In April next year, I am booked to teach a Tō’on-ryū Karate-dō seminar in Hamburg, Germany’s second-largest city.
This seminar has been in preparation since May, shortly after I opened my first dōjō in Drochtersen. It all began when Birger Heime, a Gōjū-ryū karateka (Yuishinkan), asked me whether I would be interested in teaching a seminar in Hamburg next year.
I told him that I first needed to ask for permission, which I did shortly afterwards. Ikeda Sensei, the fourth Sōke of Tō’on-ryū, gave me the green light to teach the seminar, but under the condition that there would be a strict no-recording policy—which I fully agree with.
The main topics of the seminar will be the two kata Sanchin and Sanseirū, both of which are shared by Tō’on-ryū and Gōjū-ryū. The Seisan of Tō’on-ryū does not originate from Higaonna Kanryō Sensei, and for this reason there is less scope for a direct comparison between the versions of the two systems. Although there are similarities, Sanseirū was also specifically requested as one of the main topics of the seminar.
As soon as more information becomes available, Birger and I will share it immediately.
Until then, save the date: April 3, 2027 — Hamburg, Germany.
A German kobudōka asked me a question a few days ago regarding the hojoundō for nunchaku. In doing so, he was trying to answer several questions that had occupied him for quite some time.
Although the nunchaku is one of my favorite weapons in Matayoshi Kobudō, legally practicing with it in Germany is impossible; only substitute training methods are permitted. In Germany, for example, I practice with a thick rope and use it to train the corresponding movements.
My first training session with the nunchaku (using a substitute training method) took place in Belgium. Under Jhonny Bernaschewice sensei, I learned both the hojoundō and the kata. This was around 2009. In the following years, I also trained intensively with the nunchaku under Yogi Josei sensei. After we had worked through the kata for the bō (five kata / later six kata), sai (three kata), and tunkwā (one kata)—yes, Gakiya and Yogi taught only a single tunkwā kata—Yogi would ask me each time which weapon I wanted to continue with next. My answer was always the same: nunchaku. As a result, I also trained intensively with the nunchaku under Yogi. At the time, this training always took place between Yogi’s main training days, Thursday and Saturday.
But back to Jhonny sensei. In addition to training with the various weapons, we had countless conversations in which we talked about Okinawa, the Kōdōkan, and his time under Gakiya. On several occasions, our conversations also turned to how he had first learned nunchaku techniques at the Kōdōkan. Contrary to what one might perhaps assume, his first experience with them was not under Gakiya sensei. Instead, he initially learned the kata under Ogido Hiroko sensei, together with Kobayashi sensei. Some time later, Murayama sensei came to the Kōdōkan and taught the two of them further refinements. It was ultimately Murayama Seitetsu sensei who taught Jhonny the hojoundō for nunchaku.
I recently read on Facebook that Matayoshi sensei taught only eight techniques as hojoundō for nunchaku. I must strongly disagree with this claim. At the Kōdōkan, the nunchaku hojoundō consisted of ten techniques. The question, of course, would be whether Matayoshi sensei actually taught all of these techniques to foreign students as well.
There is even a photograph from 1985 showing Matayoshi Shinpō sensei (1921–1997) in front of the list of hojoundō for nunchaku—approximately twelve years before his death. To claim that two techniques were added only after Matayoshi sensei’s death is therefore incorrect. This error should be corrected accordingly.
And yes: neither Gakiya sensei nor Yogi sensei ever taught the hojoundō for nunchaku. An acknowledged expert in the nunchaku hojoundō, however, is Murayama Seitetsu sensei, a student of Itokazu Seikō sensei who also trained under Matayoshi Shinpō sensei.
From the beginning of the 1980s onward, there were also significant differences between the curriculum of the Kōdōkan and that of the Zen Okinawa Kobudō Renmei.
