The passing of Miyagi An’ichi sensei

Garry Lever with Miyagi An'ichi sensei

I just heard today of the sad news regarding the passing of An’ichi Miyagi sensei on Monday 27th April 2009. 

With the passing of each of these great karateka, we lose an important link to a time that has long since passed.  I can’t help but to think about all the questions I would have loved to have asked Miyagi sensei about his time training with Chojun sensei.

I remember in 2003 watching with amazement as Miyagi An’ichi sensei practiced kakie against two opponents simultaneously, apparently oblivous to his advanced age!  I found this inspirational to say the least, and that moment remains one of my fondest memories of the short amount of time I have spent practising karatedo. 

My very deepest condolences go out to the Miyagi family, Higaonna Morio sensei, and the extended family of IOGKF karateka around the world.

Rest in peace sensei.

New book by Hokama Tetsuhiro sensei

Classical Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-Jutsu Volume 1 by Hokama Tetsuhiro sensei, has been painstakingly translated into English by Mr Charles (Joe) Swift and has now been released by Bushido Press.

I have been eagerly awaiting this publication for some time, and since my copy arrived early this week, I have read it a number of times.

Hokama sensei goes into great detail in areas which to my knowledge have not been written about in depth before by karate researchers.  As a result of this, the book is of great value to more advanced practitioners looking to research their art more deeply, as well as beginners who will also be able to gain from this book through the many photographs demonstrating the various techniques, kata, and Hokama sensei’s interpretation of various applications.

Of particular interest to me were the chapters on Sanchin, Tensho, and how karate can benefit the overall health and character of the practitioner.  I was also very excited to see Hokama sensei discussing the relationship between the foot reflex zones and the movements of karate.  This is of partcular importance with regards to junbi undo as discussed previously, and opens up many new areas of research.  In addition to this, the historical photographs from Hokama sensei’s personal collection are a wonderful addition, and would have been enough to make me puchase this publication alone. 

The contents of Volume 1 are as follows;

Authors Foreword

Other Forewords

Capsule History of Goju-Ryu Karate-Do

The Eight Precepts of Kenpo

The Lineage and Training Curriculum of Kenshi-Kai Goju-Ryu

Foot Reflex Zones and Martial Arts Training

Vital Points of the Human Body

Technical Glossary of Goju-Ryu Fundamentals

The Kata of Goju Ryu; About the enbusen, Sanchin, Tensho

Traditional Goju-Ryu Training Equipment

The Heart of Okinawan Karate

From the Authors Photo Album

About the Author

About the Translator

Volume 1 makes up part of a scheduled 3 part series of books covering the entire kata syllabus of Goju-Ryu, with additional bunkai and technical details from Hokama sensei.

Hokama sensei discussed with me how important completing this task was to him.  He has a sincere wish to share his insight into karate-do with the world, and I am very happy for him that this latest project is now well underway.  I am now eagerly awaiting volume 2!

The publication can be ordered from www.bushidopress.com

Bubishi self defence techniques

Here is a short video showing my basic interpretation of the various self defence diagrams contained within the bubishi.

The various illustrations shown are taken from Mabuni Kenwa’s Seipai no kenkyu publication, which featured a copy of the bubishi.

These applications are merely my own theories, and should not be taken in any way as being the originally intended applications for these techniques, as these are regretfully forever lost to time.  The video was just an idea to try to bring the diagrams to life, and see how they might relate to the kata and techniques of Goju Ryu. 

Often we are only presented with a brief snapshot of a space in time, be it photographic or an artists interpretation as in the bubishi.  I often wonder when looking at such photographs, what happened before, and what happened after the shot was taken?  Wishing in some way that the photograph could come to life.  In this sense, all we have are our imaginations which are of course governed by our own particular understanding of the techniques being shown.

With this in mind, I hope you might enjoy this video for what its worth.

Junbi Undo – The toes

In the practice of junbi undo we always begin at the extremities of the body, the points furthest away from the brain.

