Taira Shinken

Taira Shinken

Taira Shinken was born in 1897 on Kume Island in Okinawa. As a young man, Taira Sensei worked in the Sulfur mines in Minamijima. He suffered a badly broken leg when he was trapped in a mine shaft collapse. His leg was permanently damaged and pained him the rest of his life. In 1922 he was introduced to Funakoshi Ginchin, a fellow Okinawan and Karate instructor. In 1929, Taira Sensei began his studies of Ryukyu Kobudo under Yabiku Moden Sensei. In 1932 Taira Sensei began to teach Karatedo and Kobudo. In 1933, Taira Sensei was introduced by Funakoshi Sensei to Mabuni Kenwa and became one of his students. In 1955 he established the Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinkokai, to promote the Ancient Okinawan Martial Arts as passed down to him by so many great masters. Taira Shinken Sensei is credited with bringing together many of the Okinawan's oldest and most prominent weapons traditions into one comprehensive system of weaponry training. Taira Shinken died in 1970.

Choki Motobu

Choki Motobu

Choki Motobu was born in Shuri, the capital of Okinawa, in 1871. He was born into a high ranking family at a time when education and privilege were reserved for the first born son. As a third son, he was rather neglected and many of Okinawa's Karate Sensei's refused to teach him because of his reputation as a street fighter. Nevertheless he was able to get instruction from several leading experts. Motobu studied karate with the famous Ankoh Itosu (1830-1915), the leading master of Shuri-te. He later studied with Tomari-te's Kosaku Matsumora (1829-1898). Motobu went to Japan in 1921, where Yasuhiro Konishi became his chief instructor. Motobu returned to Okinawa in 1940. As Legend States: One day while in Kyoto he witnessed a contest where people were asked to match skills with a Russian boxer. For two rounds Motobu avoided the boxer¹s attacks. In the third round he had enough. He used a practiced technique and promptly knocked the boxer out. The crowd was quite taken aback. They had never seen this kind of fighting. He was hailed as the greatest fighter in Japan. Many sensei advised their students to go and train with Motobu and learn his kumite techniques ( for obvious reasons). Motobu usually only taught naihanchi kata to his students, his own version with many grappling and throwing techniques. However, it was his kumite that had the greatest impact on karate. Oddly enough, there is a story of Choki challenged his brother Choyu to a fight. It is said that Choyu threw Choki around like a rag doll. After the experience, Choki is said to have humbled himself and adopted more of his family¹s Ti forms. Filled with a new outlook on his life, Master Motobu returned to Okinawa around 1936 and began training with Master Kentsu Yabu the only man to have ever defeated Master Motobu. Motobu died in Okinawa in 1944 at the age of 73.

Soke Chojan Miyagi - Goju Ryu

Soke Chojan Miyagi - Goju Ryu

Chojun Miyagi was born in Naha, the son of a wealthy businessman on April 25, 1888. Miyagi began his study in karate around the age of ten. One of his early instructors was Master Kanryo Higashionna. Under the tutelage of Master Kanryo Higashionna, After the death of Master Kanryo Higashionna, Miyagi travelled to the Fukien Province in China as his teacher had done before him. In China he studied the Shaolin and Pa Kua forms of Chinese boxing. From these systems, the hard/external form of Shaolin, the the soft circular/internal form of Pa Kua, and his native Naha-Te a new system emerged. It was not until 1929 that Chojun Miyagi named the system Goju-ryu, meaning hard-soft style. After some years in China, Chojun Miyagi returned to Naha where he opened a dojo. He developed Sanchin Kata- the hard aspect of Goju, and created (or refined) Seiuchin. Chojun Miyagi was known for his 'awesome' karate ability and his dedication to non-violence. It is said that he is one of the founders of modern karate and established many of the modern training methods we follow today. Master Miyagi died on Okinawa on October 8, 1953.

