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A Brief History of Goju-Ryu and Kodokan
Written by Sensei Fred Lohse (Boston Kodokan)
While there is a dearth of historical material with which to date the beginnings of karate on Okinawa, there are written references to Okinawa
te, ti, tode, and other terms that refer to unarmed martial arts going back at least 300 years, and it can be assumed that some form of martial technique existed in Okinawa prior to that.
These indigenous arts, combined with influences from various other martial traditions, formed the base of what we now call
karate. South East Asian martial traditions, Japanese martial arts (from the
17th century onward), and the most important, Chinese civil combative systems, all contributed to the development of the Okinawan martial arts. The various Chinese martial systems introduced to Okinawa, mostly from Fukien province in Southern China in the late 18th , 19th, and early 20th centuries, formed the basis for much of Okinawa's martial heritage.
However, karate as we now know it is an Okinawan martial art, and has become something quite different from any of these other martial traditions, however much they influenced it.
The style of karate we do in Kodokan is called Goju-Ryu, which means hard-soft style. While the exact details of the origin of this style of martial arts are unknown, or at best a bit hazy, we do know a lot about the more recent development of the style, in the time since it came to Okinawa.
The forerunner of what we now know as Goju-Ryu was first taught in Okinawa by Kanryo Higashionna sensei (1853-1917).
He was born into a relatively poor family, and began learning martial arts as a boy from Aragaki Seisho (1840-1920), who had studied in China, and was very famous in Okinawa. He later traveled to
Fuchow, in Fukien province, China, where he studied Chinese martial arts.
He first stayed in the Kojo dojo (Kojo was an Okinawan martial artist who taught in
Fuchow), and then continued his studies with other teachers, eventually learning some form of Southern Chinese chuan'fa (Japanese:
kenpo, or fist-method), under a teacher known as Ryu Ryu Ko.
Just what style he studied is not precisely known. It was possibly a Crane style, (the Feeding Crane of the Liu family in Taiwan strongly resembles
Goju, and some researchers believe Ryu Ryu Ko taught a Whooping Crane system) though it has also been claimed it was 5 Ancestor Fist (which also bears some resemblance to
Goju-Ryu), Lohan (Monk) Boxing, or Ba'gua or Hsing-i, softer Chinese styles. It is most likely he studied a number of different styles over the time he lived in China and they all influenced his teaching, however his main influence was from Ryu Ryu
Ko.
He eventually returned to Okinawa where he taught what he called Shorei-ryu.
This came to be commonly known as Naha-te (Naha hand), after the area (Naha) he lived in.
At that time karate was known as tode, by place name followed by
"te" as in Naha te, or as
kenpo. His top students in Okinawa were Juhatsu Kyoda and Miyagi
Chojun.
Kyoda sensei was the senior student; he later moved to Beppu, in Oita prefecture, on the island of Kyushu, in Japan.
He continued to teach, and called his style To-on Ryu, To-on being alternate pronunciations of the characters in his teacher's name.
His style is still taught in Beppu, and in other places in Japan, and is similar to
Goju-Ryu.
When Higashionna sensel died, Miyagi Chojun (1888-1953 ) sensei became his successor.
Miyagi sensei had been born into a wealthy family, and started studying martial arts at age 14.
Besides his training under his main teacher Higashionna, he also studied Tiger Claw Boxing under
Todaiki, and White Crane under the Chinese teacher Gokenki, who ran a tea house in Naha, and had a great influence on the development of Okinawan karate.
Miyagi sensei traveled to China twice to study and research martial arts, and trained with many of the prominent Okinawan martial artists of the day.
For a time he was involved in the Tode Kenkyu Kai, a karate research club, with
Choyu Motobu of Shuri-te, Kenwa Mabuni who founded Shito-ryu, Gokenki, and a number of others. He also studied judo while in the army.
Through his research and training, Miyagi sensei continued to develop what he had learned from Higashionna sensei, eventually creating Goju
Ryu.
He added the kata Tensho, which is supposedly based on techniques from the White Crane style.
He also added the kata Geki-sai ichi and Geki-sai ni, (which we call geki-sai
sho).
