Okinawa – Searching for the truth (part 4)

Over the course of my stay I would have ample opportunity to question Hokama sensei about his beliefs and theories surrounding the practice and history of the art of Goju Ryu. There were many occasions where sensei would appear whilst I was training to invite me up to his home to have lunch together. It was during these times that sensei was most open to questions, and where I was able to further my understanding of my art and learn of many new avenues open to be explored in my future study.I was lucky enough that my dates coincided with the annual Naha Tug-o-war, which I attended in the company of Hokama Sensei. Arriving some 5 hours too early due to a mistake regarding the start times, we visited the Chinese gardens in Kume where sensei received a warm welcome by the staff. Hokama Sensei explained to me that he is not just a karate historian, but studies all areas of Okinawan history and culture, and for this reason he is well known by the staff of all sites of historical importance in Okinawa. We walked around the beautiful gardens, and due to the surroundings providing the ideal opportunity, I was able to discuss in depth the theories relating to Chinese mythology and how they relate to the art of Goju Ryu. It appeared to surprise sensei that I expressed an interest in this matter, and we spoke at length regarding the relationship between animals, numerology, compass directions, and different theories relating to the energies of nature. Many of those questions that had been on my mind for many years were now being answered and I was receiving confirmation of some of my theories, and further directions of study on the areas that needed a bit more work. Ultimately such theories relate little to the act of self defence, however it is these areas of study that continue to hold my interest and what fascinate me about this art. There is just so much going on in kata, bubbling away under the surface that for the most part goes unnoticed. Hokama Sensei also loves to ask ‘why?’ and with the intense searching of a scientist looking for some hidden formula, Hokama Sensei questions literally everything about his art. He told me that karate is his life and that from the moment he wakes in the morning, to going to bed at night, all he thinks is karate. Being around somebody this dedicated is an inspiration and I hope that in another 40 years I will continue to share this same enthusiasm for the art.

After this we crossed the street into Matsuyama Park, where you will find the monuments dedicated to the 36 families of Kumemura, as well as the monument dedicated to the achievements of Higaonna Kanryo Sensei and Miyagi Chojun Sensei. I had never really been sure why this park had been chosen as a place for this monument. Hokama Sensei explained that in the 1800’s Matsuyama Park was heavily frequented by the pioneers of the system commonly referred to as Nahate. Masters such as the famous Maya Aragaki, Kojo, Nagahama, Maesato, Higa and many more would regularly meet in this park to exchange ideas with the various Chinese martial artists of the area. Chinese Quanfa was rigorously pursued in this park, and each person would have a kata or weapon that would be their speciality. Contrary to the commonly portrayed era of secrecy surrounding the practice of toudi in the 1800’s, Hokama Sensei states that it was common knowledge that training would occur here, and that students would approach various teachers asking to learn their specialities. He believed this was the golden era of Nahate, and that Matsuyama Park can be considered the birthplace of Goju Ryu. It was in this very park that the young Higaonna Kanryo would receive his induction to the fighting disciplines, and where his curiosity about learning in China was further fuelled by tales of the skilled martial artists of Fuzhou. For the young Higaonna, Fuzhou was a place he just HAD to go, for this was the mecca of the martial arts.

 

Hokama Sensei walked me over to an old tree stump which he said had been the scene of a famous picture of Miyagi Chojun, Kyoda Juhatsu, Shinzato Ji’nan, and Higa Seko. Treading the ground surrounding this old stump, I allowed my mind to drift to the fact that I was indeed standing in the footsteps of the masters that had gone before me.

As we wondered back toward Kumoji the Tsunahiki was now gearing up with the crowds growing heavier by the second, and the accompanying drums and firecrackers becoming ever louder. I watched the hatagashira (flag ceremony) and thought about the famous masters who had previously taken part in this same event. These thoughts were further fuelled by the various demonstrations of karate and bojutsu from both sides. The whole event was quite spectacular and I was very pleased of the opportunity to see the tradition for myself and be a part of it. Following the main event Hokama Sensei rushed us over to meet the head referee, who was dressed up in the same outfit I had seen worn by Miyagi Chojun and Kyoda Juhatsu. Sensei and I had our photographs taken with this man and exchanged pleasantries. Hokama Sensei was chuffed to bits with this and said that it was a great honour and very lucky for us. It wasn’t until the final day of my trip that he casually mentioned that this man was the grandson of the famous Kojo Taite!

