arts to followinto the future. Miyagi, along with anumber of other notable karate figures,knew Jigoro Kano and had trained someJudo. He also saw the popularity of thatart, its clear goals, organization, and deve-lopment from older arts and its value as amethod of physical and mental training.He wanted Okinawa’s art, his art, to showthe country its value as well, to promotethe system his teacher had taught him, andperhaps to preserve the art in a changingworld.

Of all the actions he took to help moveOkinawan karate into the Japanese main-stream, one of the most telling was hisparticipation in the meeting that proposedformally accepting the name change, andhis support for this change (see McCarthy,1999). While much has been made of thepolitical and historical aspects of this, thename change accepted by many karateteachers in 1936, from the charactersChinese Hand (CDCDCDCDCD) to Empty Hand(EDEDEDEDED karate), is truly symbolic of a muchlarger change in the common under-standing of the art. In its basic translation,the character used for the term “te” or“ti” (DDDDD) means hand. In that sense, it iseasy, and logical, to conflate it with aperson’s hands, and so with empty handedtechnique. However, in the Okinawanmartial vernacular, the term has a differentmeaning. It refers to technique, and isalmost a general term for the martial arts,armed and unarmed. As an example, inMatayoshi kobudo certain weapon kataare referred to as “ti”, as in Guwa no ti, orGuwa technique3. The name change to“Empty Hand,” therefore is an even larger

“To quote a senior practitioner of Uechi-ryu and student of Shinken Taira,Katsuhiko Minowa: "karate and kobudoare like two wheels on an axle".”

“…it is a formal movement away from aterm roughly meaning "Chinese basedfighting techniques" (toudi) to "Unarmedfighting way" (karate do).”

Seiko Higa (1st row left), Seikichi Toguchi (1st rowright), Ryugo Sakai (2nd row right), late 1950s.

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teacher in the public schools. Itosu Ankohstarted teaching in the school system in1901. In developing his karate to make itmore useful for the school system, hechanged the art as he had learned it, crea-ting simpler kata (the Pinan katas) andfocusing on group drills. It is also said thathe made the practice safer, concentratingon its physical education elements. Al-though later he also taught in the schools,Higaonna and his karate initially lost outto Itosu in getting the public acclaim, andperhaps recompense, that accompaniedthe public school position. Morio Higaonnarelates that it is possible Higaonna wasnot paid for teaching in the school systemand that the principal asked him to focushis teaching on “physical, intellectual, and



shift in the Okinawan arts than it appearsif one is thinking of it only as a move be-tween two terms for unarmed combat.Instead, it is a formal movement awayfrom a term roughly meaning “Chinesebased fighting techniques” (toudi) to“Unarmed fighting way” (karate do). Byshifting the emphasis away from the moregeneral Okinawan term to the more Japa-nese “te”, the meaning is limited, empha-sizing the concept of the hand. This namechange in essence redefines the art,removing the armed techniques that hadalways been part of the larger art entirely.

In the minutes of the meeting discussingthis name change, Genwa Nakasone makesit very clear that a major reason for thename change is “consideration of karatedo’s development as a Japanese budo.”(McCarthy, 1999: 60) Much as Judo leftarmed techniques behind, the new karatedid as well. While Miyagi stated that theclassical forms must be preserved, he alsoworked hard to develop a newer Okinawanbudo. As a part of this, he participated inan effort to develop a generic “OkinawanKarate” after the model of Judo and Kendo-a Shin-budo put together from older artsin a new, organized, and focused package.To this end he supported and helpeddevelop some of the proposed “unified”kata, now known as the Gekisai kata,wrote about the importance of the spiritual

worked so hard to develop4, it has certainelements of it as core to its organizationand practice. One of these is the completeabsence of armed techniques. While I donot argue that Okinawan Goju-ryu lackstrue martial content, as many sport karatestyles do, I do see the absence of armedtechnique as an expression of MiyagiChojun’s work to develop his karate asboth an extension of the training he hadreceived and as a modern Japanese Budo,complete with a clear syllabus, a definedset of warm up and preparatory exercises,and both kata for school children and publicclasses (the Gekisai) and the classical katathat had been passed down to him.

and physical education aspects of trainingas opposed to the purely fighting aspects(see McCarthy, 1999), and traveled exten-sively to promote his art, both around Japanand as far away as Hawaii.

While Miyagi’s Goju-ryu does not exactlyresemble the education-based model he

A deeper examination of the developmentof Goju-ryu is well outside the scope ofthis article. However, this brief exami-nation serves to shed light on one way inwhich the separation of the armed andunarmed techniques on Okinawa cameabout. Looking at another good exampleof karate’s development in this period –the rise of Ginchin Funakoshi’s Shotokan– we see similar trends. Funakoshi broughtkarate to the mainland, received a gooddeal of help from Jigoro Kano in the pro-cess, and worked hard to popularize theart. In doing so, he primarily taught Itosu’skarate, a karate already prepped for alarger public audience, and continued tochange it. He also took his karate deeperinto the model of a Japanese Budo, in theprocess dropping the weapon arts hepracticed and initially taught and focusingon the spiritual and physical educationaspects of it, as well as identifying itclosely with the “national spirit” of Japan.With his and Miyagi’s karate being theprimary models for the Okinawan arts onthe mainland, karate there developedalmost entirely as an unarmed practice.(One could also perhaps say that this isone reason why sport karate then deve-loped primarily on the mainland- with noweapon training in the practice, the mind-set weapons bring to training is excluded,making a shift to sport practice seem a

much more natural extension of the trai-ning in general.)

The changes happening in the publicpresentation of much Okinawan karatewere also taking place in a larger arenaof increasing formality. Before the 20thcentury, there were essentially no formalsystems of toudi on Okinawa. Variousteachers became well known, took students,and these students passed on their teachers’knowledge. Students would train with variousteachers, going to one famous for his bowork, another for his kempo, another forhis kama (sickle), and so on in their searchfor knowledge. Most of the founders oftoday’s systems did this- Chojun Miyagialso trained with Gokenki and Todaiki, forexample. In the push to become a JapaneseBudo, formal names for systems, and thencodification of what these systems con-tained, became necessary for acceptanceinto the Butokukai. Through this process,if a teacher did not know certain weaponskills, or did not want to teach them, thesewould then not become part of his “style”,or ryu, and his students would not learnthem, or consider them part of the art.Hence some schools contain no weapontechniques, and with students encouragedto stay within one “ryu,”5 cross trainingbecame less likely. In the long run, this ledto ryu devoted entirely to weapon arts,partially as a reaction to the lessening ofthese practices in the larger Okinawanmartial community, and partially sincethese teachers taught weapon skills andformed a school teaching them. However,as this stylistic formality increased in theearly 20th century, it added another impe-tus to the increasingly liminal nature of theOkinawan weapon arts.

So, the name change creates a change inhow the art is seenit formally becomesan unarmed art- and codification createssome incentives to limit access to weapontraining. Added to this, some of the mainpractitioners and teachers of the art workto push a model of it related to the JapaneseShin Budo, with clearly defined boundariesand a set of values that emphasize spiritualand physical training as much as or morethan connection to earlier combative tra-ditions. At the same time, Japan and Okinawawere changing. There is little need forarmed hand-to-hand combat skills in themodern world. Soldiers use guns, and

“…the attitude that weapon trainingbrings is markedly different from theattitude that sport karate creates. Usinga weapon is a constant reminder of thedangers of practice, and the deadly natureof the techniques studied.”

Ryugo Sakai and Seikichi Toguchi, late 1950s.

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cannot understand karate if you do notunderstand weapons.” I agree. But, onemay ask, why?

First, I would say that the mindset of anymartial training is crucial. There is muchsaid these days about the difference betweensport karate and classical karate. I thinkthese definitions are somewhat fluid, hardsometimes to pin down. However, the atti-tude that weapon training brings is marked-ly different from the attitude that sportkarate creates. Using a weapon is a constantreminder of the dangers of practice, andthe deadly nature of the techniques studied.I am not a big fan of the “its so deadly wecan’t really practice it” school of talk.That’s because often talk is all it is. To be“deadly” you need lots of training; youneed to be fast, precise, strong, and deter-mined to do damage. You also need toknow how to do the “deadly” damage.Weapon training brings many of theseelements to the forefront. In doing pairwork, and armed or unarmed you cannotreally train without doing pair work, thedanger is apparent. Unless you are goingso slowly the training is useless anywayor are so far away that only the weaponstouch (useless again), a mistake can leadto serious injury or even death. Unarmedtraining is much more forgiving – one cantake a decent punch, even to the face,with minimal damage – a split lip, loose orbroken teeth, a broken nose, etc. However,a decent stab with the sai into the bodymight kill you, and will certainly requireimmediate emergency medical attention.This difference, if you are training hardand fast, creates a certain mindset. It

karate training in the west. Not only didwesterners start training karate well afterthe name change formally shifted its nameto “empty hand” and these trends had hadsome time to work themselves out in Okina-wa and Japan,6 but in many cases theylearned in mainland Japan, where the mainsystems – Shotokan and its descendantslike Wado-ryu, Japanese Goju-kai, Shito-ryu, and so on – don’t include much if anyweapon training. On Okinawa somewesterners had instruction in weapontechniques, but most of the first gene-rations also trained for a limited time,usually a short tour of duty on the island,giving many of them little time in which toget past the earlier stages of unarmedtraining. Even if they did have sometraining in kobudo, the weapons them-selves were harder to come by back home,as were people to train them with. So it iseven easier to see how in the west weapontraining could have come to be seen as aseparate, less common, and less importantpart of the tradition.

However, it is not separate, not less impor-tant, and historically not less common. Whileon the mainland many karate styles deve-loped without armed techniques, on Okina-wa senior practitioners have alwaysmaintained a connection to both. As notedabove, as new systems developed theyincluded weapon training, and even in thecase of systems like Goju-ryu, most majorexponents pursued instruction in kobudo,and maintained it in their practice. Giventhe incentives not to –logistical pressures,a push towards a defined budo model,systems codified not to include it, and a nom-clamenture that excludes it – why haskobudo training remained so central to theOkinawan arts?

In short, because the empty hand arts areincomplete without it. To quote a seniorpractitioner of Uechi-ryu and student ofShinken Taira, Katsuhiko Minowa: “karateand kobudo are like two wheels on an axle”(McKenna, 2006). I agree, and would furtherargue that karate and kobudo are notseparate arts. Their connection for theearlier generations of Okinawan martialartists is clear, as is the importance of wea-pon training for most of today’s seniorpractitioners. They are all parts of Okina-wan “ti.” Making the point even clearer,Ryugo Sakai said to me in 1992: “you

This incongruity is then coupled with cer-tain logistical issues. One is simply the amountof time it takes to develop anything resem-bling mastery of a variety of armed andunarmed skills. With karate being promo-ted as a “way,” like Judo or Kendo, it alsobecomes something people pursue as a partof a larger life, a method of self-cultivation.As a part of a larger life, the time neededto develop a full skill set becomes evenharder to invest. Weapon training usuallycomes after some skill in unarmed techni-que is developed. It is not for new students,and in larger classes with students trainingfor a shorter time, particularly in settingslike the universities where karate wasinitially popularized in mainland Japan, itmay never even come up. With studentsengaged for reasons of fitness or self-cultivation, it is not even necessary. Weapontraining also requires much more spacethan empty hand training, is more dange-rous, and has added equipment costs. Takeall that, and with the art potentiallyredefined not to include it, it is easy to seehow weapon training may have come tobe seen as a separate, and less common,part of the Okinawan martial tradition.One not for all practitioners, but only forthose who chose to go into the arts in acertain way.

By extension, then, it is also easy to seehow it is even less well integrated into

civilians are mostly unarmed. It is easy tosee the potential usefulness of karate asa means of self-defense. Training witharchaic weapons is however, a little dif-ferent- it is harder to justify it in any prac-tical terms in the modern world, and MeijiJapan was nothing if not focused on movinginto that modern world. Part of makingthe Okinawan arts relevant to the rapidlychanging culture of Japan and Okinawawas removing the elements that seemedmost incongruous with the push towards“modernity.” Again as was the case inthe development of Kendo and Judo. Itdoes not, on the surface, seem as relevant,so weapon training perhaps seemed easyto push aside.

“Doing hard, fast pair work day after dayentails risk, and if you don't have somefear of injury you do not really understandthe risks involved.”

David Nauss, Fred Lohse, bo versus sai,Cambridge 2002.

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you about making sure you use the sameprecision in your unarmed technique, aswell as again teaching you about shiftingyour focus to where it needs to be insteadof where it is habitually.

The variety of weapons practiced is alsoa teaching tool. One counters a bo attackwith a kama differently than one does withan eku (oar). Each weapon has a differentrange, as discussed above. They also havedifferent characteristics- some cut, somepierce, some bludgeon, some, like thebody, can do a variety of these. Some cantake an attack directly and some require

travels is also crucial. While I might treatsomeone with a slightly wild punch as atraining opportunity, I won’t do pair workwith someone who can’t really controlwhere their weapon is going. It’s too dan-gerous. In developing skill, you need to beable to control both the target and the paththe weapon takes to get there, very cleanly.This then leads to being able to put theweapon where you want, when you want,in the way you want. In turn this can teach

changes. Moving between them alsomakes one shift the focus of intention. Youcan see when someone is using a bo butthinking of their body- their intention is intheir hands and feet, not where the weaponis. Shifting one’s focus out through the weaponis a mental exercise in itself, one that teachesa great deal about range, intention, and timing.

Coupled with that is the process of develo-ping targeting and precision. The strikingsurfaces of most weapons are much smallerthan that of, say, an elbow. To hit properlyyou need to know where the weapon is going,quite precisely. While in unarmed pair worka general punch to the body might be accep-table (if not desirable), in weapon traininga general strike is not really effective, orsafe for your partner. Nor is it possible whenthe surface area of the striking weaponmight be less than 1 centimeter in diameter.At the same time, the path the weapon

requires attention, and proper intention. Itrequires trust in both self and partner. Iteliminates competition, unless you wantto train in a dojo full of cripples. You can’tget lazy and let an attack in, and if yourpartner is training properly and making hisattacks fast, hard, and as close to his tar-gets as possible, you can’t get lazy, ignorea single attack, or safely make randommovements. You also need to deal withfear. Doing hard, fast pair work day afterday entails risk, and if you don’t have somefear of injury you do not really understandthe risks involved. The risk is minimizedthrough proper training, but never goesaway. You need to accept and train past itto progress. These elements combine tocreate a mindset that is, in my opinion, thatof classical karate, or toudi- a fighting art,not a sport. I believe it is focused and facili-tated by weapon training, in a way un-armed training can’t really match. At thesame time, weapon training emphasizesa number of crucial physical elements thatare easier to miss in unarmed practice.Proper ma’ai, or range, is essential to alltechniques. But in unarmed practice, thedifferences in range are sometimes hardto see. Variations in height and reach ofpartners, and the variety of attacks withdifferent ranges from shoulder bash to fullyextended kick, come quickly and aresometimes very subtle. The larger diffe-rences between weapons, and their vastlydifferent utility at different ranges, makesthe practice of proper ma’ai very clear,and easier to understand. Moving betweenthem then helps develop a sense of howrange shifts, and how you can use those

“The larger differences between weaponsand their vastly different utility at differentranges, makes the practice of proper ma'aivery clear, and easier to understand.”