Miyagi sensei is credited with formally calling the style Goju-Ryu. The story goes that a student of his was giving a demonstration and was asked the name of the style.
At a loss for the answer, he remembered a phrase Miyagi sensei often used from a Chinese book on martial
arts-the way of breathing is in hardness and softness (ho go ju donto)- and so called the style hard-soft style
(Go-Ju).
Miyagi sensei is remembered as one of the foremost Okinawan martial artists of his day.
When Miyagi sensei died, a number of his students continued to teach the style he had developed.
The most prominent were Higa Seiko, Yagi Meitoku, Miyazato Eichi, and Toguchi
Seikichi.
Each of these teachers opened their own dojo. These eventually became the first of the various
kan (house, or organization) of today. All are Goju-Ryu, though there are some differences between them in how the kata and techniques are performed.
Higa Seiko sensei (1898-1966) started studying under Higashionna sensei. He was later Miyagi sensei's student and eventually opened up his own dojo, He was succeeded by his son, Higa Seikichi (19313-1999), who was
Kimo Wall sensei's instructor in Okinawa. Their dojo is called the
Shodokan, and a number of Kodokan students have visited it.
Kodokan
Our school is called Kodokan, which translates as "School of the Old Way", and our
kancho, or president, is
Kimo Wall sensei.
He began studying Goju-Ryu in 1949 as a child in Hawaii. He later studied in Okinawa while he was in the Marine Corps.
On Okinawa, his main karate teachers were Higa Selkichi sensei and Kina Seiko
sensei, another student of Miyagi sensei.
His other main teacher was Matayoshi Shinpo sensei (1925-1998). Matayoshi sensei was primarily a kobudo (weapon art) teacher.
He was taught by his father, Matayoshi Shinko, and also studied with Gokenki, and a number of other martial artists, including Miyagi
sensei. Besides being a master of his father's style of Kobudo and the Kingai
Ryu, a Fukien Crane style his father learned in China, he also studied Gokenki's White Crane system, and other Okinawan martial arts.
Matayoshi sensei's knowledge of the Okinawan martial arts was very deep, and in many ways he was Kimo
sensei's mentor.
Our karate system consists of the 10 classical (koshiki or koryu) kata of
Goju-Ryu: Sanchin, Saifa, Seiunchin, Shisochin, Sepai, Sanseru, Sesan, Kururunfa,
Suparinpe, and Tensho. These are often divided up into closed hand (heishu) kata- Sanchin and
Tensho, which emphasize basic technique, breathing, and posture, and open hand (kaishu)
kata-
the rest.
In addition to the classical Goju-Ryu kata, we study the training kata Gekisai
sho, which was made by Miyagi sensei, and Fukyu, Geki sai dai, Geki ha, Kakuha sho and
dai, and the demonstration kata Hakutsuru (White Crane) which were made by Miyagi's student Toguchi
Seikichi, in the 1950's.
The kata bunkai kumite that we do for these kata (which we refer to as bunkai for short) are similar to those taught by Toguchi sensei, but were developed by Kimo
sensei. He designed them to conform much more closely with the kata, allowing for a more focused study of the techniques in the training
kata.
We also study a number of other forms as compliments to the Goju-Ryu. These are
Sochin, a kata Kimo sensei learned from Kina sensei, Naihanchi, a Shuri-te or Shorin ryu
kata, and Kakuho, a Kingai ryu kata.
This can also be accompanied by the study of Matayoshi style kobudo- Okinawan weapons.
Other Karate Styles
Goju-Ryu is only one of the Okinawan karate styles. The other main styles include:
Uechi ryu. This is a style based on a Tiger style of Chinese chuan'fa, and in many ways resembles
Goju-Ryu.
It also came from Fuchow, and was introduced to Japan by Kanbun Uechi in the 1930s.
It emphasizes sharp, fast movements, uses primarily open hand attacks, and kicks with the toes.
It often emphasizes body conditioning, and its main kata is also Sanchin, though the Uechi Sanchin is performed at the same speed as their other
kata.
Training includes kata, bunkai, and sparring.
Shorin Ryu, Kobayashi Ryu, and Matsubayashi Ryu. There are many versions of these styles, which are quite similar
(Shorin and Kobayashi are different pronunciations of the same characters).