 

Okinawa – searching for the truth (part 3)

The following morning I arrived early to move into the small room above the dojo. Over the duration of my stay I would train in the mornings and evenings, with additional training in the afternoons when we were not out exploring the various historical sites of the island. Group training occurs at the dojo on Tuesday and Saturday evenings, and there is a real nice family atmosphere shared between the dojo members. Hokama Sensei regularly has to force people to leave so that he can go to bed, as many stay behind well after the lesson has finished to talk and catch up on each others lives. Many times I would be training alone when Hokama Sensei would wonder downstairs from his home above the dojo to offer advice and experience. We would regularly take a break during training and sit at the aforementioned table to drink tea. Hokama Sensei makes his own blend of tea using a herbal recipe from the bubishi which he claims helps relieve aches, pains and bruising. During these breaks in training I would ask many questions relating to the history and theory of Goju Ryu, and Hokama Sensei would also offer his thoughts on life in general and how the practice of karatedo can help to enhance the quality of ones existence. It was in these situations that I was able to find answers to those questions that had continued to plague my mind since my last visit. Hokama Sensei is very forthcoming with information and believes that by opening his heart to those who come to him to learn, he can assist the work of Miyagi Chojun and Higaonna Kanryo by helping practitioners to elevate their understanding of the art, and secure the future of this wonderful tradition. The influence of sport upon karate is clear for all to see all over the world, and Okinawa is no stranger to this problem. Whilst sport karate definitely has its place, it is important not to confuse this with martial art. The problem is that there seems to be little distinction between the practice of sports karate and the study of budo, and this has led to the current state where ideas are being lost to the sands of time. The kata offer a glimpse into the past and consist of tried and tested ideas and theories that are to be studied and further developed. With the advent of sports karate many movements lacking in their aesthetic quality are simply changed or discarded. This has led to the declining use of techniques such as kicking using the toes, or striking with a one-knuckle fist. The techniques as well as the target areas of attack reflect a lack of martial understanding in modern sports karate. There is a definite danger that such techniques may become lost to time, and highly functional techniques become replaced with movements lacking in martial intent. Hokama Sensei is on a mission to resolve this problem by opening his dojo doors to anybody who wishes to learn about the truth of their art, regardless of what style the practitioner happens to practice. There are only two conditions with Hokama Sensei; good manners and a willingness to search for yourself. Hokama Sensei is not one to give away information for free and it is up to the student to ask the right questions and show a level of commitment to finding answers for themselves. His whole approach to teaching echoes the Confucian teaching idea of ‘I will show you one corner of the room, but it is up to you to come back and show me the other three’.

Okinawa – Searching for the truth (part 2)