Houhan Soken.

dodging or redirection when used todefend. These options are determined bytheir physical qualities, and changing be-tween them teaches a sense of how to usedifferent options in a way that is again harderto see with unarmed practice, since all theoptions are always there. For example,it’s hard to grab with a tonfa, but pick upnunchiyaku (2 section flail) and suddenlya whole set of seizing techniques becomesavailable. It’s easy to forget the huge

“It's easy to forget the huge variety of thingsthe body can do, and weapon training helpsrefine the sense of options open, helpingto keep the practitioner using the propertool for the task at hand, armed or unarmed.”

Kumi waza.

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variety of things the body can do, andweapon training helps refine the sense ofoptions open, helping to keep the practi-tioner using the proper tool for the task athand, armed or unarmed.

Finally, weapon training also helps trainbody movement and mechanics. The bo,for example, is stiff. If the body is alsostiff, little power will be transmittedthrough the weapon. It will move slowlyand inaccurately, and the more strengthpoured in, the less effective the strikes willbecome. This is, pretty much, the same inkarate training. However the bo, and otherweapons, make this immediately clear.They teach pliability of form, quick foot-work and agility, and evasion in a way thatis slightly harder to do in karate training.One can, if planted properly, take a strongsweep or mawashi geri (round kick) tothe leg. One cannot take a strong strikewith the bo there and stay standing. Thatdifference alone changes the practice.

Together these and other things amountto an added dimension in training. Thedifferent emphasis creates small butnoticeable differences, ones that helpdevelop certain skills more easily. Whilesome are physical, most are mental – shifts

popular karate, and have been treated assuch by most all of the island’s famousmartial artists. They also carry an aesthetic,a beauty, all their own. For various histo-rical and cultural reasons, the unarmedaspect of Okinawa’s arts has come to thefore in recent decades, with this shift beingparticularly emphasized by the formalname change away from a general martialmoniker (toudi) to the term “empty hand”(karate). However, the weapon arts, whilecurrently less popular, teach certain con-cepts central to the larger martial ethos ofthe island, and so form an element of trai-ning that is essential to truly understan-ding these arts. They are as much toudias any unarmed practice.

Much as my teachers do, I believe thatone can not really practice Okinawan ka-rate if one does not practice kobudo. It’snot that I don’t like karate or think it hasgreat depth. It does. It’s just that alone it isincomplete. Or, perhaps, as Shinpo Mata-yoshi said to me, it is just that “karate, yes,it is one of the weapons in the Okinawakobudo.”

Notes1Naha-te was a Meiji period term for Okinawanmartial arts that developed in the Naha area ofOkinawa. These include Goju-ryu, Tou’on-ryu,and Uechi-ryu. Uechi-ryu is also notable in itsexclusion of armed techniques. However, it cameto Okinawa well after the development of most ofthe other systems on the island; Kanbun Uechidid not start teaching until 1924, and Uechi-ryuwas not taught in Okinawa until as late as 1949(see McKenna, 2006, History of Uechi-ryu, p. 23).Since armed techniques are often taught later inmany Chinese arts, it is interesting to speculatethat Kanbun Uechi may have missed out on morethan the Suparinpe he supposedly did not learn,but there is no evidence to make this anything butspeculation.2Even systems founded by people like Juhatsu Kyo-da and Shoshin Nagamine include armed techniques.3Methods for using a guwa, or kue, an Okinawanand Japanese farming hoe. A number of the kata inthe system use this nomenclature. They include:Kama no ti, Kuwa no ti, Tsuken Akachu no Ekudi, and Nunti no ti, among others. 4Perhaps in part because of an ambivalence on hispart. We will never know, but I imagine he was insome ways caught between wanting to preservethe tradition he valued so much, and bringing it

in focus, intention, and conception that arechallenging but rewarding. Its not that theycan’t be developed through unarmed prac-tice alone – they most certainly can. It’s justthat weapon training forms, in some ways,a shortcut or training assist that carries acrossweapon and body, helping develop a morefully rounded and more capable martialartist.

In short, historically the weapon arts ofOkinawa were practiced along with theunarmed arts, as part of a continuous bodyof knowledge. They are as intrinsic to themartial culture of the island as its more

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Fred Lohse, Sakai Ryugo, Kagoshima, 1992

“One can, if planted properly, take a strongsweep or mawashi geri (round kick) tothe leg. One cannot take a strong strikewith the bo there and stay standing. Thatdifference alone changes the practice.”

Shinpo Matayoshi throwing sai.

Fred Lohse, is a 5th degreeblack belt in Goju-ryu karate andMatayoshi kobudo, and has beentraining both for over 20 years.He lived in Japan from 1990-

1992, and has master's degreesin Japanese Studies and

International Education fromHarvard University. He trains andteaches karate and kobudo with

Kodokan Boston, in Boston,Massachusetts. You can find out

more about the dojo at:www.kodokanboston.org.

into what he saw as a new world.5The impetus for this, a combination of Confucianideology emphasizing respect for the teacher,nationalist sentiment also emphasizing loyalty andrespect for elders, and commercial incentives thatbecame more relevant after the war, is a complexissue, and outside the scope of this article.6Indeed, while there was never a complete dis-continuation of weapon training on Okinawa, theunarmed arts had grown so much more popularthat the founders of both of the main lines of kobudoinstruction on Okinawa today, Shinken Taira andShinpo Matayoshi, stated a desire to preserve andpromote Okinawa’s armed traditions as one reasonfor opening their dojo. In some ways, it is possibleto see the “decline” in the kobudo noted by both

men as instead a change in an existing balance: avast increase in one portion of the art instead of adecline in another.

ReferencesHigaonna, Morio. (1995). The History of Karate:Goju Ryu. Great Britain: Dragon Books.Hokama, Tetsuhiro. (2005). 100 Masters ofOkinawan Karate. Okinawa: Ozato Print Co..Translation by Joe Swift.McCarthy, Patrick. (1999.) Ancient OkinawanMartial Arts: Koryu Uchinadi. Boston, MA: Tuttle.McKenna, Mario. (2006). Karate and Kobudo. Ar-chives section, May 2006, Karate and Kobudo Blog.McKenna, Mario. (2006). History of Uechi Ryu.Meibukan Magazine, Volume 7, pp. 21-23.McMahon, Bob. (2001). Shoto Bojutsu. Privatelypublished pamphlet.Nagamine, Shoshin. (2000). Tales of Okinawa’sGreat Masters. Boston, MA: Tuttle. Translation byPatrick McCarthy.C

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Fred Lohse is a practitioner of the Okinawan martial arts and chief instructor of the Kodokandojo in Boston which is dedicated to training of Goju-ryu karate do and Matayoshi kobudo. A

path in the martial arts that began with curiosity and evolved into discipline, overcomingobstacles and gaining insight. An introduction to a martial artist who embraces both armed and

unarmed diciplines.- By Lex Opdam -

Interview with Fred Lohse

Mr. Lohse, although we have met andtrained with each other in the past in theUSA and the Netherlands, would you beso kind as to introduce yourself to ourreaders?Yes, I would be happy to. I was born inMassachusetts, and much to my surpriselive there now. I have worked as a teacherand school administrator, and now workas a contractor in the Boston area. I startedtraining Goju-ryu karate and Matayoshikobudo in 1986, under Kimo Wall, while astudent at the University of Massachusetts.

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Matayoshi Shinpo. While living in Japan Ialso had the opportunity to practice JigenRyu Heiho in the dojo in Kagoshima, andUfuchiku kobudo under Masada Kei’ichi.I then spent some time traveling, andreturned to the states to do graduate workat Harvard University in Japanese Studiesand International Education. Since then, Ihave been training with Kodokan Boston,and on occasion with Gakiya Yoshiaki. Werun a small dojo here in Boston, practicingGoju-ryu and Matayoshi kobudo, and Iconsider myself lucky to have some greattraining partners and to have had suchfantastic and generous teachers.

Sensei Kimo Wall formed his own orga-nization in 1970 and called it Kodokan or‘School of the Old Way’ to honor his tea-cher Matayoshi. In the years that followed,he founded several schools in and outsidethe United States and began teaching in1981 for the Physical Education Depart-ment of the University of Massachusettsat Amherst.You entered Sensei Kimo Wall’s Kodokanin 1986 while you were a student. Did youever encounter the martial arts before thistime and what was your attraction to themartial arts?I had no martial arts training before that,except that in high school I used to “spar”with a friend who did Uechi-ryu. Weplayed around, but there was no methodto it. I knew nothing else about martial

arts except from movies and books. Pro-bably due to popular images, I was inte-rested in trying it out, but I’m not sure Iwould still be practicing if I did not happenonto a good teacher.From the first day in the dojo I knew Iwas hooked. The practice was so differentthan the images in the movies, and somuch more interesting.

I can imagine that your growing interestespecially in this early stage of your realexposure towards martial arts whenentering Sensei Kimo Wall’s dojo wouldchange to a different kind of catalyst forfurther and deeper study and practice.What did it mean to you when you startedwith the martial arts and what does it meanto you nowadays? Could you express inwhat way martial arts affected your life?When I started, it was just for curiosity,and to have a way to work out. It soon

“life is for living, not just thinking aboutthe possible future”

Kimo Wall.

After college, I moved to Japan and tooka job working for the Ministry of Edu-cation. I lived there for a little over twoyears, and practiced Higa lineage Goju-ryu and Matayoshi kobudo under Sakai

Ryugo (a student of Sensei Higa andSensei Matayoshi in the 50s and early60s), as well as made periodic visits to theKodokan honbu dojo to train with

Ryugo Sakai and partner, Toguchi dojo, late 1950s.

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became an important part of my schedule,but I doubt I could have said why, exceptthat it was fun. Difficult, painful, and ex-hausting, but fun. Nowadays it is still hardto explain, and the main reason is that it isstill fun. I enjoy going to the dojo, and enjoythe practice. It has taken a very large placein my life, and I feel like there is still so

Could you describe the way you wereinstructed by Sensei Kimo Wall in the firstfew years while being a student at theUniversity of Massachusetts? Were thereseparate lessons in Goju-ryu and Mata-yoshi kobudo and what focus did the les-sons have concerning kata and kumite?The training I started with would befamiliar to most Okinawan Goju-ryustudents. We trained 5 days a week, andsometimes informally on weekends. SenseiKimo ran every training session, assistedby a few seniors who had more expe-rience than us college students. In the lastyear I was there, classes were run by hissenior student, Sensei Giles Hopkins. Wedid warm-ups, calisthenics, lots of basicsand paired basics, lots of basic kata, and alot of work with paired sets Sensei Kimodesigned for Geki sai and a couple of the

Also, like the Higa dojo on Okinawa, wedid essentially no jiyu kumite, and we neverdid any sport application. In fact, my firstexposure to sport karate was in Japan- Ihad never really seen it before, and wasvery disappointed.The kobudo was less formal. Not every-one was interested, and training was eitherdone during regular classes, after class,on weekends, or on our own. Again, thefocus was on kata and paired sets, muchlike the karate.

You have lived in Japan for two years andtrained in different dojo’s while being there.Were there big differences in instruction ona social/cultural level when comparing themartial arts training you were exposed toin the USA and Japan?This is a huge question. The short answerwas that in the dojo, there were few dif-ferences. Sensei Kimo taught in a tradi-tional manner, and his instruction was verysimilar to what I had in Japan. There weresome differences, of course. Since I wastraining with adults in Japan (many with20 or more years experience), not collegestudents, and since Sensei Sakai did notuse Sensei Toguchi’s kata, we focused al-most entirely on supplementary training,body conditioning, basics, sanchin, classicalkata, and application of the classical kata.Like many dojo in Okinawa, there was

process has introducedme to people I wouldotherwise not havemet, taken me places Iwould never havegone, and helped melearn things aboutmyself, others, andour world that havehelped me grow as aperson. In general, ithas made my life moreinteresting, and fulfil-ling place. Besides, it’sfun.

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“One didn't practice to "stay in shape,"but stayed in shape to practice.”

Fred Lohse, David Nauss, Kimo Wall, Liu Chang'i, Mike Piscitello,Watertown 1996.

Fred Lohse, tonfa, Amami Oshima, NHKtelevision demo, 1990.

Fred Lohse, kama, Kagoshima 1991.

much in it for me to learn. When I started,I needed the discipline (though I doubt Iwould have said that then!) and thediscipline still adds a great deal to my life,as does the desire to be continually lear-ning and growing. The process of pushingmyself to learn, of overcoming obstacleslike injuries, time constraints, and so onhas taught me a great deal about whatone can do if the desire is there. The Japa-nese terms seishin tanren and keiko sortof sum this up. They are difficult to ex-plain, but in general refer to the ideal thatthe sometimes difficult or painful daily pushto engage is more important than reachingany far-off goal. This reminder that life isfor living, not just thinking about the possiblefuture, is a good one.On a more straightforward level, I havealso made many great friends and donesome very interesting things because ofthe practice, and I feel in general that trai-ning has made me a more connected andaware person. Because I have focused somuch time over the years on training, andresearching what we do, it would be easyto say I was too focused on one thing, and Ihave certainly sacrificed other things todo it. Nevertheless, I have found that this

kata Sensei Seikichi Toguchi created- Gekiha dai ni and Kaku ha dai ichi. From thereit was work on the classical kata and somework with applications of them. It was auniversity dojo, and so most of the dojomembers had 4 years or less of training.Therefore there was less emphasis on classi-cal applications and more on basic kataand application, basic skills like punching,blocking and throwing, and so on. Theconnection between kata and applicationwas made very clear, from the first day.

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in rank, juniors don’tusually questiontheir seniors.This is normal in ma-ny work and socialenvironments, wherethe senpai-kohaiconcept is veryclearly understood.This means thatstudents will workon what they aretaught instead ofconstantly lookingto what is next.

standing of and ability with the content,though this methodology is more similarto an old-fashioned apprenticeship thanmost modern pedagogical theories.

‘One didn’t practice to “stay in shape,”but stayed in shape to practice.’ Thisconcept is very unfamiliar in most Westernmartial arts dojo’s. What is your ownopinion on this matter and what expec-tations do you have when teaching martialarts to others in connection to this con-cept?Yes, it is a different concept. The idea isthat karate is martial arts, not a health club.The training is very physically demanding,but in practice one does pretty much onlykarate or kobudo. This can, at different times,be more or less aerobic, emphasize strengthmore or less, and so on. It certainly helps

keep one in shape, but three sessions aweek is not enough to keep one in reallygood shape. A student is expected tomaintain physical form. For strengthtraining, aerobic training, flexibility training,and so on, the student is expected to seehis or her weaknesses and improve onthem in their own time. The dojo is thereto practice the art, and the student has tobe physically prepared for this. If they arenot, they can participate, but they will belimited in how well they can learn, howthey progress, and what they can do in

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“students will work on what they aretaught instead of constantly looking towhat is next.”