Both developed out of what was called Shuri-te, after the area in Okinawa it came from.
They are also based on Chinese styles, supposedly mostly Shaolin temple boxing (Shorin is the Japanese pronunciation of
Shaolin).
They use a more linear form of movement and technique than Goju-Ryu, do not use Sanchin or emphasize gripping the ground, and chamber the punch at the waist.
Training includes kata, bunkai, and sparring.
Ryuei-ryu. A little known style of Okinawan karate. It resembles Goju-Ryu a great deal, and its founder, Nakaima Norisato (1850-1927) supposedly learned from the same Ryu Ryu Ko that taught Higashionna sensei in
Fuchow.
There are a number of other schools of Okinawan karate, including Okinawa Kempo, Isshin
ryu, Gohakukal, Shito ryu, and Shorinji ryu.
Japanese Karate
Karate was first brought to Japan in the 1920s by a number of teachers, including Miyagi sensei.
The most prominent of these was Funakoshi Ginchin, a Shorin ryu teach who changed the style greatly when he began teaching it in Japan.
There are many Japanese styles of karate. The most popular is Shotokan, which was Funakoshi
sensei's school. Others include Goju ryu, Wado ryu, Kyokushinkai, and Shito
ryu, to name just few.
In general the Japanese styles are stiffer, more angular, and less natural than the Okinawan predecessors, and they often (particularly in the case of Japanese
Goju) do not resemble the root Okinawan style as much as they resemble each other.
It was due to Japanese influences that, on its inclusion in the Butokukai (Japanes martial arts governing body) as a "real" martial art, the characters used to write the name were changed from
kara-te, meaning Tang, or Chinese, hand, recognizing the debt to Chinese martial arts in its development, to
kara-te, meaning empty hand, as it is currently written.
Uniforms and the belt system we use were also introduced from Japanese sources at about this time.
Ranks
Ranking in karate is based on the kyu-dan system, which was designed by the founder of Judo, Kano
Jigoro, around 1868.
It consists of 6 kyu ranks, or beginner's ranks, 6 kyu through 1 kyu. These are symbolized by colored belts:
Beginner white belt
(3) san kyu
brown belt
(6) rokkyu green tip
(2) ni kyu
black stripe
(5) go kyu green belt
(1) i kyu
black tip
(4) yon kyu brown tip
(1) sho-dan and up black belt
These are followed by the 10 dan ranks. Sho-dan, 1st degree black belt (which translates as "little
dan"), is earned when one has learned the basics.
It means that the student has learned enough that they are ready to begin really studying karate, and is by no means a symbol of mastery.
All dan ranks wear a black belt.
The Ha Po (8 sayings )
These lines are taken from the Bubishi, a collection of writings on Chinese
martial arts that was very popular with a number of Okinawan teachers, including
Miyagi sensei. They are said to convey the essence of practicing karate.
In the Bubishi they are written as an 8 line poem on martial training.
The mind and spirit are like heaven and earth.
The blood moves through the veins like the rhythm of the sun and moon.
All breathing is both hard and soft.
One must adapt to all changes and situations.
Technique comes in the absence of conscious thought or emotion.
Advance or withdraw the center the proper distance, connect and disconnect with
the opponent.
The eyes watch in four directions.
The ears listen in eight directions.
Together with this poem are written a few other pertinent sayings.
Know your opponent's hand like your own.
Know your opponent's foot like your own.
Replace fear and doubt with knowledge and understanding.
A Brief History of Matayoshi Kobudo, and Kodokan
The Okinawan kobudo are, essentially, an eclectic mix of armed civil fighting techniques that compliment the Okinawan karate systems.
They cover a large selection of weapons, and are somewhat notable in that they neglect the knife, sword, and spear, which are the primary weapons in the rest of Asia.
They are also unusual in that they are often taught separately from unarmed styles.
(Most systems in China, Japan, and the rest of Asia teach weapon and unarmed techniques as part of a continuum of technical knowledge using the same principals of combat.)
While there is little historical evidence to work with to date the origins of Okinawan weapon arts, there are references to staff techniques and weapon dances going back as far as the 1500's.