Chotoku Kyan - Shorin Ryu

Chotoku Kyan - Shorin Ryu

Master Chotoku Kyan was born in 1870, to a very wealthy family in Shuri, Okinawa. At an early age he was taught karate from his father Chofu Kyan and his grandfather. Being born into a rich family he was able to devote all of his time studying the martial arts and was sent to the best Okinawan Karate teachers available. Sokon Matsumura of Shuri was at that time the Karate Teacher of the King of Okinawa, he taught Master Kyan Seisan and Gojushiho. Kyan also learned from Matsumora (Shorin-Ryu teacher of Tomari) the kata "Chinto". Another teacher was Pechin Maeda, Kyan at length under Maeda Sensei and learned the Kata Wansu. He learned the Kata, "Passai", under Pechin Oyadomari Kokan of Tomari. The next teacher Kyan studied was Yara of Chatan. Chatan Yara Sensei taught Kyan the longest and most beautiful Kata Kusanku. His last teacher was Tokumine, Sensei Kyan traveled to the island of Yaeyama and studied the Bo and the Bo-Kata "Tokumine no Kon". In 1945 at the age of 75 grandmaster Kyan died due to the trama and devistation of WWII.

Master O'Sensei Tatsuo Shimabuku

Master O'Sensei Tatsuo Shimabuku

Master O'Sensei Tatsuo Shimabuku Founder of Isshinryu Karate (1908-1975) His Story! Born in 1906, Tatsuo Shimabuku began training for Karate at the age of eight. His original name was Shinkichi, later changed to Tatsuo, meaning ³Dragon Man² His first instructor was his uncle, Kamasu Chan, who taught Shuri-te Karate. Later, Shimabuku studied Kobayashi-Ryu under Master Chotoku Kyan and was one of Kyan's leading disciples. From Kyan Sensei Shimabuku Sensei learned: Seisan Kata, Naihanchi Kata, Wanshu Kata, Chinto Kata and Kusanku Kata plus a Bo (Staff) Kata called Tokumeni no Kun no Dai. Kyan He also studied Goju-Ryu under Master Chojun Miyagi and became very adept at Goju-Ryu. Miyagi Sensei taught him Sanchin Kata and Seiunchin Kata. Returning to Kobayashi-Ryu, Shimabuku studied under Master Choki Motobu, who at this time was a legend on the island of Okinawa. Motobu Sensei taught Shimabukuro Fighting techniques and a special version of Naihanchi Kata. He began to study the art of the Bo and Sai under the Okinawan kobudo master Shinken Taira.