It is very hard to describe that feeling you get when you arrive in Okinawa. Contrary to the misguided impressions that I’d had as a teenager where I pictured Okinawa as the sleepy island that time forgot as seen in the Karate Kid part II; Naha is a vibrant, colourful, exciting and incredibly busy city. As you are whisked along the street by taxi with the neon lights displaying a combination of kanji, hiragana and katakana; you realise immediately how far away you are from your comfortable and familiar surroundings. It is around this time that a combination of excitement, and panic begins to manifest itself in your thoughts. The taxi driver dropped me outside the dojo of Hokama Sensei and wished me luck. It was about 6:30pm and I could see through the windows of the dojo that a children’s class was in progress. I slid open the door to the dojo and saw Hokama Sensei who immediately came over and greeted me like an old friend. The class was paused momentarily and every one of the children in attendance came over to shake my hand and say hello. Following this I was sat down at a low table on the floor of the dojo where sensei began to make tea. I would become very familiar, and even quite fond of this table over the next two weeks, for it was here that we spent so much time, and where sensei opened his heart most often to his thoughts and opinions on karate do. Over tea we spoke of my plans regarding my trip, my training history, and my life in general. Sensei thought that it would be more beneficial to my trip if I stayed at the dojo, and arrangements were made for me to stay starting the following day. At this point I was not aware of just how much of an important decision this was to be. Hokama Sensei was concerned that I would be too tired after my flight to train, however, I assured him that my time on Okinawa was limited and that I wanted to make the most of every opportunity to learn from him. With a slight grin on his face that suggested I was about to be tested, sensei asked me to get changed. As I emerged from the changing rooms I saw that members of the seniors class had begun to arrive and were warming up. Like boxers sharing the same dressing room before a fight there was a strange mix of courtesy, curiosity, and weariness shared between those present toward their new English visitor. As the class began we lined up in seiza and I was called to the front to introduce myself. I tried my best to do this in Japanese, and managed to raise a few laughs by my mispronunciation of some words completely changing the meaning of my statements to something quite comical. For example when I announced my job, I mistakenly told everybody that I was a homeless ticket collector! Still it helped to lighten the mood, and following this we headed straight into the warm up. The warm up at Hokama Sensei’s dojo lasts for about forty minutes and consists of a mixture of light stretching, strength training, and body conditioning. Everyone was eager to see how the foreign visitor would fare, and so I gave my all in an attempt to keep up and represent my teacher well. I was pleased to see that my level of fitness and conditioning was of an acceptable level and that I made it through without incident. Following this we practiced sanchin kata with our partners performing shime to check our performance. Again this was another test of spirit, and the intensity was gradually stepped up to see the level that I was at. Hokama Sensei was particularly attentive to my performance of sanchin, and this led to a lengthy discussion between sensei and his senior students. A couple of suggestions were made about how I could perform better, and then the process was repeated again. After sanchin training we practiced various escapes from different kinds of holds. It was here that I first became acquainted with Hokama Sensei’s vast knowledge of how best to cause a whole world of pain in an opponent! I was poked, prodded, squeezed, hit, punched and gouged for what seemed an eternity, and everybody was keen to try their technique upon a new opponent. Although extremely painful for me, I began to feel a bit more confident about the prospect of training at this dojo. You could almost feel the heat from the practitioners brains as they thought through their application and searched for ways to make it more effective, as well as ways to deal with the endless variations that can occur from a single technique. The training was conducted in a serious atmosphere, but occasionally this intensity would be relieved by the ridiculousness of my situation. Everybody, including me, had a really good time beating me up. It’s strange how the action of causing intense pain to one another can build rapports that transcend the need for verbal conversation. By the end of the training session I had endeared myself to my fellow practitioners and began to build friendships that would grow over the next couple of weeks.

Searching for the truth – part one

It was with mixed feelings that I made my journey back to Okinawa in the October of 2008. On the one hand I was excited to be returning to the birthplace of karate do, and eager to conduct further research into the roots of the art which I love so much, but on the other hand, I couldn’t seem to shake the feeling of disappointment that I had felt upon leaving Okinawa last time.

It was during my last visit that I made the discovery that Okinawa no longer owned karate and that the answers to my questions relating to the art of Goju Ryu probably could no longer be found on the island. The kind of questions that I was asking were not ones easily answered, and rather than admitting their lack of knowledge in certain areas, most of the well meaning sensei and seniors would try to satisfy my curiosity with either weak guesses made up on the spot, or at times, downright lies. My questions were not of a technical nature, and after being told time and time again to either kick higher, punch faster, or sit lower; I wondered whether I had really travelled half way around the world to be told things that were actually fairly unimportant in the grand scheme of things? The performance of kata varied greatly from person to person, which is fine in itself, however there needs to be a reason, and for most part, this reason was one of an aesthetical nature.

The one all-encompassing question that repeats over and over again in my head is ‘why’? It is this infuriating question that holds my interest and motivates me to keep searching, however it was this one question that it seemed everybody had stopped asking themselves.

Upon leaving Okinawa in 2003 I truly believed that I had missed the boat, and that the answers to many of my questions may have been lost to time with the modern trend of standardisation and taking pride in wearing blazers and badges. It seemed people had lost the will to search for themselves, and the masses were being led by people at the helm who were not completely sure in which direction they were supposed to be heading.

In spite of this, there were still a number of obligations I had yet to uphold, and this was my main reason for returning. I still felt strongly about my earlier observations on the current state of karate in Okinawa, and yet I would never be able to completely say goodbye to the island until I had paid my respects, and said thank you to Miyagi Chojun Sensei and Higaonna Kanryo Sensei.