With regards to the feet, it is believed that there is a direct link between the internal and sensory organs of the body and the soles of the feet. This is the reason why so much importance is still placed upon training in barefoot as we find these points on the foot are massaged throughout the various steps, twists and turns found in kata.

Unfortunately for us in the modern society, the majority of our day is spent with our feet cramped up inside shoes, restricting the movement of the toes greatly. This is why we have lost so much dexterity in the toes over the course of evolution. Compared with the fingers which are in constant use throughout the day, the toes now have little function other than assisting with the stability of the foot. When we are barefoot however, the toes engage in a much more active role, particularly in Sanchin where we try to spread as much space between each individual toe as possible in order to create a wider surface area in the foot to assist with building a stable structure. For a good example of this I would recommend you to watch Higaonna Morio sensei who has an uncanny amount of control over the movement of his toes.

The toes, and the big toe in particular can also be used to press and gouge into painful nerve points found in between the bones of the opponents foot as they separate toward the toes. This requires a degree of strength in the toes to be able to gouge with enough power, and this can be developed by regularly practicing the toe raises and presses found in junbi undo.

In addition to this, in days past, the toes were regularly used as a striking tool by folding the second toe over the top of the big toe. Hokama Tetsuhiro sensei still regularly uses this method and conditions his toes throughout the day by walking on tip toes, as well as striking a metal jerry can filled with concrete using the tips of his toes. The amount of power he is able to place into these strikes is quite amazing!

Realising the importance of the toes and soles of the feet in relation to karate, Hokama sensei can be regularly seen performing the various junbi undo exercises related to these parts throughout his everyday activities. Whilst eating he constantly moves his toes about. Whilst watching TV, he places his feet inside a shallow tray filled with gravel which he uses to massage the points on the bottom of the feet. He also told me that for 40 years he tried to walk with his heels raised off of the ground at all times in order to strengthen the toes.

I wonder whether Miyagi Chojun sensei also had this same thing in mind in this photograph from the karate kenkyukai dojo?

 

Look how far forward Miyagi sensei is leaning, his weight is directly over his toes. Possibly he is just preparing to move forward, however, I can’t help but wonder whether standing like this was a habit of his enabling him to continue training whilst standing still by strengthening his toes?

When performing the toe raises and presses you should concentrate upon pinning the big toe firmly to the ground as you raise and spread the remaining toes as far apart as possible.  Following this, the opposite is true as the remaining toes maintain their position on the ground whilst the big toe is raised and moved across and away from the other toes.  All the while we are endeavouring to get as much space between the toes as possible whilst maintaining a firm hold on the ground, anchoring our heiko dachi into the ground.

This same feeling should be further developed using the nigiri game whilst stepping forward and backward. With each step, spread the toes and grip the ground firmly as in junbi undo, creating a root for your sanchin dachi.

Junbi Undo

Of late I often find myself surprised by how little emphasis the practise of junbi undo is given in many Goju Ryu dojo.  Some dojo I have visited view it as nothing more than a warm up, whereas others have dropped the practise altogether, substituting it for light stretching, skipping or shadow boxing, claiming that the junbi undo exercises developed by Miyagi Chojun sensei are outdated and no longer relevant in today’s scientific age.

The problem I suspect lies in peoples understanding of what junbi undo actually is.  People can be easily forgiven for having the opinion that junbi undo is a warm up, after all it is the first thing we practise during a typical lesson, and it does indeed warm up the body; gently raising the heart rate, working up a sweat, and loosening joints,muscles and tendons.  However, I believe that to place junbi undo into a box labelled ‘warm up’ does the practise a massive disservice.

It may help to take a look at what the phrase junbi undo actually means.

Junbi – Ready, prepare

Undo – Movement, exercise

It is apparent from the above translation that junbi undo can be considered a set of movements to prepare the body.  In fact, the word junbi is sometimes used as slang as a way of saying ‘I’m ready’. 

But ready for what?  Ready to train?  Yes certainly, but I believe Miyagi sensei had something else in mind when putting these exercises together, and to limit our perception of junbi undo as being merely a warm-up would be a great waste of Miyagi sensei’s research. 