Fred Lohse and Masada Keiichi, Kama Uchionbo kumi waza, Kagoshima 1992.

also very little emphasis on calisthenicsduring class training- we were expectedto keep fit and use supplementary equip-ment outside class time. One didn’t prac-tice to “stay in shape,” but stayed in shapeto practice.Of course training was very challengingphysically, but through karate technique,not simple exercises. The instruction wasvery detailed, and I also noticed that as mylanguage skills improved, my ability toreceive instruction did as well.One thing I did notice is that, perhaps againbecause it was an adult dojo, there waslittle military-style discipline, like I haveseen in many American dojo. We wouldeach start when we got to the dojo, andthere would only be a short group warmup when sensei formally bowed in andstarted class. Then Sensei Sakai wouldhave different people work on differentthings, instead of training us as one group.Sensei Matayoshi often taught the sameway. You would spend a good deal of timeworking alone, with one partner, or just acouple of people. Instruction was verydetailed, and very personal. There wasalso less attention to class time. Trainingstarted when the first student arrived,sometime between 6:30 and 7:30 PM, andfinished with senior kata, application, or alecture, sometimes as late as 11 PM. I feelthat, in general, in Japan the discipline isexpected to come from the students, soinstead of pushing students who are goingsoft, the teacher will let them do as theywill and focus on the students who aretrying hard. Interestingly enough, you mightsay it is more individualistic.There was also less questioning. In Japanthe concept of respect is very clear. The stu-dents might ask questions if given theopportunity, but even when people are close

It also means that one does not askquestions unless given the opportunity,though Sensei Sakai was somewhat un-usual in that he would occasionally encou-rage questions, usually after a long trainingsession.While there are other differences, mostlydue to differences in culture, the final thingthat struck me was the reason most peoplehad for training. While our training wasvery hard, sometimes painful, and focusedon application, I never met anyone inOkinawa or Japan who said they had star-ted training for self-defense purposes. Themartial arts are one element of a largerset of social constructs in Japan. These“ways,” like chado or shodo, are pursuedfor discipline, self-development, andconnection to traditional values, as muchor more than for their content. This atti-tude was central to practice, in that acertain significance was attached to ritualand form of practice. Personally, I believethat these forms often lead to better under-

Mr. Higo, unknown, Matayoshi Shinpo, Fred Lohse, Okinawa 1990.

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the dojo. This is pretty much how we trainhere. Training is demanding, and someactivity outside the dojo is pretty much es-sential to improving, so that each trainingsession does not just break you down. Itry to keep in shape outside class, and in agood week will train or work out 2-3 times

and want to see other people enjoy whatyou do- you need to teach others to havepeople to train with, and to maintain yourart. I wound up teaching classes on occa-sion in my dojo in Japan, when none ofthe senior teachers were present, and Ihave been asked to do an occasional se-

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requires additional insurance and liabilitycoverage, and we have decided not to payfor that, and not to assume those liabilities.

You mentioned the sempai-kohai relation-ship. What do you expect from the studentsin the Boston Kodokan dojo where youinstruct and what kind of obligations in aspiritual sense do you have/feel towardsyour students and/or fellow martial artistsas human beings and as part of society?Well, another big question. As for what Iexpect of the students, that’s simple. Iexpect them to respect and listen to theirseniors and treat their juniors well. I alsoexpect them to train hard, and take chargeof their own progress. As for my obliga-tions, that is more difficult to say. I feel Ihave a responsibility to understand what Iam teaching as best I can before teachingit, to be honest with my students and trai-ning partners, and to push myself to keepimproving. I also believe it is necessary toteach responsibly. This means not to doanything that will damage a student, to treateach student as a person not just a face inthe dojo, and to have a plan for impartingwhat we do, not to be random with thestudents. We don’t live in Japan, so someof the social structures around the sempai/kohai relationship would be dysfunctionalhere. However, one element in that idealthat does carry easily is that the teacherhas much more responsibility than the stu-dent: the student just has to show up, dowhat he or she is told, and work on theirown to try to understand it. The teacherhas to keep improving him or her self, guidethe student responsibly through the material,

“The idea is that karate is martial arts,not a health club.”

Tsuken Akachu no eku di, Kagoshima 1991.

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David Nauss, Rich Cassidy, Cambridge 2001.

besides our classes. At other times, withvarious demands from work and family, Iwon’t do anything outside of class, if I evenmake all our classes. I have the same ex-pectations for myself that I have for thestudents, and feel a need (for many reasons)to try to keep my general physical levelup. I certainly feel I need to be in bettershape!

Could you tell us something about thesmall Kodokan dojo in Boston that yourun together with some other students ofSensei Kimo Wall and tell us your moti-vation to start teaching martial arts?The dojo was started by a few friends fromcollege, who wanted a place to train. Theystarted it while I was living in Japan, and Ijoined when I moved back to the area. Iwound up doing some of the karate andmost of the kobudo teaching over time.

There was no real motivation for this otherthan wanting to have a place to train, andto share. As my friends and I kept training,we wound up teaching new students. Ithink it just happens if you keep training

minar by people who are interested in whatwe do. Over time, I have found I enjoy theprocess of opening our art to someone whois interested, and motivated.I’m not interested, however, in teachingprofessionally. I think it makes keeping anopen mind about your training and kee-ping your focus on your training, not howto keep the bills paid, difficult. Besides, Idon’t really want my avocation to also bemy vocation. Now, we run classes 3 timesa week, for 2 hours, and the dojo is run asa non-profit: no one gets paid anything toteach (actually, the teachers pay dues aswell) and is open to adults who are inte-rested. We don’t have children’s classes.

Is there a reason for not having children’sclasses?Yes, actually a couple. First, children’s classesrequire a special skill set and require thatsomewhat different material be taught. Thegoals of the class are different. Since noneof us have taught children, we don’t reallyhave the skills involved. At the same time,children’s classes require time, and a greatdeal of effort. We all have full time jobs,and rent training space by the hour. There-fore, we prefer to train with adults, andbe able to train and push ourselves physi-cally. Finally, in the US teaching children

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have a plan, and in general keep eachstudent’s best interests in mind.On a different level, I don’t think that themartial arts impart any special respon-sibilities outside the dojo except perhapsan extra need to control one’s temper, andnot to be violent. Well, perhaps also a res-ponsibility to preserve and keep alive thearts we practice. But while it may not createa set of new obligations, martial arts trai-ning does not take away any of the obli-gations one has as a member of society.Being honest, honorable, and responsiblefor your actions, among other things, arepart of what any human being should do,and any disciplined practice should rein-force those ideals, not pretend to put some-one above them.

Sensei Kimo Wall (William James) startedhis Goju-ryu karate in 1949 in Hawaiiwhen he was six years old and continuedhis study of Goju-ryu on Okinawa in 1962.Did he ever mention to you who his firstGoju-ryu teacher was and in what wayhe was taught until he moved to Okinawain the service of the Marine Corps?He studied under Walter Higa and his sonSam Higa, who ran a store and the dojo inhis town. On Oahu there was also MitsugiKobayashi. He said that the classes wereidentical to those in Okinawa- junbi andhojo undo, kihon, kata, and kumite. In theHiga lineage there is no jiyu kumite, andthat was also the same. That dojo is nolonger open, I believe.

As I recall Mitsugi Kobayashi trained un-der Yukiso Yamoto (a Judo and Aikidoteacher) and while he was on Okinawain the 1950’s also studied Goju-ryu underSeiko Higa, one of the most senior stu-dents of Chojun Miyagi. What connectiondid both Walter Higa and his son Samhave? Were they connected to SeikoHiga?

Fred Lohse, Cambridge 2002.

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“The teacher has to keep improving himor her self, guide the student responsiblythrough the material, have a plan, and ingeneral keep each student's best interestsin mind.”

Kimo Wall, Chuck Brotman, bo versus sai.

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David Nauss, Fred Lohse, Cambridge 2002.

Walter Higa (no relation to Higa Seiko-the name is common in Okinawa), the fa-ther, was a contemporary of Higa Seikounder Sensei Miyagi. He immigrated toHawaii around 1930 with his family, ascontract worker in the sugar cane and pine-apple industry. Sam Higa learned from hisfather.

On Okinawa Sensei Kimo Wall startedstudying under the well known mastersSeiko Higa and Seiko Kina and later onafter the death of Master Seiko Higa in1966, he would receive instruction fromMaster Seiko Higa’s son Seikichi. In thedojo of Master Seiko Higa not only Goju-ryu was taught, but also kobudo by thefamous Master Matayoshi Shinpo. It wasin this dojo that Sensei Kimo Wall re-ceived his main Goju-ryu and kobudopractice. Could you tell us something ofthe experiences and practices of SenseiKimo Wall on Okinawa in the 60’s?I can relate some of what I know. Trainingunder Sensei Higa was done much as itwas years later. There were two classes-the regular class that ended at around 9PM and a seniors class that started then.Kata, application, kihon, etc. were the bulk

of training, with more application andadvanced concepts in the seniors class. Per-haps the biggest difference was that thedojo was open every day, and training ranfrom early evening till late in the night.Training under Sensei Matayoshi wasdifferent in those days. Sensei Matayoshihad recently returned to Okinawa, andwas reconnecting with many former trai-ning partners and students of his father.Sensei Kimo used to drive him around theisland (since he had a car) to meet people.He had not yet started his dojo, or finalizeda formal syllabus. Training was sometimesin the dojo of Sensei Higa (though TairaShinken also taught there) where SenseiMatayoshi was living, sometime outside

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“one thing I think is often difficult forJapanese or Okinawan instructors is thatit is sometimes very hard to communicatewith their Western students.”

Fred Lohse, David Nauss, bo versus sai, Cambridge 2003.

Kenichi Yamashiro, Shinpo Matayoshi, Fred Lohse, Kodokan dojo, Okinawa 1995.

the dojo, and sometime outside in otherplaces. Sensei Kimo would often train du-ring the day, when he was not at work onbase, and so often trained one on one. Sen-sei Matayoshi would at times focus on oneweapon for a month or more at a time,training every day. I also know that inkumi-waza Sensei Matayoshi would covermany techniques that are not in the kata.

What do you exactly mean with techniquesthat are not in the kata?I mean that there are many techniqueswith each weapon that are not in the kata-counters, throws, etc.. Particularly for theless common weapons like the tinbe orsansetsukon, the kata form a base, butwould have to be much, much longer to

He did teach Sensei Higa’s students, butI don’t know for how long, or exactly how.I don’t really know how the two teachersinteracted, except that Sensei Matayoshiwas living in the dojo when he came backfrom Japan, and Sensei Taira had beenteaching there before that. They wereboth friends of Sensei Higa. I believe thatin those days there was much more sharingbetween different teachers than now, butI was not there and so cannot really say.

What kind of relationship did Sensei Kimohave with masters Matayoshi and Higa?Although he was a foreigner, he seemed

to already have access to the inner circlesof Okinawan karate society in the 1960’s.I can relate some of what Sensei Kimohas shared with me. He came to Okinawawith a number of years of Goju-ryu trainingand a written recommendation to SenseiHiga, as well as experience in the Oki-nawan culture from his home dojo andthe town in which he lived in Hawaii. Thisgave him a number of advantages thatnot every serviceman training in Okinawain those days had. He was very active inthe dojo, helped with things like rebuildingit after a typhoon and such, and with hiswork schedule was able to spend a lot oftime in the dojo and with Sensei Mata-yoshi. He became close to both the Higaand Matayoshi families, and I know thesepersonal relationships were, and are, veryimportant to him. Other than that, I can’treally say much about his personal rela-tionships.

I can imagine, since you are a practicingMatayoshi kobudo artist, that it was anhonor and pleasure to train under Grand-master Matayoshi himself?It certainly was. Sensei Matayoshi andhis students were very generous to me,and the dojo in those days, with so manyseniors concentrated in one place, was anamazing place to visit as a student. Iconsider myself lucky to have been ableto train under Sensei Matayoshi, and thesenior members of the dojo when I visitedthere. Lest I be mis-interpreted, I have

contain all the information. Also, someweapons like the kyushaku bo or tekkodid not have kata.

You mentioned that kobudo master TairaShinken also taught in the dojo of masterHiga. Did he teach especially to the karatestudents of master Higa and in what waydid he interact with master Matayoshi’skobudo instruction and visa versa sinceboth were teaching at the same dojo butalso both taught differently?

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“A dojo must be welcoming, the peoplekind, and the expectations of the studentshigh.”

Sansetsukon kata, The Netherlands 1997.

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instance.In any case, Sensei Matayoshi was afantastic teacher, with an amazing depthand breadth of knowledge about theOkinawan martial arts. He was verygenerous with what he taught, and wasalways willing to take time to explainsomething, and to take questions from asometimes impertinent gaijin. He seemedto encourage similar behavior in hisseniors, and I was treated very well inthose days by Sensei Gakiya, SenseiYamashiro, Sensei Itokazu, SenseiKomura, and Sensei Nagai in particular.He was also a very nice guy. Very funny,very quick, and a gentleman. Again, Ididn’t know him that well, but well enoughto wish I had had more time to spend inOkinawa in those days.

In the article ‘Karate and Kobudo’ youhave written for this edition of theMeibukan Magazine, you clearly show theconnection between karate and kobudo.What would you personally advise peoplein our Western society who are lookingfor an Okinawan martial arts school inwhich to practice and study?

There are a number of things that wouldbe important, at least to me. The most im-portant thing in any dojo is the atmosphere.A dojo must be welcoming, the peoplekind, and the expectations of the students

high. People should enjoy being there. Ofcourse the training must be hard, but ifthe teacher or seniors are domineering,mean or surly, or the “feeling” of the dojoseems bad, then it does not matter howgood they are- it is not a good place totrain. Karate and kobudo are about lifelong practice, and I don’t think it’s a goodidea to dedicate yourself to an unhealthyenvironment.After that, as far as training goes, thereare a number of things I would suggestone look for. Credentials are a mixed bag.Some very skilled practitioners in the Westno longer have a direct connection to aspecific dojo in Okinawa, while some high-ly ranked and well connected people have

never been a “top student” of his- mostof my training has been under SenseiKimo, Sensei Sakai, and Sensei Gakiya -but due to my introductions, instruction,and experience in the system, I was ableto train in the Kodokan when I visitedOkinawa, and receive more than just basicinstruction in the system from SenseiMatayoshi. Of course, language abilityhelped here as well- one thing I think isoften difficult for Japanese or Okinawaninstructors is that it is sometimes very hardto communicate with their Westernstudents. While the base of training ispretty physical, there is a great deal ofinstruction that is verbal- imagine tryingto learn soccer or how to swim from acoach you could not understand, for

Sansetsukon bo kumi waza, Green StreetStudios 2003.

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“Some very skilled practitioners in theWest no longer have a direct connectionto a specific dojo in Okinawa, while somehighly ranked and well connected peoplehave very poor skills. ”

Meibukan Magazine is searching for serious andreliable submissions for theirSPECIAL EDITIONS

MEIBUKAN MAGAZINEP.O. Box 8, 6663 ZG, Lent, Netherlands

Email:submissions2007 Ameibukanmaga.orgMeibukan Magazine wants to present

articles related to a main subject in everySpecial Edition. We are looking out forsubmissions which have a diversity inarticles that vary from history, leadingpeople, masters, philosophy, science,interviews etc. which should give the

reader insight and information on the mainsubject and are applicable to our mission

statement.The author(s)/organisation(s) who provide

the submission for a special subject arealso welcome to promote their

organisation/school and are welcome tosubmit an article about their organisation.Such an article must be strongly related to

the main subject. After submitting thearticles as described above, and after anagreement with Meibukan Magazine forpossible publication in a Special Edition,the author(s)/organisation(s) are welcometo submit promotional material like book/DVD reviews (from the publisher or anindependent known writer). In principlethere is no limit towards the number of

book/DVD reviews, but depending on theamount of articles and author(s)/

organisation(s), Meibukan Magazine willdecide the exact amount of promotional

material that will be placed.