Response to Question regarding Snapping Isshinryu Punch - Ed McGrath

Response to Question regarding Snapping Isshinryu Punch

This was posted on a Yahoo Group in response to a question regarding the snapping Isshinryu Punch. Master Ralph Passero recommends all read this as it provides great insight not only into the Ishsinryu vertical punch, but also into Isshinryu and into the great understanding and in-depth knowledge of Grand Master McGrath the head of AOKA Inc. Isshinryu Karate. From: Ed McGrath, Ju-Dan I have no idea why Mr X is throwing a different punch, perhaps Kichiro S. is changing his fathers Isshinryu. That is not something that you should emulate. I was in the first Isshinryu dojo in the United States, under Sensei Nagle, who among about three hundred people in a ballroom in Tennessee in 1994, with the leaders and students of about eight of the largest Associations in the United States decided that Sensei Nagle should be the first American Grand Master, after Lou Lizzotte intoduced the idea and Master Harold Long gave an impassioned speech on behalf of Master Nagle and he was unanimously appointed Grand Master of Isshinryu. On his death bed, he told his family and several high ranking Isshinryu Masters that he wanted me, as his oldest student and closest friend to assume his rank. I have been studying, fighting and teaching Isshinryu for 48 years and I think that I can shed some light on your questions regarding Mr X and the snap punch. Soke Tatsuo Shimabuku created Isshinryu many years after he began his study or Okinawa Te, their native fighting art. He had later become a Master in both Okinawan Goju and Shorin-ryu teaching these arts for many years. As you may know, these styles used exaggerated stances and a cork screw punch which was thrown from a position just under the arm-pit. Eventually, although he was just a simple farmer and jack of all trades, to make a living, he was actually an astute observer of the human body and it's physiology. He began to realize that the styles that were available, at that time, were not logical in regard to the manner in which the human body worked. His keen mind told him that the other styles were awkward and difficult to defend, because the stances were too wide. It was then he began to create Isshinryu, a true fighting art and an excellent method for self defense. He adhered to the natural movements that God had instilled in our bodies. The stances in the katas were made relaxed and shorter, more like a real person would stand, when totally relaxed. The cork-screw punch was dropped, for the straight fist punch since the movement was the same as reaching out from your side to shake hands with someone. Our stances allow us to easily move in any direction required, in an instant. The idea of Isshinryu is not to confront the attacker, but to avoid his attack, hitting him from the side as he rushes past you. The vertical punch that we use is snapped and among the first thing I teach a new student is not to fully extend either the arm while throwing a punch, or the leg, while throwing a kick. Shimabuku Soke's reason for that has multiple reasons. The first is the fact that if you fully extend your punch or kick, you will damage your joint in the elbow or the knee. Secondly, we chamber our kick then snap the kick out with the muscles relaxed. As it hits the opponent, the ball of the foot goes into the target about one inch and immediately snaps back into the chambered position, so that if you wish to, you can throw a second kick with the same foot in a second, or place it back on the ground back into a relaxed stance. Just at the moment that the kick or the punch strikes the target you immediately snap back, in order to leave the focus of Chi of the strike at the point of contact. Think about throwing a rock into the air and having it fall into a pond. It splashes where it hit the water, but ripples surround that spot and move outward. That is why we throw our punch totally relaxed until it hits the target and snap back faster, leaving that Chi to reverberate through an area bigger than the target causing internal damage. When I fought I weighed 153 lbs. fighting Marines who weighed 190 to over 200 lbs. and I won because I listened to Sensei Nagle and tried to emulate everything he did. When you are teaching Roko-kyus or new students, you make them snap their punches all the way back to the hip, just above the obi, in order to get them used to snapping punches. In 1957 Sensei Nagle made us throw our punches at a concrete wall, on his continuous count, pulling the punch just as the skin on our two foremost knuckles barely touched the wall. This was to gain total control of our strikes. If we misjudged we would drive our fist into a concrete wall. That really hurt so we learned to control the strikes quickly. Now I tell my students to tack ribbons one inch wide from the ceiling to about three inches from the ground. Throw your snap punch at the ribbons, until you can get extremely close to the ribbon without touching it, by snapping back, after focusing. Without touching the ribbon, you should be able to make the ribbon recoil from the punch. In the films by Shimabuku, he does snap back after focusing, but as a Master, he barely pulls back, it is hard to see, but he does snap back and he never fully extends his arm and you will see that on his film. That is because the Okinawans were taught to get in close since they are not tall, which means their arms are shorter than ours. Also, not pulling back more than an inch to two inches allows you to strike the stomach from a Sei-Uchin stance and immediately throw the same hand in a backfist to the face, since when you strike the stomach, that hand is closest to the opponent. If Mr. X is fully extending his arm and no longer snapping back, he is doing a great harm to his students, since they will eventually get arthritis badly and be incapacitated. Another reason for snapping our punches and kicks is that, it makes it impossible for the opponent to grab your strike and pull you off balance. When I do seminars, I pick out someone who is fast and tell them to hold their hands out to catch or stop my punch and tell them I will barely touch their gi by their stomach. I am 70 years old and I have still never been caught or stopped. Please go to my web site at http://www.aokaincmcgrath.com/ and you can look up my fighting principles and also see a film of me with Frank Klos a Championship Fighter and Seichi-Dan. I hope that I have helped you. I am also active in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program at Camp Quantico, Va. and teach active duty Marines at the First Marine District at Garden City, Long Island, New York. I teach them Hand-to Hand Combat (H2H). I have taught there for over five years, as well as teaching at my HQ dojo in Patchogue, NY. Ed McGrath, Ju-Dan Grand Master, The art of Isshinryu http://www.aokaincmcgrath.com/