Many sources credit the weapon bans of king Sho Shin O (1507) with the impetus for the development of the current kobudo arsenal.
It is said that due to this ban on the owning of swords and spears, the Okinawans developed local tools to use as weapons.
Later, from 1609 onward, it is said these skills were further developed and used to combat the Satsuma invaders.
But while the current weapons used do resemble local agricultural implements, it is unlikely they originated from farm tools, or from peasants.
The martial artists the weapon forms can be traced back to were not farmers, they were primarily of the shizoku or
pechin, (lower or middle nobility) class, international merchants, and government personnel.
The weapon techniques were, more likely, developed from mixed Japanese, South East Asian, and (primarily) Chinese and local sources, with techniques being adapted to local conditions and implements.
Similar weapon techniques, including the use of the bo, sai, tonfa, kama, guwa (hoe), and eku (oar) are common in Indonesia and China, and are not primarily peasant arts in those countries.
The Satsuma Jigen Ryu also has a record of teaching specially developed techniques for the
eku, kama, bo, and guwa to locals for militia purposes during their occupation of Okinawa.
So while the concept of secretly meeting to learn how to fight off the Japanese occupying forces is romantic, there is no record of armed insurrection in Okinawa during the Satsuma occupation.
On the other hand, there is record of local martial artists studying in China and Japan, and passing this knowledge, as well as local traditions, on to their students.
For the most part, these weapon techniques have been passed down piecemeal, with one or two, or sometimes many more, forms being passed from teacher to student over generations; often a teacher would specialize in one particular weapon and teach it alone to his students.
However, in the early part of this century, a few teachers began collecting and organizing these forms.
Among the schools that have collected and kept this knowledge is the Matayoshi
ryu.
This is the Kodokan style of kobudo.
The style has its origins with Matayoshi Shinko (1888-1947). As a young man he studied martial arts from his father, and studied
bo, eku, kama, and sai with Agena Chokubo (also known as Gushicha Teragua).
He also studied tonfa and nunchaku with a teacher named Irei. Later in life he took two trips to China.
On the first, he traveled through Manchuria and it is said that in Saharin, Manchuria, he learned ba-jitsu (horse riding techniques), shuriken throwing, and nagenawa-jitsu (rope throwing) from the Manchurian nomads (possibly mounted bandits).
On the second trip he went to Shanghai and studied tinbei (sword and shield), suruchin (weighted rope or chain), sansetsukon
(three section staff), and nunti (a hooked polearm), along with Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture, from Kinkoroushi
(Kingai).
He also learned what was to become the family style of Chinese boxing, the Kingai
ryu, from Kingai.
On his way south, in Fujian province, he then studied Chinese Kempo before returning to Okinawa.
He was very well known on Okinawa, taking part in a number of well documented demonstrations with other famous Okinawan martial artists, like Funakoshi Ginchin and Miyagi
Chojun.
He passed away in 1947, and his style was eventually formalized by his son.
Matayoshi Shinpo (1925-1997) studied with his father when he was young. He was heavily involved in the martial arts, and in addition to kobudo also studied Shorin
ryu, his father's Kingai Ryu, what was to become Goju Ryu under Miyagi Chojun, and the white crane system of
Gokenki, a Chinese tea merchant living in Naha.
He moved to Kawasaki city in 1945, and for many years taught there. He returned to Okinawa in 1960, and began teaching his father's art, first at the Higa dojo, but in other places as well.
A few of his father's other students, among them Mitsuo Kakazu, were still active at that time, and Matayoshi sensei also practiced with them.
After teaching out of various karate teachers' dojos for a while, he felt that while karate was becoming more popular, kobudo was not, and was in danger of dying out on the island.
To help forestall such an event, he decided to establish his own kobudo school, which he called
"Kodokan," taking one kanji, "Ko" (meaning light), from the
"ko" in his fathers' name.
After establishing the Kodokan dojo, and organizing the material he had learned more carefully, he contacted other kobudo instructors and students and together they organized the Ryukyu Kobudo Association in the late 60's.
Their purpose was to keep the traditions and spirit that had been passed down alive, and to make Kobudo more popular.