For more details go towww.meibukanmagazine.org

At the moment we are looking forin-depth articles about Uechi-ryu,Shorin-ryu, Goju-ryu and others.

Please do not send full articles with the firstcontact. Send an email with a synopsis of

what you are proposing! If it is of interest,we will contact you to send the actualmaterial. Include in your email a short

summary of your background andcredentials.

Fred Lohse, David Nauss, bo vs sai, Cambridge 2003.

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For more information on the Kodokandojo please visit:

www.kodokanboston.org/index.html

Lex Opdam, Editor-in-chief ofMeibukan Magazine

interviewed Fred Lohse inSeptember 2006.

organization. However, I would also makesure both the teacher and the seniorstudents demonstrate good skills, andattitude. The seniors in some ways aremore important, because if the teacher isgood but cannot teach, there is limitedopportunity in the dojo for a student. I wouldalso look for a well-rounded dojo. Not

surprisingly for me that means both armedand unarmed techniques are taught, bothinclude a full range of kihon, kata, and pai-red work, and the seniors are skilled in both.

One of the difficult things in the West isthat there is something of a lack of goodkobudo instruction. However, there aresome teachers who learned in the 60s and70s still teaching, and a number of youngerteachers studying with good kobudoinstructors now who are passing on theart. Particularly with the kobudo instruc-tion, I would be sure to check on the tea-cher’s connection to his martial lineage,and length of study. Finally, I would lookat how the dojo is run. If it is an Okinawanart, the customs and language should bepart of training. The classes should be or-ganized but not overly rigid, the studentsshould know how the dojo works, theyshould demonstrate proper reigi, or eti-quette, and the dojo should be proud of itsconnection to their teachers, and to Okina-wa and its martial heritage.

very poor skills. Therefore, I would lookfor a connection to Okinawa on the partof the dojo, one with many years of history,not just a couple of years as part of a large

Ryuichiro Sakai, Fred Lohse, Ryugo Sakai, Ryudo Nagata, Kagoshima 1992.

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http://www.kodokanboston.org




As martial artists, we face difficult choices as we train. The closer we come to modelling thereality of a military or self-defense situation, the more likely we are to sustain (or cause) seriousinjuries. Thus, it is important to know whether the benefits of contact training outweigh the risks

involved.- By Joshua Landa, MD -

Risk and Injuries in Contact Fighting

Contact can mean many different things.There is a difference between a lightpunch with gloves to an elbow to the face,a controlled hip throw on a mat to a body-slam into the chairs. In addition, it canoccur in a variety of situations ranging fromfriendly competition in a martial arts clubto a professional fight. In this discussion,all of these scenarios are considered, butit must be remembered that details matter.The unifying theme, however, is greatercontact during training and competitionleads to both faster and more realistic lear-ning while increasing the risk of injury.

An excellent example of this trade-offcomes from a French study that looked atpreviously injured judoists and their abi-lities, and reached the surprising conclusionthat the judoists with prior injuries deve-loped “improved sensory and cognitiveadaptation abilities.” Most astonishingly,the worst injuries were associated withgreater improvement in balance. Thearticle concluded, “Although high-level

ring is not very realistic and does not accu-rately mimic a self-defense situation thatone is likely to encounter. Thus, this relativelygentle approach to sparring contrasts starklywith the method used by modern practi-tioners of mixed martial arts (MMA), Brazi-lian Jiu-Jitsu, and other high-contact arts.These styles have become popularied bya wave of no-holds-barred (NHB) competi-tions, most notable the Ultimate FightingChampionship (UFC), where grapplingarts, in particular Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, becamea household name after the accomplish-ments of the Gracie family and their style.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is not always a particu-larly “gentle art”. For instance, Carlos Gra-cie, one of the earliest practitioners of thestyle of Jiu-Jitsu that eventually becamewhat today is known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu,once issued the following challenge: “Ifyou want to get your face beaten and wellsmashed, your… kicked, and your arms

sports develop specific physiological andsensorimotor abilities involved in balancecontrol, they also increase the risk of inju-ries.”1 However, this study did not follow thepeople who quit judo because of similarinjuries. Moreover, it did not consider moti-vation. Otherwise, how to explain the needfor workers’ compensation or sport medicine?

Different schools have approached thisissue of contact in different ways. Someembrace intense full-contact fighting, whileothers shy away from all competitivetraining. For instance, note the following

explanation of pushing hands sparring usedby practitioners of the Chinese martial art ofTai Chi:

Pushing Hands is a simplified form ofsparring popular with students of TaiChi. Lacking the punches and kickscommon in the practice fighting of manyexternal martial arts, Pushing Handsis a gentle sport of control where successis achieved by upsetting the balanceof one’s opponent. Typically, partici-pants begin facing one another, eachin a bow stance. Each participant hashis or her outside hand on the elbowof their opponent and the inside handon the wrist. As the match begins, thepair use their hands to push against oneanother, seeking to control one an-other’s energy. Sudden or forceful sho-ving is taboo. The victor should be thepusher of the greatest skill, not thegreatest brutishness.2

Common fighting sports injury locations and injuries.

“The unifying theme is the theory thatincreasing contact during training andcompetition leads to both faster learningand increased risk of injury.”

It is hard to imagine that thistype of sparring causes manyinjuries to the participants.Thus, this method can beviewed as a good way ofpracticing martial arts, as itallows the practitioners topractice skills and techni-ques that might be useful ina self-defense situation with-out causing serious injuryduring training. Additionally,the practice probably helpsthe practitioner learn to re-main calm, and also to con-trol internal energy. Both ofthese qualities are certainlyimportant in any fight orself-defense situation. Atthe same time, however, thedissociation from fear asso-ciated with this type of spar-

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broken, contact Carlos Gracie at thisaddress…”3 Gracie’s invitation makesapparent not only the aggressive trainingmethods of practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but also the attitude and generalapproach towards fighting that, at least forsome, they embody.

Full contact is employed as a method oftraining under more “realistic” conditions.Although hurting one’s partner is not thegoal, the methods are intended to simulatethe lack of cooperation one would expectfrom a real opponent or attacker. Thus,Roy Harris, an expert in several martialarts including Jeet Kune Do, Karate, andBrazilian Jiu-Jitsu, writes in his articleEffectiveness in Fighting that “sparringis one of the best tools to develop the timingof your techniques. For when you spar,you truly do not know what your opponentwill do, so you must respond accordingly.You must develop your reflexes.”4

In other words, while punching bags don’thit back, sparring partners do. The concernthat some have with such training, however,is that this more aggressive approach maylead to serious injuries. Some people, like

Arizona Senator JohnMcCain, are againstUltimate Fighting. As oneauthor put it, the senatorwas “horrified at theground fighting, kicks, andhead butts seen in suchcompetitions. It was‘barbaric,’ he said. It was‘not a sport.’ He sentletters to all 50 governors

ceived than if they occurred while theinjured person had simply been walking downthe street.It would be ideal to know the precise injuryrate in contact fighting. Unfortunately, sofar as I can tell, no one knows the real num-bers of injuries. Instead, everyone seems tobe arguing anecdotally rather than objec-tively.

A search of “Martial Arts Injuries” in Pub-Med Plus (a major Internet search enginethat searches for topics in clinical medicineacross a large number of major researchjournals) yielded only 107 articles. Ofthese, I was unable to find even a singlearticle that compared the injury rates ofdifferent martial arts to one another. And,in the articles about individual martial arts,there is not even unanimity about whatthe most dangerous techniques are.

For example, when used by law enforce-ment officials, the chokehold has beenimplicated in several deaths8. There wasalso a study described a 29-year-old manwho developed an embolic stroke after“neck holding maneuvers” at a martial artsclass9. There is a small but existent risk ofembolism (dislodgement of a small bloodclot) that can result in a stroke from carotidmassage, a technique in which a physician

Images of subdural hematomas.

Schematic of subdural hematoma, a known injury risk in boxing.

asking them to ban ultimate fighting. Theoutcry against ‘human cockfighting’became a crusade, and like many cru-sades, it was founded on misunder-standing.”5 Ultimately, Ultimate Fightingmay prove to be no more dangerous thanboxing, where known risks include sub-dural hematoma. A properly located striketo the head (or a series of less accurateblows) can cause tearing to the bridgingveins that connect the brain and the sinusesthat carry blood away from the brain. Thiscondition is thought to be the most com-mon cause of fatalities in competitiveboxing6, 7, and is a risk in other contactsports as well.

Other injuries associated with martial arts,boxing, judo, and similar sports are brokenbones, ligametous knee injuries, sprains ofthe shoulders and ankles, and assorted infec-tions. True, such injuries in combative trai-ning situations, while elevated over non-contact training, are comparatively rare. Butthey do happen, and they are (or have thepotential to become) very serious injuries.And, due to the nature of the sport, boxingor martial art injuries attract far moreattention due to the way they were re-

“Full contact is employed as a method oftraining under more "realistic" conditions.Although hurting the partner is not the goal,the methods are intended to simulate thelack of cooperation one would expect froma real opponent or attacker. (Roy Harris)”

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Location of the Carotid Arteries that getconstricted during a choke.

massges a carotid artey in the neck fortherapeutic reasons. Nonetheless, mostauthorities believe that a choke, released ina reasonable time, is a generally benigntechnique unlikely to cause lasting dama-ge. Indeed, one study recorded that, “whileprofessional boxers may show brain func-tional impairment in comparison to normalsubjects, judoists do not.”10 A second studyconfirmed these findings, concluding,“There is no evidence of permanent centralnervous system functional changes due tojudo practice and choking.”11. Although athird study raised the concern that“choking in judo may induce subclinicalelectroencephalographic perturbations” 12,there was no evidence that any of thesechanges were at all relevant since there wasno docu-mented loss of function in thisstudy either.

Similarly, NHB competitions have been afocal point for public concern. Therefore,one would expect them to be well studied.This has not happened, at least in the me-dical journals searched by PubMed Plus.In popular media, however, Brian Kodigives an excellent approximation of theissue. He writes regarding the death of Dou-glas Dredge in a NHB competition that:

Mr. Dedge’s death inevitably brings upthe issue of safety in NHB. MMA (mixedmartial arts) events are inherentlydangerous. Death, which is not uncom-mon in many other “safer” athletics, isinevitable in NHB. Those who tout NHBas a safer sport than boxing shouldtake note of the following: Kevin Neuen-dorf, a media and public relationsassistant at USA Boxing, the governingorganization for U.S. amateur boxingsays that in 1992, the last year forwhich he had complete statistics, USABoxing put on 23,528 bouts, and therewere 87 insurance claims for injuriesand two for deaths. And these are onlyamateur bouts. The number of proboxing fights around the world verylikely far exceeds this number. The

American Journal of Medical Associa-tion (JAMA) puts boxing deaths at arate of 0.13 per 1,000... UFCs (ultimatefighting competitions) have beenaround since 1993 with an average of7 fights per event and 5 shows per year.The total number of UFC matches hasnot exceeded 180 in 5 years. Conserva-tively speaking, if there were 20 addi-tional NHB organizations since 1993with roughly the same number of fightsas the UFCs, the sum of all MMA fightsworldwide in 5 years would be under3,780 and there’s already one accounteddeath. While it may be too early to tell,MMA risk for death appears to be at leasttwo times higher than that of boxing.”13

Kodi’s calculations take into account a num-ber of assumptions that may or may notbe true, and his analysis has far too fewnumbers to be statistically valid. However,his calculation is an interesting approxi-mation and the fact that there has beeneven one death in an NHB match is alar-ming, considering there have been rela-tively few of them.

The concrete data that does exist in the es-tablished medical literature mostly relates tostriking arts, perhaps due to the medicalcommunity’s longer-term interest in boxing.As is the case with boxing, most of theknown studies show that striking arts resultin high injury rates. In his landmark paperthat followed over 15,000 internationalmartial artists over 18 years, Birrer show-ed that while overall injury rates were low,sparring was responsible for 74% of theinjuries in taekwondo and karate.14

Another grimly titled study, Morbidity andmortality in the martial arts: A warning,chronicled a series anecdotal injuries repor-ted over 10 years during the course of martialarts activities. There was even one video-recorded fatality that the authors believed“demonstrate(s) the danger inherent inparticipation” in such activities. They alsodocument the potential for serious neuro-logical injury.15

Only one study of Muay Thai kickboxing,a sport and martial art centered on com-petitive fighting, was found. Muay Thaikickboxing has an injury rate of between2 to 14 per 1,000 participants per year.16

This is a rate is similar to injury rates in other

striking arts such as taekwondo and karate.Although deaths occur in Muay Thai, as inboxing, sprained fingers and toes, cuts andbruises on the head, face, and neck, andbloody noses are the more typical injuries.Ultimately, one makes one’s decisionsbased on the best available information.In terms of sparring activities, practitionersand teachers must fairly assess whetherthe benefits of rigorous sparring, whichare self-evident to most practitioners indeveloping essential fighting skills, areworth the injuries that are sustained whiletraining. Additionally, it is useful to deter-mine what increases training benefits whileminimizing injuries. Thus, to give someexamples, the use (or non-use) of protec-tive gear, regulations regarding strikes tocertain areas of the body, specific require-ments of “tapping out”, and other detailsshould be investigated both for effective-ness in training and risk of injury.

This said, the existing information tendsto be anecdotal rather than objective, andsometimes polemical rather than scientificin tone. Injuries sustained in full-contactfighting arts, in particular martial grapplingarts and professional MMA competitions,have not been well catalogued in peer-review-ed medical and scientific research methods.Nonetheless, there is evidence of increasedrisk of brain and joint injuries, with braininjuries more common in striking sportswhile joint injuries are more common ingrappling sports. There is also anecdotalevidence to suggest that participation in tour-naments and contests leads to a higher riskof injury than does participation in friendlynon-competitive training. The injury ratesin MMA are not known, but the limiteddata available at theis point shows that theyare probably comparable to boxing andwrestling competitions.

“In his landmark paper that followed over15,000 international martial artists over18 years, Birrer showed that while overallinjury rates were low, sparring wasresponsible for an incredible 74% of theinjuries in taekwondo and karate.”

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Joshua Landa is a student ofvarious martial arts including

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Ryukyukempo. He also holds a black

belt in Chung do kwontaekwondo. Since graduating

medical school at the Universityof Pennsylvania in 2004, he hasbeen a resident in orthopaedic

surgery at New York Universityand the Hospital for Joint

Diseases. He is currently takingan extra year in his residency asa research fellow specializing inthe biomechanics of orthopaedic

surgery.