It is my opinion that by practising junbi undo we are preparing our body for the movements of kata, trying always to develop the correct ‘feel’ for techniques.  Which muscles are used on certain movements, how does our center of balance shift around our stance, which parts of the body should be relaxed, which should be firm, which muscles initiate a movement, which muscles conclude a movement, etc.  All in addition to gradually building up flexibility and mobility in the joints and muscles, combining breath with movement as we perform the techniques.

Miyazato Eiichi sensei said that you could see a big difference between the karate of people who practised junbi undo regularly, as opposed to those who didn’t.  (note – please refer to the DVD interview with Miyazato Sensei available from www.okinawadirect.comto hear Miyazato sensei’s comments about junbi undo)

I find it bizarre that many practitioners devote so much time to inventing all manner of weird and wonderful bunkai, most of which they would never be able to apply in a million years, yet the practise of junbi undo, which would actually benefit their karatedo greatly and assist them in learning how to apply the kata is treated with contempt and ignored!?

Every movement performed during junbi undo relates to technique and movement found in the haishu kata of Goju Ryu.  By regularly performing the techniques of junbi undo, we are conditioning the body to help make the movements natural and instinctive.  Miyagi sensei appears to have been very scientific in his approach to karatedo, and he was able to put in place, for maybe the first time in karate’s history, a set syllabus to guide a student toward developing the correct feeling for kata, and the ability to absorb it into their everyday actions.  The junbi undo, hojo undo, kihon kata, kakie and sandan gi are all there purposely to enable you to develop this understanding of the advanced kata. 

In the next series of posts we will be taking a closer look at some of the exercises found in junbi undo and looking at how they relate to kata.  Hopefully this might add some extra importance to its correct and regular practise.

Memories of Okinawa 2008

A small collection of photographs to go along with my ‘Okinawa – searching for the truth’ series of articles. 

Many of the sites I mention in the articles can be seen in this clip including Miyagi Chojun Sensei’s tomb, Higaonna Kanryo Sensei’s tomb, Matsuyama park and nahate monument, Bushi Matsumura tomb, Itosu Anko sensei’s tomb and monument, Furuherin cave, Tomari training ground, Tenpi shrine where the bubishi was housed, Shuri castle and Nakagusuku.  Also various photographs from training at the Hokama dojo.

One job at a time

I have a friend who is very enthusiastic about DIY.  He is forever making changes to his home, much to the despair of his family as he will often begin many different tasks at once; knocking down walls in different rooms, plastering walls, removing the tiles in a bathroom etc.  His home appears to be in constant disarray and he never seems to get any one task completely finished.  His poor old wife is forever stubbing her toes on piles of rubble, and his kids appear to always have blocked noses from all the dust!

His wife tells him ‘why don’t you just do one job at a time, and finish it before moving onto the next’?

I happen to agree, but he never listens!

Anyway, how does this relate to karatedo?  Much like my friends house, my karatedo is in a constant state of disarray.  I have so many weak areas in my practise that its hard to know where to begin with regards to fixing it!  Time is a very valuable thing, and there is only so much can be crammed into the space of 24 hours.  The key thing, I believe, is to devote yourself fully to one task at a time. 

Once one area is corrected, absorbed into the subconscious and developed so that it feels natural, it can be forgotten about and we can move onto the next weak area as the previous problem no longer exists.  By taking on too many jobs at the same time, we never really get around to fixing any of them, leaving mess and ugly half attempts in our wake.  Our mind will never be able to settle as will be forever in a state of thinking about what the body is supposed to be doing (or not!).

This is also important to bear in mind when teaching karatedo.  The ego is a strange thing that creeps up very sneakily upon you.  It is easy to fall into the trap of showing off to your students by imparting too much information for them to ever have a  hope of retaining.  In this regard we might do well to consider Miyazato Eiichi sensei’s story about his chickens. 

One step at a time, one problem at a time, this is the path of karatedo.