In May of 1972, this association became the All Okinawa Kobudo Federation (Zen Okinawa Kobudo
Renmei).
Matayoshi sensei continued to teach kobudo, and practice and occasionally teach Kingai Ryu and Gokenki's Hakutsuru
kempo, throughout his life.
He is remembered as one of the foremost Okinawan martial artists of his day.
He taught many of the premier kobudo instructors of today, and his system is alive and well in Okinawa.
The main dojo is currently headed by Gakiya Yoshiaki sensei, who assumed the position of chief instructor on Matayoshi
sensei's death in 1997. He is assisted by a number of Matayoshi sensei's other senior students.
The system itself includes a vast number of weapons and kata. The kata taught come from various sources, both in Okinawa and China.
A number of the kata were also created by Matayoshi Shinko, from techniques he learned from his teachers, and were formalized by his son; the paired forms are also mostly the creation of the Matayoshi family.
Together they form a system that is as in-depth for each weapon as a karate system is for unarmed combat.
Kodokan Kobudo
Kimo sensei began studying Kobudo in the 60's, and was eventually ranked nanadan
(7th dan) by Matayoshi sensei. In Kodokan, we study kata for the bo, sai,
tonfa, nunchiyaku, kama, eku, guwa, tinpe, sansetsukon, nunti-bo, and chizikunbo (small sticks held in the palm), and techniques for the utsu-bo (a large flail), tekko (knuckle dusters), and
suruchin, though Kimo
sensei has been known to periodically add to this list from what he learned from Matayoshi sensei.
There are 2 training kata for the bo, papahaku sho and dai, created by Kimo sensei, and 5 classical
kata; Choun no kon, Sakugawa no kon, Tsuken no kon, Suishi no kon, and Shishi no
kon.
There is one kata for each of the other weapons, named after the weapon, except the eku
kata, which is called Tsuken Akachu no eku.
We study formal paired sets for bo vs. bo, bo vs. sai, bo vs. tonfa, bo vs. eku, and bo vs.
sansetsukon, and techniques for bo vs. the other weapons, as well as some techniques pitting these weapons against each other.
Kobudo training is much like karate training, in that it is made up of basics,
kata, and applications of the kata, or bunkai.
In studying the kobudo, the same level of commitment is required; some teachers say more, as each weapon has aspects of range, timing, and application that are specific to it, and must be learned.
Other Okinawan Kobudo Styles
Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinkokai
This style was formalized by Taira Shinken, in the 50's. Taira sensei also felt that the weapon arts of Okinawa should be preserved, and in trying to do so, collected a vast number of kata from various teachers across Okinawa.
His style covers most of the same weapons as the Matayoshi ryu, though the kata are different, and the Tinbe uses a short spear instead of a machete.
This style is the other main kobudo style on Okinawa.
Yamani Ryu
This is primarily a bojutsu system, though it also includes some sai kata.
It is said to be related to the Jigen Ryu, the fencing system of the Satsuma clan, which formerly ruled Okinawa, as well as to the techniques of Sakugawa
Tode, one of the most famous early karate exponents.
It is considered one of the oldest bo styles on Okinawa, and while currently small, is gaining popularity.
There are also a number of other smaller kobudo styles on Okinawa, including Uhuchiku Kobudo and Honshin
Ryu.
Some karate teachers have also mastered a large body of kobudo knowledge and continue to pass it on within their
dojos, and many karate teachers teach a few weapon katas that are either a part of a larger kobudo system, have been handed down outside any formal system, or were created by those teachers.
Japanese Kobudo
There are a number of schools that teach Okinawan kobudo in Japan, particularly those stemming from Inoue and Sakiyama sensei, students of Taira
Shinken, but in general the level of instruction and in-depth knowledge on the Japanese mainland is limited.
While there are some excellent teachers, Okinawa is still the center for kobudo.
Japanese koryu, the traditional Japanese martial arts, do not resemble the Okinawan very much at all.
They were primarily military, not civil, arts, and their main weapons are swords, spears, and naginata (long bladed
polearms).
They do not use solo kata- all their kata are performed with two people, much as our
bunkai- and unarmed arts in general are taught to the student of the school after some understanding of the use of weapons is reached.
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