This paper was published previously inthe journal of combative arts, EJMAS

2004. Reprinted with permission.ejmas.com/jcs/2004jcs/jcsart_

landa_0804.htm

Addendum:Since the original publication of this report,several additional studies of injuriesregarding full contact arts have beenpublished. In particular, it has been foundthat the most common cause of stoppageof a series of televised MMA bouts wasblunt trauma to the head.17 Another studyof 4 MMA manuevers showed thepotential for certain moves to place signi-ficant stress on the cervical spine18, thoughwhether this is clinically relevant is notclear. There are also newer studies on tae-kwondo and karate, which show thatprevention is essential and newer rules mayprevent some injuries, as well as a studyon muay thai, which may have a higher

Footnotes1Perrot C, Mur JM, Mainard D, Barrault D,and Perrin PP. Influence of trauma inducedby judo practice on postural control. ScandJ Med Sci Sports. 2000 Oct;10(5):292-7.2Copied from www.taichitom.com/push-hands.html.3Published in a Brazilian newspaper ad, circa1920s.4Roy Harris. Effectiveness in fighting. Frombjj.org/articles/harris-effective-ness.html.5Article originally published on Slate atslate.msn.com/default.aspx?id=46344.6Lampert PW and Hardman JM.Morphological changes in brains of boxers.JAMA. 1984 May 25;251(20):2676-9.7Dominguez OJ Jr. The injured coach. EmergMed Serv. 2001 Jul;30(7):102.8Koiwai, EK. Anatomy of a choke. Journal ofForensic Sciences, March 19879McCarron MO. Patterson J, and Duncan R.Stroke without dissection from a neckholding manoeuvre in martial arts. Br JSports Med. 1997 Dec;31(4):346-7.10Rodriguez G, Vitali P, and Nobili F. Long-termeffects of boxing and judo-choking techniqueson brain function. Ital J Neurol Sci. 1998 Dec;19(6): 367-72.11Rodriguez G, Francione S, Gardella M,Marenco S, Nobili F, Novellone G, Reggiani E,and Rosadini G. Judo and choking: EEG andregional cerebral blood flow findings. JSports Med Phys Fitness. 1991 Dec;31(4):605-10.12Rau R, Raschka C, Brunner K, and BanzerW. Spectral analysis of electroencepha-lography changes after choking in judo (juji-jime). Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1998 Sep;30(9):1356-62.13Death and MMA, Brian Kodi, April 20th 1998.bjj.org/editorials/19980420-death/14Birrer RB. Trauma epidemiology in themartial arts. The results of an eighteen-yearinternational survey. Am J Sports Med.1996;24(6 Suppl):S72-9.15Oler M, Tomson W, Pepe H, Yoon D, BranoffR, and Branch J. Morbidity and mortality inthe martial arts: a warning. J Trauma. 1991Feb;31(2): 251-3.16Gartland S, Malik MH, and Lovell ME. Injuryand injury rates in Muay Thai kick boxing.Br J Sports Med. 2001 Oct;35(5):308-13.17Buse, GJ. No holds barred sport fighting: a10 year review of mixed martial arts competition.Br J Sports Med. 2006 Feb;40(2):169-72.Review.18Kochhar T, Back DL, Mann B, Skinner J.Riskof cervical injuries in mixed martial arts. Br JSports Med. 2005 Jul;39(7):444-7.19Gartland S, Malik MH, Lovell M.Aprospective study of injuries sustained duringcompetitive Muay Thai kickboxing. Clin JSport Med. 2005 Jan;15(1):34-6.

injury rate than previosly thought19. Whilemuch more research is needed, it is reassu-ring that the growing interest in MMA hasproduced some studies on the subject. Thepractitioner of full contact fighting mustbe aware that there are significant riskswith these sports. However, at this time,these risks still have not been shown to equalor exceed the risks involved in other morewidely sanctioned contact sports such asboxing.

“Injuries sustained in full-contact fightingarts, in particular martial grappling artsand professional MMA competitions,have not been well catalogued in peer-reviewed medical and scientific researchmethods. Nonetheless, there is evidenceof increased risk of brain and joint injuries”

20

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At the 1984 karate demonstration commemorating the third anniversary of the death of Seiyu Shinjo,Grand Master Kanei Uechi spoke these words of praise: "It already has been three years since thegreat loss to our Association. Unfortunately, once Seiyu Shinjo became seriously ill, modern medicinecould not help him. He worked actively as a teacher and as a board member of the Uechi-ryu KarateDo Association. Karate was not recognized by society during the 1940's to 1970's. Mr. Shinjo madegreat efforts to popularize, develop, and organize karate. Moreover, I could say that he was one of

the persons who made the greatest strides toward karate becoming internationally known as acultural inheritance of Okinawa. He was instrumental in making the Uechi-ryu Karate Do

Association, one with an international stature. There are many of Mr. Shinjo's students activelyteaching Uechi-ryu karate all over the world. I can rely on Mr. Kiyohide Shinjo, son of Seiyu Shinjo,

to carry on his father's will."

- By Alan Dollar -

The Indomitable Shinjos

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of Okinawan Uechi-ryu Karate

last name, Shinjo, can also be read Ara-shiro.

Wakayama, JapanSeiryo Shinjo (formerly called SeizanShinjo) was born on Ie-jima, June 10, 1908.His father, Seisan Shinjo was a well-knownbo [six-foot staff] expert on Ie-jima. Seiryotraveled to Wakayama seeking employ-

ment in 1923, one year before KanbunUechi. Seiryo found a job with the samecompany that Kanbun later would, theHimomaru Sangyo Kabushki Kaisha, aboseki factory. He worked at a differentlocation but eventually heard stories ofKanbun and that he was now teaching.He introduced himself to Kanbun, andrequested permission to become his stu-dent. Kanbun checked on Seiryo’sbackground and observed his characterbefore accepting him as a student.

Seiryo Shinjo entered the Shataku dojoearly in 1927. He and his wife Tsuru,whom he had met in Wakayama, weremarried later the same year. Tsuru is thedaughter of Seisho Toyama, a famous

Kanbun Uechi. Seiryo Shinjo.

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karate expert of the time, from Motobu,Okinawa.Seiryo Shinjo was a small, agile man whobecame known for his incredibly fastkicks. Hisaguwa Seizen (fast kicker Sei-zen) was the nickname given to him byhis peers. Seiryo was a quiet, gentle manwho would not quarrel with anyone. Kan-bun grew to like him very much and theybecame the best of friends. Kanbun feltcomfortable with Seiryo and Tsuru. Theirhouse was the only place he could relaxand express himself. It became a gatheringplace for Seiryo’s friends including Kanbun,who was present for the birth of theirdaughter, Sayako. Sayako Shinjo later mar-

“With the exception of Kanei Uechi, noone has had more influence on thedevelopment of Uechi-ryu karate and theUechi-ryu Association than Seiryo, Seiyuand Kiyohide Shinjo.”

The Shinjo family is one of the most dyna-mic and renowned names of traditionalOkinawan karate. Three generations ofShinjo men have helped mold the historyof this unique karate style. The history ofthis karate family parallels the growth ofPangainoon and Uechi-ryu karate fromthe time Kanbun Uechi first taught martialarts outside China.With the exception of Kanei Uechi, no onehas had more influence on the develop-ment of Uechi-ryu karate and the Uechi-ryu Association than Seiryo, Seiyu andKiyohide Shinjo. In the Japanese dialecttheir names can be pronounced Kiyoshi,Kiyoyu and Kiyohide, respectively. The



One evening Seiryo and Kanbun talkedso late into the night that Kanbun went tosleep there. Kanei Uechi (called Sandeeat that time) became alarmed the nextmorning when he found his father gone.He feared Kanbun had been in a fightwith rival karate men and lie beaten ordead somewhere.He searched the many rivers and water-ways that surround Wakayama, to no avail.

As evening approached, he ponderedwhere his father might be and went toSeiryo’s house. He found Kanbun andSeiryo seated around a small table, stilldeeply engaged in conversation.Tsuru Shinjo, who was very frugal, occa-sionally managed to obtain beef, which shewould salt and store under the house.

Meat was scarce in Wakayama. Therewas a law in Japan that prevented thekilling of cattle because of their importancein farming. Kanbun did not eat meat, butliked the tendons and cartilage. He

Master Seiyu Shinjo.

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Seiyu Shinjo (left) spars as Kanei Uechi looks on.

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“In Japan he always taught explosiveindividual moves from a kata, ikyodo, butnever demonstrated the entire kata.”

Tsuru Shinjo described her home as being verysimilar in size and appearance to Kanbun Uechi's

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ried Ryusen Tomoyose, the oldest son ofRyuyu. Ryuyu Tomoyose was KanbunUechi’s first student in Wakayama.

Tsuru Shinjo died in March 1996, in Kadena,Okinawa. She was eighty-eight years old.She spoke with vigor and humor about herlife around the karate men. She said themen would gather at her house and talk wellinto the night about karate and women.



believed eating them made his tendonsstrong. Tsuru often gave Kanbun thesinew from the meat she stored.

The Shinjo’s first son Seiyu, born July 10,1929, was named after Ryuyu Tomoyose.Seiyu was born premature, at sevenmonths, and was so small his mother com-pared his head to the size of a teacup. Hecaught diphtheria when he was threeyears old and beat death by only tenminutes, according to doctors at the hos-pital. Seiyu was never sick, even with acold, after that.Kanbun became fond of the exuberantyoung Seiyu, who pleaded for years withhis father to let him study karate. Seiyubecame a student at Kanbun Uechi’s Te-bira dojo in 1939. He was ten years old.

Seiyu, and other new students performedcleanup and other duties around the dojo.The first three months of training consis-ted of doing Sanchin steps across the dojo.Holding his arms in the proper position wasadded to the stepping, the following threemonths.

The rambunctious young man complaineddaily to his father that they had done thesame thing in class again. Seiyu remained

war ended shortly after his military trainingbegan and Seiyu was released from duty.Seiryo became ill with a respiratory pro-blem toward the end of their stay in Waka-yama. He had to quit his karate training.

The harsh conditions in Japan after thewar facilitated the decision to return toOkinawa. The Shinjo family traveled withSeiko Toyama and Kanbun Uechi. Seiyuwas leaving the only home he had known.

Return to Okinawa and Ie-jima islandThe group was interred in a prisoner ofwar camp for six months, when they retur-ned to Okinawa. They lived in tents andfought starvation and depression. To liftmorale [sic] in the camp, Kanbun demon-strated karate. It was the only time hisstudents saw him perform all the katas intheir entirety. In Japan he always taughtexplosive individual moves from a kata,ikyodo, but never demonstrated the entire

determined to learn karate. EventuallySeiryo began teaching his son at home, inaddition to Kanbuns teachings. SeiyuShinjo was exposed to an unprecedentedlearning opportunity for nine years.Classes at the elementary and high schoolswere taught in shifts, so children could work.Seiyu went to the Miyamae Shogokoelementary school, only a few hundredyards from the Tebira dojo. He later atten-ded Wakayama Kogyo (Technical HighSchool) at night, He trained in the morningsessions at the Tebira dojo and worked ata job making pots and pans during the day.The high school is still in operation today.Wakayama was relatively undamagedduring the war and many buildings of thatera remain.

Seiyu Shinjo was drafted into the wareffort by the Japanese military. Heattended pilot school, including kamikaze(divine wind) pilot training. Fortunately the

kata. After release from the camp, SeikoToyama moved to Naha. The Shinjo fa-mily and Kanbun Uechi relocated on Ie-jima Island.

Seiyu Shinjo met and married Yoshi Ko-hama there in 1947. They built a house onthe property of the Shinjo family, a fewhundred yards from the home of his pa-rents. Hokonoto, a monument to the peoplewho died on Ie-jima Island during WorldWar II, now occupies the site. Membersof the Shinjo family still live on Ie-jima

Seiko Toyoma began training at Kanbun Uechi'sWakayama dojo one year before his life-long

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“On November 3, 1951, three years afterthe passing of the great karate master,Ie-jima Island produced a modern daykarate legend named Kiyohide Shinjo.”

Hokonoto, a monument to those who died on Ie-jima Island during the war.

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Kiyohide Shinjo.

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Island, which has a current population of5,500 people.Kanbun lived less than a mile away, wherehe died on November 25, 1948. The Shin-jos were the only ones present. They con-tacted Kanei the next day and using asmall sabani boat, assisted him in returninghis father’s body to Okinawa.

On November 3, 1951, three years afterthe passing of the great karate master, Ie-jima Island produced a modern day karatelegend named Kiyohide Shinjo.The Shinjo family moved to Naha in 1953.Seiyu Shinjo continued his karate trainingunder Kanei Uechi. The two men, who

had grown up as brothers, worked for threeyears as security guards for the Okinawanrailroad (Nihon Tetsudo Koyogo). Theyworked the night shift preventing theftfrom the train yard. Okinawa was impo-verished after the war, and American reliefwas slow in coming. Some people tookwhat they could to survive.

Seiryo and Tsuru Shinjo soon moved toKadena, a small village at a focal point inthe road between Naha and Nago to workin the laundry shop owned by Seiryo’sparents. The laundry business was boo-ming because of the occupying Americanforces.

The Kadena era of Uechi-ryu karateThe land on which the Asato dojo stoodwas appropriated by the government fora new thoroughfare (Highway 58)connecting the southern and central parts

Seiyu Shinjo's Asato (Naha) Uechi-ryu dojo, established in 1955.

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Kiyohide Shinjo at twelve years old with his father.

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Seiyu Shinjo stayed in Naha and attwenty-six years old, opened the AsatoUechi-ryu dojo in 1955. It was the fourthUechi-ryu dojo established in Okinawa.Three years later the first black belt promo-tions in the Uechi-ryu system were awar-ded. Seiyu Shinjo was promoted to Godan(fifth degree).

of the island. In 1960, Sieyu Shinjo and hisfamily moved to Kadena, and opened theKadena Uechi-ryu dojo. His second son,Narahiro, was born the same year. TheShinjo dojo has operated at the same loca-tion for thirty-five years as of this writing.The Kadena Shubukan is the only one inwhich three generations, grandfather,father and grandchild have learned karatein the same dojo.

Seiyu Shinjo's Asato (Naha) Uechi-ryu dojo, established in 1955.

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“Seiyu Shinjo stayed in Naha and attwenty-six years old, opened the AsatoUechi-ryu dojo in 1955. It was the fourthUechi-ryu dojo established in Okinawa.”

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“Kiyohide did not like karate practice forseveral years, and probably for goodreasons. ”

Kiyohide Shinjo began karate training, notby his own choice, when he was ten yearsold. Kiyohide did not like karate practice



for several years, and probably for goodreasons. Six o’clock in the evening wasthe starting time for karate class and Kiyo-hide’s favorite television variety show,Golden Hour. His father would grab himby the ear and forcibly lead him into thedojo.Seiyu was a hard man concerning karate.He also maintained the uncompromising,and sometimes inhuman, standard oftraining established by Kanbun Uechi. Asthe young man became accustomed to the

perform individual kata, as the otherstudents were. He knew his tardiness hadbeen noticed. After all the students left,Seiyu Shinjo went into a rage over hisson’s lack of responsibility. Mr. Shinjo tooka large knife and cut the gi top down the

ordered his son to fight the belligerentAmericans. For many years, the challengersbeat the skinny young Okinawan. AsShinjo Kiyohide’s size, strength, and karateability increased, so did his dislike forAmerican servicemen. In time, he wonevery fight, with great pleasure.

Kiyohide was promoted to Shodan (first-degree black belt) in 1968, eight years afterhe began training under his father. He esta-

played at being sa-murai warriors. Ki-yohide kept a keeneye on the settingsun, as a reminderto return to the dojoon time. He misjud-ged the time andarrived home afterclass had alreadybegun. He put on hisgi (uniform), slippedinto the dojo, andjoined the group ex-ercise. He was notcalled on all night toKanei Uechi with Uechi-ryu's most winning competitor, Kiyohide Shinjo.

