Monthly Archives: April 2015

Example of a Bō-odori from former Satsuma Province

Satsuma bō-odori, or ‘dance of the fighting gudgel‘ from the former Satsuma fief is historically related to Ryūkyū kingdom era bōjutsu. You probably heard that bō-odori in Satsuma had been devised by the Jigen-ryū style of swordmanship to be used as a covert line of defense, yet there were various bō-odori in various regions. Today I’d … Continue reading

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The Department of Justice (Hirajo) of the Ryukyu Royal Government

The general as well as judicial administrations of the Ryūkyū kingdom were conducted on the basis of local autonomy by local government agencies. The central government level only took up responsibility when all else failed. This constitutes the framework for … Continue reading

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Sakugawa no Kon Shō (Bojutsu Kata Series)

Pronounced Sakuga’a nu Kun Sū/Shī in Okinawan dialect. Sakugawa no Kon is said to have been devised and handed down by Sakugawa “Tōdī” Kanga. There are many stories about the person Kanga, that he went to China for study, later became … Continue reading

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Chatan Yara no Kon (Bojutsu Kata Series)

A certain Chatan Yara Pēchin, who is said to have left behind Chatan Yara no Sai, is also said to have left behind the unique bōjutsu kata called Chatan Yara no Kon. Techniques With around ninety individual techniques (ok, this depends … Continue reading

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On standards in English academic writing, which also applies to publishing translated research articles on Karate

In the 19th century, natural sciences as well as large parts of humanities made use of three languages: French, English, and German. In each of these languages a complete scientific vocabulary was formed alongside. Later the Russian language joined, but … Continue reading

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Tokumine no Kon (Bojutsu Kata Series)

According to various Okinawan karate and kobudō sources the following can be said about the bō-kata called Tokumine no Kon. Tokumine no Kon is pronounced Tukunmī nu Kun in Okinawan dialect. The creator of this kata was Tokumine Pēchin Seifu … Continue reading

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On the distinction between Shuri-te and Tomari-te

Translator’s note: The Japanese language version of this article published on the Motobu-ryū website has sparked a lot of interest among the international karate and Ryūkyū bugei community. In addition, there was a request for a translation. For this reason I translated it here with … Continue reading

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My photo of a photo of the original drawing of…

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Practice of Uēku-dī (ウェーク手の稽古)

One of the more famous kata with the uēku is Tsuken Sunakake no Kon (oki.: Chikin Sunakachi nu Kun). As it is generally demonstrated using the uēku (oar) it is also referred to as Chikin Sunakachi nu Uēku-dī (the skills of the oar etc.). … Continue reading

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Shūshi no Kun Shō (Bojutsu Kata Series)

When searching Youtube for “Shushi no Kon Sho”, there are literally hundreds of search results where people perform this kata. You should really try it NOW and watch some of the examples first. It is clear they belong to various schools, … Continue reading

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