It is strange how your life can be influenced so greatly by people you have never even met. I guess this is what some people find with religion. Despite not being a religious person myself, from a very young age my life has been governed by the practice of karatedo, and the stamp of budo bears its mark upon every aspect of my life. The lessons in life delivered through the vehicle of the Goju Ryu are what have shaped my character and mentality, hopefully for the better, and are what continue to assist me as I mature and progress through the course of life. I’m sure many have found similar lessons through the pursuit of running a marathon or climbing a mountain; however, the path I had chosen to walk was that of Goju Ryu, and I still owed a huge debt of gratitude to those masters who had worked so hard to pass on this tradition. Whilst I would never be able to fully repay this debt, the very least I could do would be to bow before them and express my gratitude.

Despite my doubts concerning training in Okinawa, there was still a small part of me that wanted to believe there were still those who were actively pursuing the mysteries of karatedo, and still looking for answers. This small part of me led to Patrick McCarthy Sensei kindly writing me a letter of introduction to Hokama Tetsuhiro Sensei, with a recommendation that I look to him for assistance on this matter.

And so it was with a definite plan of action, and a letter of introduction that I arrived in Naha once again, and made my way to the dojo of Hokama Tetsuhiro Sensei in Nishihara.

 

Combat Magazine Article

Some of you in the UK may have seen my article in this months Combat Magazine relating to my trip to Okinawa in 2008.  Whilst I am grateful for the fact that they chose to include my work in the magazine, I’m left a little disappointed about the editing which happened without any consultation with me.  Certain ommissions and changed words have taken away some of the feel of the article, and to me it now reads a bit like a postcard of ‘what I did on me holidays’, rather than the introspective account it was intended to be.  Also some of the words that the editor chose to alter left the article reading a little arrogant, which is definately not something which I intended.

With this in mind I have decided to publish the original article in full on this blog.  It’s quite lengthy so I’ll split it into a few sections over the next week or so.

I hope you will enjoy the original article more.

Best regards,

Garry

Reflections on 2008

Happy new year to you all! 

So 2008 has been and gone in the blink of an eye.  What happened there, the year seemed to fly past!

So, as the majority of the world will have by now already binned their new years resolutions, what will this year bring for you?  As students of the budo we should be well accustomed to self reflection, for it is this action that enables us to grow and learn about ourselves and our shortcomings.  Before setting new goals for the year ahead, perhaps it is also important to reflect upon our efforts over the past year.  Did we achieve what we set out to achieve, or did we fall short?  What were the reasons for our failures and successes, and what lessons are we able to take on board regarding this to enable us to become better practitioners for the future?

I am not particularly zen minded, and believe that it is important to have a goal to work toward.  I know that there are many practitioners in the world who might believe that the very act of training is all that is needed, but from my own personal experience I find it beneficial to work toward something.  For practitioners in the beginning years of their training this may be something as simple as attaining their next grade, or adding more reps to an exercise they find difficult.  For more experienced practitioners the goals may not be so easily accomplished and in many cases may require a lifetime of effort.  This is the beauty of budo in that it means many different things to different people.  This kind of variation in budo is something that makes me very happy when I see people working hard to achieve something that means a great deal to them.  Witnessing a person actually achieving what they had set out to is something that makes me even happier.  In spite of this, the real lessons of budo are learnt through our various failures, and how we deal with these disappointments.  To pick yourself up off of the ground each time you fall requires a great deal of effort and a strong character, and it is very inspiring to see these qualities in someone.

Looking back on my own 2008 I can recall many occasions where I felt quite despondent.  The beginning of the year looked bleak with regards to training, and I felt as though I were the only practitioner who still believed in karatedo.  Its funny how your ego and self importance can pull the blinkers over your eyes, preventing you from seeing all that is going on around you. 

When I now think of 2008 I have many fond memories such as my sensei’s suprise 50th birthday party and the look of shock on his face when I managed to show up dispite being stranded at the airport due to forgetting my drivers licence!  Hosting my sensei at my home for the two gasshuku we held, and the many chats about Goju Ryu I was lucky enough to have with him.  Staying with Hokama Sensei in Okinawa and the many wonderful talks we had over morning ‘bubishi tea’ before training.  Paying my respects at the tombs of Miyagi Chojun Sensei and Higaonna Kanryo Sensei, and the achievement of a lifetime goal. And finally, seeing the various triumphs of my students which far outweigh the feelings I ever had for any of my own small successes by a million miles.

2009 has got a lot to live up to!

Thank you all again for your continued support of this blog, and I wish you the best of luck in achieving your goals for the coming year.

Gambatte!