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Shinjo Kiyohide and Takamei Takayasu,defenders of the Shinjo legacy.

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“During the first few decades after WorldWar II, intoxicated servicemen oftenfound their way into the dojo, challengingthe Okinawans to fight.”

“He became a legend in Okinawa in theprocess and is often called "Okinawa’sSuperman."”

blished karate clubs in high school and col-lege. He also studied kendo for seven yearsduring that time, earning the rank of Nidan.By 1969, the Shinjo family was completewith three daughters and four sons. The

training regime he was given the addedresponsibility of cleaning the dojo for thirtyminutes before class began. On one occa-sion, when Kiyohide was fourteen yearsold, he and some friends went to the riverafter school. They cut bamboo swords and

back and ripped it from his son’s body.He did the same to the belt and pants,telling his son that since he did not takehis karate training seriously, he no longerhad to practice. The incident passed andKiyohide was allowed to resume his trai-ning.

From dojo defender to Okinawatournament champion.During the first few decades after WorldWar II, intoxicated servicemen oftenfound their way into the dojo, challengingthe Okinawans to fight. Shinjo Seiyu often

Shinjo’s oldest child, Toshiko, born the nightof Uechi Kanbun’s death, died as a youngchild. Five of Seiyu’s children are Uechi-ryu black belts, as are his brothers, Seihoand Kiyoshi.

Tournament historyIn 1968, The Uechi-Ryu Karate Shubukaiheld the first annual Uechi-ryu tournament.It included kata (forms) and kumite(sparring) competition for black belts.Shinjo Seiyu was the organizer and direc-tor. Kiyohide placed third in kata in thisinaugural tournament.

Tournament competitors prepare to fight to keep the championship flag and cup in the Kadena dojo.

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At the third annual tournament in 1970,Kiyohide won both kata and kumitecompetition. He continued to do so for arecord nine years. He became a legend inOkinawa in the process and is often called“Okinawa’s Superman.”

The annual Uechi-ryu tournament washeld in two parts. Kata competition washeld in the Futenma dojo under the watch-ful eyes of Uechi Kanei and all the style’ssensei and sempai (seniors). Sparringcompetition was conducted the followingweek.

In 1978, the eighth year of Kiyohide’schampionship reign, the first All-OkinawaChampionship Tournament was held. Thechampion of this historic sparring event,open to black belts of all karate styles, wasShinjo Kiyohide. He soon retired fromcompetition due to his father’s ill health.

1988. The Kadena dojo won the cham-pionship in fifteen of the twenty tour-naments!

Narahiro is often lost in the shadow of hisfamous brother. Narahiro also inheritedhis father’s vigor and relentless approach

Four generations of Shinjo karate men take pride in the day's performance.

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They are a bright future for the balanceof traditional karate and the competitiveaspect that has developed since karatewas introduction into Japan.

Shinjo Narahiro, Seiyu’s second son, pla-ced first in kata in five of the eight Uechi-ryu tournaments following his brother’sretirement. The Uechi-ryu tournament ranuninterrupted for twenty years until thebreak up of the Uechi-ryu Association inThe championship flag remained in the Kadena

dojo for two decades.

“The Uechi-ryu tournament ran un-interrupted for twenty years until the breakup of the Uechi-ryu Association in 1988.”

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Kiyohide is a graduate of Okinawa KokusaiUniversity, majoring in law. He marriedMichio Nakamura in 1977. Their first sons,Shuichi and Kiyohito were high schoolkarate champions each year they were inschool and competed in the National HighSchool Championships in Japan.

to karate and is every bit as accomplishedas his older brother. He has also traveledinternationally, teaching and demonstratingUechi-ryu karate.

In August 1995, Narahiro placed fourth inkata in the All-Okinawa World Pre-Tournament. He repeated the feat byplacing fourth in the Okinawan Karateand Kobudo World Tournament in August1997.

The All-Japan Sports Festival (Kokutae) was held in celebration of Okinawa's Reversion to Japan inApril 1972.

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Shinyu Gushi…………Shinyu Gushi, born May 25,1939, first began karate trainingin the Oroku dojo underSaburo Uehara. As a high schoolstudent, Mr. Gushi wanted tostart a karate club at his school.Sensei Uehara was against theidea, wishing to keep his instruc-tion more secret.Mr. Gushi discussed the situationwith the more progressive thin-king Seiyu Shinjo, who suppor-ted the idea.Impressed by Mr. Shinjo’s stu-dents and his goals for Uechi-ryudevelopment, Mr. Gushi joinedthe Asato dojo in 1956. AfterShinjo Seiyu moved to Kadena,Mr. Gushi trained in Wakasaunder Itokazu Seiko. For ten years,he taught class and performeddemonstrations at the Naha Gin-za dojo. He opened his own dojoin Oroku in 1985.He is currently the only Okina-wan master of Uechi-ryu livingin the United States.

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International influenceOn May 15, 1972, the United States gaveup control of Okinawa and the islandreverted to Japan. The All-Japan SportsFestival (Kokutae) was held at the NahaStadium (near the site of the new Oki-nawan Martial Arts Kenritsu Budokan)

Kiyohide was promoted to Yondan andreceived Shihan certificate number thirty-one from Uechi Kanei in 1974. He was pro-

degree black belt) on May 16, 1974. Seiryoreceived the first Hachidan certificate everissued by the Uechi-ryu Karate Association.

“Shinjo Seiyu was adamant about in-creasing public awareness of Uechi-ryukarate and expanding its practice inAmerica.”

moted to Godan in 1977. Although youngerthan his contemporaries, Shinjo Kiyohidetested for Rokudan (sixth-degree) andNanadan (seventh-degree) with MastersNakamatsu, Takamiyagi, Gushi, and Senaga.Shinjo Seiryo, the founder of the Shinjokarate dynasty, died March 5, 1976, froma lung disease he had contracted in Waka-yama. He was sixty-eight years old.

Tsutomu Nakahodo breaks a 2x2 pole over the arm of Shinjo Seiho during a demonstration for the U.S.Armed Forces.

Nahahiro Shinjo placed fourth in the August1997 Okinawa Karate and Kobudo World

Tournament, an event that had 1,750 partici-pants. April 1972.

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as part of the reversion celebrations.Massive demonstrations of Okinawankarate and dance (odori and eisa) wereperformed. The Japanese Governmentgave every karate participant a new dogi.The patch on the gi was patterned afterthe Olympic torch.

Shinjo Seiyu was adamant about increa-sing public awareness of Uechi-ryu karateand expanding its practice in America. Tothis end, he was one of the first sensei toopen his dojo to American servicemen.He performed many demonstrations, forOkinawans and Americans, to propagateUechi-ryu karate.

The Uechi-ryu Karate Association haddeveloped and refined its rank structuresince the first promotions in 1958. In 1972,the association awarded Shinjo Seiyu thetitle of Shihan (master instructor), cer-tificate number six. Seiyu and his father,Seiryo, were promoted to Hachidan (eighth-

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Seiko Toyama………Seiko Toyama was born in 1928.He started training in Uechi-ryuunder Kanbun Uechi in Waka-yama Prefecture. Toyama andShinjo Seiyu, who started trai-ning under Kanbun one yearlater, became friends for life. Foryears, they listened intently asKanbun and Ryuyu Tomoyosetalked.He is a wellspring of informationabout Uechi-ryu karate’s historyand a robust storyteller.Seiko Toyama trained underKanbun Uechi for eight years inWakayama. He accompanied hissensei and the Shinjo family fromWakayama to Okinawa.He continues to teach and workon his farm. Part of that workincludes catching habu, a deadlynocturnal snake indigenous toOkinawa, with his bare hands.

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“At the time, he expressed the opinionthat he needed ten more years trainingunder his father to properly prepare himto be a karate teacher.”

The dojo-house structure in Kadena wasvery small. There was a small living roomand kitchen adjacent to the dojo. The dojoarea itself served as the sleeping quartersfor the entire family. The small house anddojo were torn down and replaced in 1976.The new house was built on top of thenew dojo, dramatically increasing the trai-ning and living area.

Seiyu developed diabetes in his late fortiesand his health deteriorated rapidly. Heunderwent two operations and died duringthe second on October 23, 1981. He was

only fifty-two years old. Shinjo Seiyu wasposthumously awarded the rank Kyoshi(expert teacher) and Kudan (ninth-degreeblack belt) by Uechi Kanei and the Uechi-ryu Karate Association and the All-Okina-wa Karate Federation on November 26,1981.

Seiyu’s premature death brought with it adark cloud over the world of Uechi-ryu ka-rate. After Seiyu’s death, Mr. NakazatoShugoro, founder of Shorinkan Shorin-ryuand then president of the All-OkinawaKarate Federation, delivered the followingspeech:

Mr. Seiyu Shinjo had the good fortuneto be a disciple under Kanbun Uechi,

The original Kadena Uechi-ryu dojo was rebuilt in 1976.

Seiyu Shinjo was a driving force in Uechi-ryu'sdevelopment in Okinawa.

the founder of Uechi-ryu karate, andhis son, Kanei Uechi. He becameTatsujin [master of the highest skill ofkarate]. Sensei Shinjo was an in-telligent, gentle, respectful, and open-minded person, who always tried tounderstand karate-do, both philoso-phically and technically.

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Seiyu Shinjo breaks a 2x2 pole on the arm ofgreen belt Alan Dollar.

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Alan Dollar

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After he opened the Uechi-ryu Karate-do Kadena Shubukan, he taught not onlykarate to his students, but also the philo-sophy of human life. He helped the deve-lopment of children’s physical and mentalhealth in his neighborhood. He was like asecond father to both youths and adultkarate students.Besides teaching his own students at hisdojo, he spent his time helping to developthe Uechi-ryu Karate-do Association andthe All-Okinawa Karate Federation,where he served on the Board of Direc-tors. I sincerely respect him for his greatachievements toward the prosperity ofOkinawan karate.

Unfortunately, in the world, there is noperfect thing or person, and even a strongperson like Mr. Shinjo could not defeathis death. However, his oldest son, Mr.Shinjo Kiyohide, and other students haveinherited his karate philosophy and know-ledge. I hope Mr. Shinjo Seiyu is watching

his son’s and students’ development ofkarate ability from heaven.After his father’s death, Kiyohide reluc-tantly assumed the teaching responsibilities

“Shinjo Seiyu’s Strong Fist Group.” TheKenyukai version of Uechi-ryu karate isnow practiced around the world.

Shinjo Kiyohide has served on the All-Okinawa Karate Federation Board ofDirectors since 1980. He was voted Boardchairman from 1991 to 1994, and is theyoungest person in the Federation’s historyto hold that position.He has pursued Uechi-ryu karate’s growthas fervently as his father did. He hasraveled to Germany, Spain, twice to France,three times to Brazil and Canada, fourtimes to Argentina, and twelve times toAmerica in his efforts to present the Kan-bun Uechi - Seiyu Shinjo methods of teachingOkinawan Uechi-ryu karate. Kiyohide’scompassion toward foreign practitionershas increased with each exposure. Headmires the long-term devotion and ever

“Four generations of Shinjo karate menhave dedicated themselves to the physicaland spiritual teachings of Kanbun andKanei Uechi.”

Master Kiyohide Shinjo teaching in his new Yomitan dojo. His family home is located on the top floor,just like in the former Kadena dojo.

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at the Kadena dojo. At the time, he ex-pressed the opinion that he needed tenmore years training under his father toproperly prepare him to be a karate tea-cher.He founded a fraternity within the Uechi-ryu Association to honor his father andcalled the group Kenyukai. “Ken” means“fist,” “yu” is part of Seiyu’s name and“kai” means “group.” Kenyukai stands for



Karate Mastersby Jose Fraguas

178x254 mm, 350 pp,400 photos

available atwww.mikado.nlwww.amazon.com

KARATE MASTERS

Karate-do is one of the most popular yet mys-terious martial arts in the world. In 'KarateMasters', through conversations with manyhistorical figures such as Osamu Ozawa andMasatoshi Nakayama, and numerous currentworld-class masters such as Hirokazu Kanazawa,Fumlo Demura, Teruo Hayashi, Morio Higa-onna, Hidetaka Nishiyama, and Stan Schmidt,the many threads of karate learning, lore, andlegend are woven together to present an inte-grated and complete view of the empty-handedart of fightIng, philosophy, and self-defense.Now for the first time, interviews with 24 ofthe world's top karate masters have been gath-ered together in one book. Containing infor-mation that has not appeared anywhere else,the interviews contain intriguing thoughts, fas-cinating personal details, hidden history, andrevealing philosophies. In these 24 gems, eachmaster reveals a true love for the art and a deepunderstanding of every facet associated withthe practice and spirit of karate-do as a way oflife. No matter how well you think you knowthese karate masters, you haven’t really experi-enced their wit, wisdom, and insight until you'veread Karate Masters. Any karate practitionerwho appreciates martial arts history and phi-losophy, and who feels that this rich heritage isa necessary steppingstone to their personalgrowth, will find this book an invaluable refer-ence and a must-have addition to their per-sonal library. Author Jose M. Fraguas, a fifth-degree black belt in Shito-ryu karate, is an in-ternationally recognized martial arts authoritywho is well-known to the world's top karatemasters. His desire to prornote both ancientphilosophy, and modern thinking provided themotivation for writing this book.

Harry Cook - He Conquers, Who ConquersHimself • Ray Dalke - An American Samurai •Fumio Demura - Leading by Example • Wil-liam Dometrich - Western of the Eastern Way• Teruo Hayashi - In Pursuit of Karate Excel-lence • Morio Higaonna - The Master, TheWarrior • Dan Ivan - Karate's Enduring Spirit •Hirokazu Kanazawa - Master of the KarateSpirit • Taiji Kase - Karate's Timeless Master •Tak Kubota - The Master of Inner and OuterStrength • Kenei Mabuni - A Balance of Heartand Body • Kenzo Mabuni - Staying the Course• Patrick McCarthy - Standing on the Shoul-ders of Giants • Chuck Merriman - Wisdom ofthe Ages • Takayuki Mikami - The Essence ofPerseverance • Minobu Miki - Karate's Mod-ern Traditionalist • Masatoshi Nakayama - ALegacy of Excellence • Hidetaka Nishiyama -Karate's Driving Force • Teruyuki Okazaki -The Ultimate Development of Character •Osamu Ozawa - Tempered by Fire • Henri Plee- The Gichin Funakoshi of Europe • TsusuoSakumoto - In the Modern World, But Not oflt • Stan Schmidt - Karate's Guiding Light

By Marc van Dam

Mind over Muscleby Jigoro Kano

140x196 mm, 160 pp,

available atwww.mikado.nlwww.amazon.com

MIND OVER MUSCLE

This book is a collection of the life's work andessential teachings of Jigoro Kano, who foundedKodokan Judo in Tokyo in 1882. Kodokan Judowas for Kano the culmination of a lifelongdevotion to the jujutsu of the past, which hereorganized along educational lines while tak-ing great care to retain its classical traditions. Indoing so, he opened the path from jutsu (skill)to do (way), and broadened the horizons ofknowledge until he reached the point at which hebegan to advocate seiryoku zenyo (maximumefficiency) and jita kyoei (mutual prosperity),which represent the universality and ideal ofhuman existence, and are the core values of judo.Throughout his life, Kano repeatedly empha-sized grasping the correct meaning of judo andputting it into practice. That is to say, one mustunderstand that judo is the way by which onecan make the best use of one's mental and physi-cal energy, and put that into use for the good ofsociety. Because judo was defined in this way, itbecame subsumed into an altogether richer, morecomplex, and universal judo, which in turnevolved into a principle that can be applied acrossthe spectrum of human life. The circumstancessurrounding the development of judo are de-scribed throughout this book, as are its under-lying principles, which the author believes haveuniversal applicability to everyday life.

