Kategorie: Allgemein

Miyagi Hisateru’s reflections on Yabu Kentsū reveal a deep reverence for his sensei, who was not only a prominent figure in Okinawan karate but also a respected military leader. Miyagi’s accounts of their time together at the Okinawa Normal School and his unexpected reunion with Yabu in Hawaii in 1927 highlight the lasting impact Yabu had on both his martial arts students and his military peers.

As I wrote before, my wife and I are working on an article series about Okinawan Karate. Actually, we are working on two series, but that is something for the future. For now, let’s focus on the first planned series.

In my first article, I introduced a “rare” obituary written by Hanashiro Chōmo for his friend Yabu Kentsū. In my second article, I delve deeply into the Kata Jion, which is, for me, a very important Kata for understanding the Karate of Yabu Kentsū more deeply. We could even call it the “key” Kata. However, according to Yabu’s teaching method, it should probably be placed between Naihanchi and Gojūshiho.

Can anyone guess what the third article will cover?

I just want to say two things about this book. Firstly, the book is well-researched to some extent.

However, I need to clarify a few things about Yabu’s Gojūshiho:

• Firstly, the Gojūshiho of Nakazato Shūgorō sensei is not from Yabu Kentsū sensei. Nakazato himself confirmed in a Japanese interview that all his kata came from Chibana Chōshin sensei, except for Gojūshiho, which comes from the Hanashiro Chōmo lineage.

• Secondly, the only student of Chibana sensei who received “Yabu no Gojūshiho” is Miyahira Katsuya, who got the kata via Tokuda Anbun 徳田安文 (1886-1945). Tokuda himself was a student of Yabu Kentsū at the Shihan Gakkō (mentioned by Yamauchi & Nakayoshi).

It also needs to be mentioned that the life dates given by Feldmann for Tokuda Anbun sensei are not correct. (see Page 325)

I have decided to thoroughly review Karate and Kobudō books. The criteria I discussed can be found in the last post or reiterated here:

– translations,
– source material,
– text editing,
– presence of an index,
– and image quality.

My main goal is to improve the quality of published Karate works, not to disparage the authors. Therefore, I ask for forgiveness for the criticism in advance. A mistake is a mistake, and only by acknowledging mistakes can we learn from them. I explicitly request that you point out any future mistakes to me as well – I will be grateful, and at our next meeting, the first beer is on me.

If I receive a free copy from the author, I will, of course, disclose that. However, this will not result in any embellishment of the review.

If the author wishes for a preliminary review, they are welcome to contact me.

I will gradually start reviewing books about Okinawa Karate & Kobudō. However, I will begin with books that were published after January 1, 2023 – there may be exceptions.

The books will be examined neutrally and critically. This means: translations, source material, text editing, presence of an index, and image quality.

However, the main focus of our/my work will be on the Japanese article series, as well as the German interview series (which will soon begin with the Shimabukuro Zenpo interview).

I believe it is no secret that we are working on a Tō‘on-ryū article. Recently, a question arose about when the article will be published.

The recently released article about Yabu Kentsū is the path to the house, the upcoming articles will be the different house connections and the foundation, and the 6th article will then be the Tō‘on-ryū article (the HIGHLIGHT – aka the House).

Various things need to be initiated before we can write in more detail about Kyoda Jūhatsu sensei.

Today, I had a brief discussion with my wife about future projects. As already mentioned, the first series of articles will contain 9 articles, and after that, our first article (Gekkan Hiden 2024/1) will continue. Roughly estimated, we could end up with 18 (!) articles.

But what comes after that??? Lack of ideas?

Of course not – I have many more thoughts that just need to be put into text form. Our articles will accompany you for many years to come.

Today, we were delighted to receive two author copies of the current issue of Gekkan Hiden (Monthly Secret). The article is „perfect“; it appeared exactly as we had envisioned. Our goal was to present Hanashiro Chōmo’s words in their unaltered form. Therefore, we decided not to change any of the characters Hanashiro used or to use a modern variant.

This proved to be quite challenging, but with the help of the publisher and several emails (from Germany to Japan / from Japan to Germany), we managed it – and the quality is breathtaking. Unfortunately, a few errors slipped into the German version.

Article #1 and Article #2

The response to the article has also been fantastic; we were honored for the quality of the article by the highest circles – Motobu Naoki sensei kindly wrote a few nice lines about it.

As previously mentioned, the third and fourth articles have already been submitted to the publisher, and I will announce the details in due course. Additionally, my wife is currently working on transcribing our interview with Uema Yasuhiro sensei (January 18, 2024). Both father (Uema Yasuhiro sensei) and son (Uema Takeshi sensei) were very gracious interview partners and warmly welcomed us with open arms. The interview will hopefully be published later this year and will serve as a source for at least „three“ articles.

I have now also created a Patreon account. For the time being, there will be no monthly membership fee. I will gradually upload articles, some of which will be free, while others will cost money. The money will, of course, be directly reinvested into further research projects.

https://www.patreon.com/karatekenkyushitsu

In the last few days, two new pieces of information about new books have come to light. Firstly, after three years of intensive work, T. Feldmann has completed his book on Yabu Kentsū and announced that it will be published this summer. Secondly, Katherine Loukopoulos has also announced that she has finished her book. To my knowledge, her book is an autobiography. Loukopoulos sensei played a crucial role in introducing Matsubayashi-ryū to Germany.

I am very excited about both books and will definitely buy them, as both topics greatly interest me. I am very curious to see if Feldmann’s research will answer my personal questions.

• When exactly was Yabu sensei born?
• From when to when did he train under Matsumura Sōkon?
• Which kata did Yabu sensei learn/teach?
• What was the actual reason for his long stay in the USA?
• What did Yabu sensei do during his time in the USA?
• Did all four sons learn karate from their father?
• What is in Yabu Kentsū’s military record?
• What remains of his karate overview? Which styles teach kata that trace back to Yabu sensei, and what makes these kata so special?
• The author also had contact with two grandsons of Yabu Kentsū sensei – Yabu Kenjiō (second son of Yabu’s second son, Ken) and Norman Yabe (second son of Yabu’s fourth son, Kenneth „Kenshirō“). What could the two grandsons or their children tell Feldmann about their grandfather?

Feldmann has already proven himself with his Itosu Ankō book. This time, too, he will not disappoint any readers, and my questions will surely be answered 100% in the book.

I wrote to Loukopoulos sensei personally some time ago, and I would like to renew my statement here: „If she were a man, her role in Okinawa Karate/Ryūkyū Kobudō would be much more recognized.“ But the world is as it is. However, for me, she is one of the greatest foreign karateka to have lived in Okinawa. She trained, sweated, fought, won medals, and took extensive notes.

Karate research remains exciting!!!