Karate Kenkyū Shitsu

I’ve been back since last Wednesday, back from my research trip to Japan.

Before, I went a lot to Japan, but this trip was something special for me. Our main topic this time was Karate research. It took us a lot of preparation before we started our trip – we prepared more than ten interviews, made a copy list for the prefecture library, and so on.

After we arrived in Okinawa, it took us a few days to prepare everything in more detail. With the help of „Skype,“ we fixed lose dates into fixed dates and started our interview series in Okinawa.

We hope to publish mostly each of them in the future.

After I published my first Karate article in „Gekkan Hiden“ magazine, I think it‘s time to announce my 2nd article. It‘s a continuation of the first article, and will describe a commonly unknown karate area in much more detail.

At the same time, I also collected a lot of information for a 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th article. And of course, with the help of my wife – I did a lot of interviews with Karate masters – each of them will deliver a lot of unknown information and they helped me already a lot in my understanding of Karate.

Finally, I hold a printed copy in my hands… Gekkan Hiden magazine did a great job. I really like the editing and the position of the photos.

It’s time to start my second article, which will be a continuation of my first article.

I‘m still working on it to walk minimum 10.000 steps a day !!! On my today morning tour I visited the monument of Funakoshi Gichin sensei.

I‘ve been many times at the old location, but finally I made it to the new location.

Eine Reise nach Okinawa ist für mich auch immer ein Besuch der Familie !!!

After finally publishing my first article (in Japanese) and also publishing my first book (in German), the year 2023 wasn’t so bad. I also luckily passed my next examination in Okinawa Kobudō. I hope that 2024 will be more successful (finger crossed) … up to 4 articles are in preparation, and at least two books about Japanese Martial Arts history in Germany are in the works … Let’s train, study, read and grow.

I have a lot of people to thank. Without a few important people, my article would have never been finished. First and foremost, my thanks go to Sakaguchi Sō’ichirō (1887-1965), without him, the original newspaper article would have never been preserved.

Much more names to follow …

Source: Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum

In written records, there are a few mentions of Kyan Chōtoku demonstrating his Karate in front of audiences. One widely recognized instance was the demonstration during the opening of Nagamine Shōshin Dōjōs in 1942, where Kyan showcased Passai and Bō-Jutsu. More recently, it has become known that during the Okinawa Butokuden opening in 1939, Kyan demonstrated his Chintō Kata.

According to Nakazato Jōen, there was another demonstration where Kyan showcased Chintō and Bō-Jutsu:

The Story of Yomitan Air Base Construction Demonstration

In January 1944, amid World War II, Kyan Chōtoku visited the construction site of Yomitan Air Base, a strategically important base in Japan. Despite being 75 years old, he delivered a memorial demonstration, featuring the Chintō kata and Bō-Jutsu, specifically the „Tokumine no Kon.“ This left a lasting impression and provided courage to laborers from across Okinawa, as recounted in an interview with Nakazato Jōen (1997).

The New Discovery of an unknown newspaper article

During my Okinawa trip last year (2022), I came across a newspaper article from the Taishō era, documenting an unknown demonstration where Kyan Chōtoku exhibited multiple Karate Katas. This article, previously widely unknown, is now fully detailed in a Martial Arts Magazine for the first time.

While there may be more demonstrations by Kyan, unfortunately, many are unknown due to the destruction of written sources during the bombing in World War II. We must recognize that most of these records are lost forever. The Taishō era demonstration, featuring Kyan as a leading participant, is only accessible due to fortunate circumstances, as outlined in the article. With the known demonstrations, we can now compare the various Katas demonstrated by Kyan over a 20-year period. Additionally, the article provides substantial information on the connection between Kyan Chōtoku and the masters from Shuri Sanka. The missing pieces are now available, waiting to be explored.

I aspire to publish this article in English along with other material in the future. However, for now, only the Japanese version is available. The response received so far has been overwhelmingly positive.

Gekkan Hiden, 2024/1, page 48-53.

Shuri Sanka 首里三箇 encompasses the regions of Akata 赤田, Sakiyama 崎山, and Torihori 鳥堀, where, before the war, 64 breweries were bustling with the production of awamori from dawn. The chimneys emitting black smoke testified to the industry’s prosperity, and hanging white clothes outside risked them turning black from soot. During that era, coal served as the primary fuel for manufacturing. The residual coal tailings from the breweries were commonly spread on the roads. Additionally, many residents of Sanka were known for their robust and assertive temperament.

In the past, what we now know as Shuri-te (Shui-dī) was simply called “ Tī,“ developing around Shuri Castle. Interestingly, Tōdī Sakugawa, hailing from Toribori like me, played a significant role in this development. From an Interview with Ishikawa Seitoku 石川精徳 (1925-2013).

Ishikawa Seitoku: Ishikawa Sensei was a student of Shiroma Shinpan 城間眞繁, Chibana Chōshin 知花朝信 and Shimabukuro Tarō 島袋太郎. He was 2013 awarded as a “Intangible Cultural Property in the Field of Karate and Kobudō”. Ishikawa Seitoku sensei was known as one of the Shuri-te masters.

My following article handles a karate demonstration that was held in the Taishō period and included 10 famous masters at the time. The article will be published (14. December 2023) in Japanese, maybe in the near future there will also be an English translation.

https://webhiden.jp/magazine/hiden202401/?fbclid=IwAR0k9SH_Dnr_Soc-kSt9BIJK4eW7Vt90z5lM-jJGSEUquxwOENB9lJqaMZg