In the annals of Japan's modern martial arts,no name is better known than that of JigoroKano. Born in 1860 in Hyogo Prefecture, hecreated Kodokan Judo in 1882, the year afterhe graduated from Tokyo Imperial University,majoring in literature, politics, and politicaleconomy. He was a professor and principal ofGakushuin, principal of the First Higher School,and later, the Tokyo Higher Normal School,and in 1889, as a member of the Imperial House-hold Department, he made a study tour of Eu-ropean Educational institutions. He became thefirst Japanese member of the InternationalOlympic Committee in 1909 and the first presi-dent of the Japan Amateur Sports Associationwhen it was founded in 1911. Elected to theHouse of Peers in 1922, he died at sea aboardthe Hikawa Maru in 1938 while returning froman IOC meeting in Cairo.

1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF JUDO: A BriefHistory of Jujutsu • From Jujutsu to Judo2. THE SPIRIT OF JUDO: Seiryoku Zenyo:The Essence of Judo • Judo and Physical Train-ing • Judo and Intellectual Training • Judo andMoral Education • Judo as Martial Art • A BasicPrinciple For Everyone: Judo and Its Applica-tion to Everyday Life3. JUDO TRAINING: The Purpose of Judo •The Three Levels of Judo • The Practice ofJudo • Judo and Education • The Samurai Spirit• Judo Practice at The Dojo • Kata PracticeAfterword • Bibliography

By Marc van Dam

Alan Dollar began Uechi-ryukarate training under Seiyu Shinjo

in the Kadena dojo in 1974during his first Marine Corps tourof duty to Okinawa. All blackbelt ranks through Godan (fifthdegree) and Shihan (Master

Instructor) were presented byKanei Uechi in the Futenma SokeDojo. He currently holds the rank

of Kyoshi, Nanadan (seventhdegree) and Godan in OkinawaKobudo. After running his dojo

for 30 years, he retired fromactive teaching in 2004. Heremains the North AmericanDirector for the Kenyukai

Association under KiyohideShinjo.

For more information and photos ofOkinawa, karate and the Kenyukai go to:

www.alandollar.com.

This article first appeared in the formerBugeisha Magazine no 5 & 6 (1998).

Bugeisha Magazine back issues and/or CDare available from Rising Sun

Productions.Contact information: (818) 891-1133www.risingsunproductions.net/catalog/

The Japanese government declared imminentdomain in 2004 and the center of Kadena circle wasleveled for new high rise buildings. A new dojo wasbuilt in Yomitan, and the Shinjo legacy continues.

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increasing ability he has witnessed outsideOkinawa. The Shinjo karate legacy wasfostered by Kanbun Uechi’s teachings.Four genera-tions of Shinjo karate menhave dedicated themselves to the physicaland spiritual teachings of Kanbun andKanei Uechi.The Shinjo family is one of vigorousstrength who live by the code of live lifeeasy and peacefully; but when it is timeto fight, become ferocious! GosatuBokuto!

30


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"Sensei" is one of those unique terms that, though understood conventionally by the communitythat uses it, allows many interpretations and nuances, inviting lasting confusion and dialog.

Within the martial arts community, "sensei" is understood as "teacher," and the acknowledgedJapanese translation is generally given as "one who has gone before." Virtually all budoka arecomfortable with this definition and accept it at face value. Yet within the budo community thedialog persists as to the actual role of the one who as instructor in his art is called "sensei."

Even with an accepted definition there are layers of meaning, quite similar in their "understood"implications, to the Jewish title "rabbi," which is also conventionally defined as "teacher," yet

which possesses great depth and expands far beyond the parameters of that definition.

- By Gil Gillespie -

"Sensei:" Some Considerations

Is a martial arts instructor a spiritual leader?A leader of a community? Should he be?Or should he merely disseminate the mosteffective and correct fighting technique aspromulgated by his respective art? Whatshould the student expect from this rela-tionship? Which end of this continuum isappropriate? Or is it somewhere in between?

These questions form the crux of anongoing and recently more intense dialogregarding the essence of “sensei,” itsimplications and expectations. I havenever been a rabbi, or any ordained spiri-tual leader. I was, however, a public schoolteacher and coach, and my budo expe-rience has increasingly placed me before

self-indulgent refrain, “This is where myart is,” and then conduct the class as theirown private laboratory with the studentsas their personal research tools. Moreperceptive, and more correct actually, isthe perspective, “Where is THEIR art?”Another pitfall of fledgling instructors isthe overblown lecture, which is seldomas interesting to the listeners as it is to thespeaker. People come to train, not to listen.

I am much closer to our mudansha on ThePath than our sensei and senior instructors.That should never be overlooked, althoughthat does not mean I can never challengeeither myself or my kohai. So from myvantage I am closer to the understandingof “coach” than “sensei.” “Coach” isanother of those terms whose meaning isparticular to the milieu. There is a worldof difference between the former collegeathlete teaching elementary school phy-sical education because his eligibility hasrun out and the man who has over yearsmolded groups of disparate individuals intoselfless, committed units striving towarda goal. Both are addressed as “Coach.”

Again the layers of meaning and under-standing color the picture. My own coach-ing experience on the scholastic levelmandated that I be more attuned to thedevelopment of the entire individual thanto mere success in competition. Thatphilosophy never left me and I have seenit played out even at the callous profes-sional level. Vince Lombardi may havesaid “winning isn’t everything; it’s the onlything,” but to a man his former players

maintain a veneration that transcendedloyalty and became family. The formerBoston Celtics maintain that spirit andthose ties with curmudgeon mentor RedAuerbach. This paternal relationship proli-ferates more easily in the collegiate ranks,exemplified by the life imprint of peoplelike Dean Smith of North Carolina basket-ball and Joe Paterno of Penn State football.Their players and others maintain a closerelationship long after their performingcareers end, consulting with their “coach”about life’s larger perspectives throughoutthe remainder of their lives.

The quintessence of this relationship wouldhave to be that of former UCLA basket-ball coach John Wooden and his touch onthe lives of his players. People in the sportsworld will always speak of him in aweand not merely for his championships andarray of hall of fame players. John Woodenexemplifies excellence in life and sports;he never wavered from instilling the livingdefinition of student-athlete, and insistedthat a college degree be the least of his youngmen’s accomplishments. One of his players,now in the hall of fame, said that they neverconsidered leaving early for the riches ofprofessional basketball. They treasured theexperience and never wanted to miss theexcitement and challenge of practice,

“Within the martial arts community,"sensei" is understood as "teacher," andthe acknowledged Japanese translationis generally given as "one who has gonebefore".”

groups of budoka as their instructor. Iwould never call myself “sensei,” althoughmy kohai do when I teach, only that theirdojo etiquette remain consistent. As theseclasses unfold, how do I see myself vis-à-vis the question at hand? As the seniorstudent that night I owe the other studentsmore than just leading the techniques. Iowe them instruction. I owe them therichest, most fulfilling budo experience Ican encourage to evolve during that class.

Yet I must recognize my limitations, andtheirs. Many junior instructors voice the

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“I am much closer to our mudansha onThe Path than our sensei and seniorinstructors. So from my vantage I amcloser to the understanding of "coach "than "sensei. "”



which was richer than the games, becauseof the depth of the interaction and learningthat took place there. For the title of hisautobiography John Wooden chose refe-rences to neither victory nor champion-ship, but rather They Call Me Coach.So all well and good, but how does“coach” transfer to “sensei?” The segueis realized through the relationship thatdevelops and is forged over time. InJapanese budo we know it as the sensei-seito relationship. The stigma of sports andcompetition polluting the purity of budo,which is decried by many masters(including men such as Mochizuki andUeshiba), does not invalidate that under-standing. The goals may differ (or in thecase of tournament fighters become quitecongruent), but the bonds that grow throughprolonged training define the nature of therelationship. In praising one of his best alltime players, former St. John’s Universitybasketball coach Lou Carnesecca singledout “his monastic devotion to the rehear-sal.” That rings of a budo dojo!

One major difference is that a sensei isstill expected to “do it,” whereas coachesare almost invariably “retired” and servemerely as guides and sideline instructors.In a budo dojo the instructor is not only ofsenior rank, but almost always he is themost advanced technician in attendance.Many times there are younger, stronger,faster yudansha in class who could conceiva-bly outclass their instructor in a purelyphysical sense. That changes nothing inthe equation of the sensei’s position as theinstructor and in the students’ respect forthat title, independent of the man who holdsit in that class.

These bonds are not superficial and deve-lop only if the student manifests a seriouscommitment and follows it up with un-flagging determination. No matter howdevoted the student may be to the imper-sonal refinement of technique or enhance-ment of combat proficiency, the gradual

suffers from the debilitating neuromuscularailment myasthenia gravis. After the con-ventional medical community had exhaus-ted its resources and he thought he wouldhave to face the rest of his life as a weaken-ed cripple, his sensei (our Japanese shihan)took him under personal physical andpsychological care. The treatments werebased on deep breathing with meticulousmaintenance of proper postures and specificmovements. Twenty years later only myinstructor still survives from his originaldiagnosed group.

Naturally the bond shared by these twogentlemen is singular and is not presentedhere as a blueprint for the sensei-seito

“The segue is realized through the relation-ship that develops and is forged over time.In Japanese budo we know it as the sensei-seito relationship. The stigma of sportsand competition polluting the purity ofbudo does not invalidate that under-standing.”

deepening of his relationship with hissensei becomes a corollary of his training.In brief military or police training programsthis is impossible due to the omission ofthe paramount ingredient: time. The traineemay glean various techniques, but thesensei-seito relationship only comes tofruition through thousands of hours overmany years. The first time my sensei re-ferred to me by name on the mat remains anhonor not even equaled by my later attain-ment of dan rank, which I now realize ismerely something that happens to allbudoka if they just stay around!

So the relationship is not only wrought overtime, but it must be earned. As budoka weare all familiar with the extraordinarily highattrition among mudansha. Only a smallpercent of those who begin budo trainingactually persevere. Many sensei will noteven teach beginners, leaving that insteadto their sempai cadre. Even more painfuland wasteful in a sensei’s eyes are the stu-dents who begin to manifest some powerand grace around third kyu or even attainshodan and then just disappear. So an instruc-tor measures his commitment, and thisreciprocal relationship is neither assumednor superficial.

As this relationship defines itself over time,the sensei perceives the totality of hisstudent. His instruction goes beyond meretechnique. Some students will need tolearn confidence; others will need to learnto trust their partners; others may needanger management. My budo instructor

Gil Gillespie with Keith Oshiro (left) and Ian Pinkerton (right).

relationship. It is, however, representativeof the potential that exists when a senseitakes a holistic approach to teaching theentire person, beyond technique, and thestudent earns the sensei’s acknowledgementof the depth and sincerity of the student’scommitment. The Japanese grandmasterof one of the oldest lines of koryu swords-manship emphasizes this very “sincerity”as the most important character in truebudo, and his kanji brushwork for it gracesthe opening page of that ryu’s manual. To

“No matter how devoted the student maybe to the impersonal refinement oftechnique or enhancement of combatproficiency, the gradual deepening of hisrelationship with his sensei becomes acorollary of his training.”

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a man the fine sensei in my experience haverepeated that sincerity and perseveranceare much more sought after among theirstudents than natural athletic or fightingability.

Yet at issue here is the nature of martialarts instruction. We have arrived at thesecond oldest and least fulfilling inquiryinto the nature of training: “It’s not aboutfighting” (the oldest and least fulfillingreply, of course, is “Just keep training!”).As frustrating as it is to hear, the latter istrue. The validity of the former is definedby the student’s goals for training; andagain the “X factor” in the mix is time.Over time a student’s goals for trainingrefine and change. A relationship developswith his sensei. Even the most hardenedfighters undergo an evolution of their

Gil Gillespie was born in1948 in Long Branch New

Jersey. He obtained abachelors degree in

International Relations andhas experience as a publicschool teacher/coach. Heholds a Nidan degree in

Aikikai Aikido training underShihan Saotome and Sensei

Dennis Hooker and, inaddition, a Shodan degree in

Iaido under SenseiShimabukuro and Sensei

Carl Long. He is a free-lancescenic artist and lives in ruralcentral Florida with his wifeJunko and daughter Jade.

“Many times there are younger, stronger,faster yudansha in class who could con-ceivably outclass their instructor in a pure-ly physical sense. That changes nothingin the equation of the sensei’s position asthe instructor and in the students’ respectfor that title, independent of the man whoholds it in that class.”

“Each must choose his own path, andthere is nothing at all improper in choosingto merely teach technique and the art asexperienced.It is merely my own obser-vation that teaching "the whole person" ismore fulfilling for both.”

character; budo literature is replete withdescriptions of this phenomenon. Theymay not all undergo a mystical transfor-mation like Ueshiba Morihei, but theyrealize there is something more, and theyteach it.

Technique becomes the vehicle forlearning principle, in both budo and life. Inyet another of those budo paradoxes, thiswidening of a sensei’s teaching perspec-tive is ancillary to instruction in the art; heis still firstly and principally a budo instruc-tor. And in another paradox, the studenthas no right to expect anything beyond budoinstruction. He enters the dojo as a begin-ner and a stranger. He must demonstratethe above commitment and sincerity overthe passage of time - a great deal of time.The sensei-seito relationship will take onits own distinct and individual flavor.Neither the sensei nor the student can willit, accelerate it, or force it. It just happens,like promotions and injuries.

There is nothing inherent to impel anyinstructor to take this approach. Each mustchoose his own path, and there is nothingat all improper in choosing to merely teachtechnique and the art as experienced. Manyinstructors prefer this view as do many

particular tune-up elsewhere, thank youvery much. Allowing each his own Imerely try to stay on The Path, believingfull well that it is all about this step, thismoment, and any destination is an illusion.I will never “arrive.” None of us will. Eachclass is its own experience in The Now,and they just all add up. In the end, that’swhat validates the seemingly unfulfillingcliché “Just keep training.” It doesn’t

Gil Gillespie training with Daniel Vaccaro.

students. They find itsimpler, less entangling,and even more pure. Itis merely my own ob-servation that teaching“the whole person” ismore fulfilling for both.If, as Joseph Campbelltaught, we are the ve-hicles of our conscious-ness, then there is atime for a fill-up, and atime for a tune-up.Teaching only techniquecan be seen as a fill-up,whereas a holistic ap-proach to “the vehicle”is analogous to a tune-up. Somewhere alongthe line the need forthe overall health of thevehicle will manifestitself.

Many will insist thatbudo is budo and theywill attend to their

matter if we ever use our training “in thestreet.” It doesn’t matter if budo buildscharacter or reveals it. Remembering thatthe origin of the word “dojo” refers to anarea for a spiritually physical disciplinewithin a Buddhist temple, I treat mytraining space as my sanctuary. My fellowbudoka and I have left the mundane worldoutside and gathered to walk The Pathtogether for a while.

And among us there will be one we willcall “sensei,” who will be teacher,technician, critic, coach and guide. Butmost of all he will be a companion on TheWay.

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- By Kevin Secours -

Controlling the Effects of Strikes

You Can't Block Everything:The quote above refers to a dangerousrisk for military planners—that is the veryreal danger of becoming pre-occupied withoffensive tactics without realisticallyconsidering the efforts and effects of aresistant enemy. This same assumption isequally common and just as dangerous inmany martial arts. Too often, martial prac-titioners idealize their opponent into a robo-tic or inanimate participant, placing all oftheir focus on their own offensive in-tents.They forget the very obvious reality that in areal fight, you won’t be the only one strugg-ling to stay alive; your attacker will havejust as much drive, freedom and creativityto survive as you will. The end result is thatfights are generally sloppy, brutal andquick, and utterly void of the aesthetictidiness of a Hollywood action movie.Bodies flare with stress chemicals, nervoussystems ramp into overload, and thingsrarely work out exactly as you have planned.

the Muay Thai boxer and the makiwararegimen of the karateka. India Kushtiwrestlers historically used aggressivemassage to both heal their bodies and totoughen them for contact. Similarly, thelegendary wrestlers from the Zurkhaneh1

of Iran use slapping and hitting to de-sensitize their limbs against impacts andgrabs. At the polar extreme of these moresensational methods, we also find thecomplete dedication to the ideal of yieldingand succumbing to force. Martial arts likeTai Chi, Hsing I and Bagua, prioritizeremaining supple and adaptive as the idealpreparation to force. As the Taoist philo-sopher Lao Tzu noted: “the notion thatyielding overcomes force is known byall but practiced by none.”While all of these methods have theirmerit, they ultimately deal only with theidea of resisting or avoiding the initialimpact. Many arts neglect the equally

important topic of recovering from theeffects of strikes during the midst of com-bat, should they infiltrate your defenses,particularly those that might exceed yourconditioning level. Quite simply, no matterhow good you are, everybody can get hit,surprised and hurt. In this article, I willattempt to outline some functional con-cepts that can be used to counter the effectsof strikes after they have been receivedand the science behind these practices inthe hopes that they may add to the readers’current training and perspective.

Closing The Gate:This tissue in our skin and internal organsare filled with specialized receptors thatread sensations and send messages to ourspinal cords. “Nociceptors” read painstimuli through small nerve fibers, whilethe sensation of touch is carried throughlarge nerve fibers called “mechano-

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An Internal Approach to Handling The Violence of Impact

"An important difference between a military operation and asurgical operation is that the patient is not tied down. But it is a

common fault of generalship to assume that he is."

--Sir Basil Liddell Hart

A simple way to test gate theory is to have someone pinch your body until it causesmild pain. Then while maintaining the pinch, vigorously rub near the pinched

area. You will quickly notice the feeling of pain subsiding and the feeling of therubbing dominating.

“As the Taoist philosopher Lao Tzunoted, "the notion that yielding overcomesforce is known by all but practiced bynone."”

Since the dawn of martial training, combatsystems that have understood this reality,have necessarily sought to preparewarriors for the reality of getting grabbed,struck, cut and broken. The way that thisthreat has been handled varies greatly,from hard style to soft. On the morevigorous end of the spectrum, the nearsuperhuman capacities of Chi Kungmasters and kung fu practitioners are themeat of legend in the Chinese martial arts,as are the shin conditioning practices of

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receptors”. Many body hardening prac-tices seek to deaden the function of thebody’s nociceptors so that individuals canbear greater degrees of pain than ordinarypeople. The danger inherent in theseapproaches is that, over the years, thesemethods can deteriorate the function ofthe body. Arguably, the use of ointments,breathwork and specialized massage canoffset many long-term difficulties and there

which they in turn aggravate throughcontinued use. They also frequently sufferfrom dental and skin problems from con-stant fidgeting, scratching and cumulativeabuse which they simply do not realize isoccurring. Not surprisingly, a lack of painsensitivity usually also leads to drasticdecreases in healing times due to the realrisk of constant re-injury. In the end, painhas a very important purpose as a warningsignal and guide in our training.

In 1965, Patrick Wall and Ronald Melzackproposed that our perception of pain hingedon the relationship between the infor-mation being received by both our painreceptors and our touch receptors. Sincetouch receptors were larger, they proposedthat touch could in effect override andintercept the influence of the smaller painreceptors. In our normal state, neithertouch nor pain neurons transmit signals.In this condition, inhibitory interneuronsblock casual signals to prevent us frombeing overwhelmed by every commonphysical sensation we encounter. Forexample, ordinarily we will not be activelyaware of the feeling of the air on our skinunless we are actively focusing our mindon it as we might during a meditationsession, however if a slightly larger orcolder than normal gust of wind tearsthrough us, we will shiver and momentarilybecome aware of this otherwise ignoredsensation. Wall and Melzack ultimatelydetermined that when touch is activated,it not only distracts the brain, but it alsotriggers inhibitory interneurons that

actually block the sensation of pain. In thegame of touch vs. pain, touch trumps pain.Since both touch and pain must enter thenervous system through the same path-ways, if touch gets there first, it in effect“closes the gate” on pain, refusing topermit it access to your perceptions.

Obviously, the effect of touch and painreceptors are relative. While touch re-ceptors are larger and more dominant thanpain receptors, the sensation of a waterdrop on our hand will likely not be enoughto distract us from a freshly broken leg.In such an extreme case, the broken legwould provide immense pain stimuli andwould require more significant touch toovercome it. Touch fibers are bigger, so a

35

Styles, such as Russian Systema, teach practitioners how to remove strikes from their partners. After delivering a solid blow tothe body, here we see the use of a heavy sweep of the hand to intercept and wipe the pain away.

“Quite simply, no matter how good youare, everybody can get hit, surprised andhurt.”

“In the end, pain has a very importantpurpose as a warning signal and guide inour training.”

is evidence that there are ways of lesse-ning the damage, but ultimately the risk ofinjury and disability is still present never-theless, particularly if these methods aremisused.

Regardless of the prolonged effects, evenwithin the immediate context of trainingand combat application itself, pain playsan important role as an early warningsystem in the body. Simply put, if somethinghurts, we know when to stop or at thevery least to become more aware that alimit is close at hand. Lacking this sen-sitivity can impair judgement and increasethe overall risk of injury. The extremerepercussions of not feeling pain can beseen in individuals who are born with con-genital insensitivities to pain. People whosuffer from inactive or faulty nociceptorsfrequently experience painless fracturesor joint problems from everyday activities,

little touch does go a long way, but themore extreme the pain is, the more tho-rough the touch and your own mentalfocus needs to be in order to overcome it.In truth, we already know this fact fromour own life experiences. Case in point,imagine, late one night, you’re walkingtowards your kitchen sink to pour yourselfa glass of water. You’re half asleep andfeeling your way through the darkness andthen suddenly you smash your foot intothe corner the wall. If you’re a normal,healthy individual, with unaffected painthresholds, the first thing that you will likely

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do is cry out and begin hopping up anddown on one foot as you try to rub it better.This is a natural demonstration of gatetheory at work. We immediately in-stinctively use touch to counter the painof the stubbed toe. So it would seemwe’ve intrinsically been using gate theoryall along in our lives. How then can wetake this very obvious reality, a responsethat we have all known and experiencedfirsthand and apply it to our combat trainingand application more fully?

The mechanics of pain management:First, let’s consider the different compo-nents at play here. Even if we were complete-ly bedridden, unable to move a single fingerto intercept our pain signals with touch,we would still have our ability to breathe.If we return to the previous example of stub-bing your toe, we’ll notice that in thissituation, the first thing that most peoplewill automatically do is breathe out, perhapsshouting or crying out in pain. Whetherwe cry out, or try to suppress that urge tocry out, our body’s natural reflex is to firstbreathe to counter the pain. Many martialarts therefore work with this reflex,strengthening and reinforcing it through

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decades. He has stated that the reasonbreathing is so important is that it bothbalances and calms the body while provi-ding the practitioner with a primary focalpoint. Through mindfulness of one’s brea-thing, his practitioners learn how to moveaway from the emotions they don’t want(pain) and to move towards the emotionsthey choose (joy, relaxation, etc.). To lookat this through a gate theorist’s perspec-tive, they learn to literally “feel” theirbreath and in so doing, stimulate their touchreceptors, thereby intercepting and blockthe pain stimuli.

The Russian Martial Art of Systema canprovide us with another very good exampleof Gate Theory at work. Practitioners ofthis art are taught different breathingmethods to interrupt pain similar to the onedescribed above. They are also taughthow to integrate wavelike body motionsto dissipate and eventually erode the paincaused by impacts. Strikes to the face andbody are often countered with a sharpexhale, not unlike the exhale that naturallyoccurs after one takes a drink of alcohol.Most relevant for our concerns here, Sys-tema practitioners also learn how to incor-porate the use of touch to counter strikes.A soft, heavy handed swipe of the hand isoften used to treat the point of impact.This is often referred to by practitionersas “removing” the strike, since the actionvery much resembles an effort to physi-

“A martial artist must accept that trainingwill involve pain. Pain is inevitable.Suffering however is optional -it is a stateof mind.”

“Since both touch and pain must enterthe nervous system through the samepathways, if touch gets there first, it ineffect "closes the gate" on pain, refusingto permit it access to your perceptions.”

A solid chopping or cupped handstrike can also be used above or

below a hit to intercept it as well.

training. For example, in Karate, the Kiaior “spirit yell” can be used to focus energy,startle an opponent and bolster the spirit,but it can also serve to protect the userfrom impact and pain. In fact, a Kiai neednot be audible. As Gichin Funakoshi wrote,what matters most is that the kiai origi-nates in the stomach, “joining the wholeof your body power and your spirit”.While sound can play an important role instrengthening your psyche and startlingyour opponent, it is not necessary to helpyou counter your own pain from an impact.Breathwork need not be explosive either.Many health practices teach softermethods to guide the practitioner throughpain and injury. Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, aleading proponent of pain managementand stress reduction, has been cham-pioning the role of breathing in his effortsto make meditation mainstream for

as soothing as the touch from a loved one.As children, a mother’s touch was oftenall that was needed to make us completelyforget our pain. In exactly the same way,if we touch a training partner after inflic-ting pain with a strike, using a touch that isgenuinely focused on healing and calmingthe body, the effect of our touch will be

cally grab the pain with their hand andthrow it away from the body. Individualsunfamiliar with gate theory sometimeswrongly assumed that this practice carriessome sort of mystical connotations, butas we have already learned in this article,it is simply another expression of usingtouch to intercept pain.

The location of the touch can also matter.Systems like acupuncture and acupres-sure focus on targeted areas of the bodythat yield maximum effects on the nervoussystem. Every touch stimulates the releaseof “endogenous opiods”, a pain relievingchemical found naturally in the body. Bytouching specialized areas in the body,however, these effects can be greatlyoptimized; some areas are simply morereceptive to touch, such as the hands andfingers, the head and neck area and thesoles of the feet. Moreover, most pressurepoint systems believe that vital nervecenters are positioned along pathways inthe body called “meridians”. By focusingon working along these meridians,practitioners can in effect benefit fromtraveling on pre-existing channels in thebody. Like walking through the woods ona worn path versus forging a new trailthrough the wilderness, travel on existingpassages is obviously much easier andmore effective. The same is true withpathways in the body.

Touch can also carry profound psycho-logical implications as well. Returning tothe example of Russian Systema, practi-tioners of this approach believe that theintent behind a given touch is also extreme-ly important. To understand this ideasimply, consider the idea of a mother’stouch. Few things on this planet are quite

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Styles such as Jujitsu often teach reflexive clinching after receiving a strike.While clinching obviously serves to allow the recipient to regain their balance and

awareness after the shock, smearing the head against your opponent's body canalso serve to intercept the pain signals and help cope with the effects.

“When we look at famous fightersthroughout history, we will generally findan unshakeable confidence in personalability.”

much greater. This simple concept is some-thing deeply understood by masseuses.Any good masseuse realizes that tensionis transferable through touch. If they ap-proach their patient with a lack of awarenessand allow their own tension to infect theirmovement and body, they will in effectspread their tension into their subject. Bycomparison, a masseuse that understandshow to use soft and careful touch, theycan bypass even the most chronic injuryand bring peace and relaxation to theirpatient’s mind and body. Similarly, inSystema, students are taught how theintent of their touch or strikes and the stateof their own body can spread to theiropponent. As Systema Grand Master Mik-hail Ryabko has noted:

“a touch with malice hurts more than apunch with love”.

Changing our perceptions of pain:“Reject your sense of injury and theinjury itself disappears.”

—Marcus Aurelius—In the end, the mechanics of Gate Theoryare easy to understand. In fact, everyonereading this is likely already using it tosome degree as a matter of instinct. Whatis more challenging that understanding theconcept is the change in perception thatis sometimes required in order to imple-ment it. A martial artist must accept thattraining will involve pain. Pain is inevitable.Suffering however is optional—it is a state

of mind. Dr. Patrick Tissington studied therole of fear and pain in the military. Henotes:

“about 1% of the general populationis genuinely fearless. They simply donot experience what we call fear andthat can be measured physiologicallyin terms of their heart rates remainingconstant despite exposure to situationswhich would frighten most otherpeople.”

This bravery he notes is not due to socio-economic factors or genetic predispo-sitions. Rather it hinges on “a belief inone’s own ability…if you look at themen who have won the Victoria Cross[Britain’s highest medal for gallantry]you have introverts and egotists,working class and gentry—all kinds ofpersonalities and background. Theonly thing these men have in commonis unusually high self-belief and faithin their own ability to complete a task..”

When we look at famous fighters through-out history, we will generally find an un-shakeable confidence in personal ability.A champion like Muhammad Ali is apopular example of a fighter who hadheroic encounters with pain. Whether hewas enduring a broken jaw in his fight withKen Norton, surviving the abuse of hisrope-a-dope against George Foreman orbrutally battling against Joe Frazier, Ali was

a clear example of self-confidence. Ashe said:

“To be a great champion, you mustbelieve you are the best.” He quicklyadded: “if you’re not, pretend you are.”In his own words, the only way he could

be “licked” is if he were made into a post-age stamp. Self confidence and faith inyour ability along with a clear perceptionof your own motives and goals are ulti-mately the foundation upon which toolslike Gate Theory are built. This briefdiscussion of Gate Theory has offered youa fresh insight into the workings of pain inyour body. Hopefully, it will also provideyou with a simple tool which you can inte-grate into your personal training to bolsteryour focus, your confidence and to reducethe effects of fear and injury.

Footnotes1Literally meaning “House of Strength”; thetraditional wrestling gyms of Iran.

Kevin Secours, B.Ed. is a 23-year veteran of the martial arts.A senior instructor in Russian

Systema under Master VladimirVasiliev and Grand Master

Mikhail Ryabko, he also holds a3rd degree black belt in ModernKempo Ju-Jitsu, a 1st Degreeblack belt in Akai-ryu Jiu-Jitsuand Full Instructorship in Five

Animal Shaolin Chuanshu,extendable baton, tactical

cuffing and defensive tactics. Acertified educator with the

Quebec Ministry of Education,he is the director of the

Montreal Systema Academy.

For more information about Systemaplease visit:

wwww.RussianMartialArt.com

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http://www.RussianMartialArt.com

house of the pure martial arts

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