Monthly Archives: July 2020

Spiking the jujube date

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Andreas Quast

One of the very few technical terms of old-style karate still currently handed down in Okinawa is kōsā. The original designation koza changed over time and was mostly forgotten or simply replaced by modern Japanese terminology, namely by the terms … Continue reading →

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1850 embassy to Edo

Posted on July 9, 2020 by Andreas Quast

The photo taken recently (2019) by my friend Akuseru Hainrihi shows the “Ryū-jin Gyōretsu no Zu” 琉人行列之図, or “Illustration of the Procession of Ryūkyūans (to Edo).” These processions were called EDO-NOBORI. This EDO-NOBORI took place in 1850. In that year, prince Tamagawa … Continue reading →

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Approaching a core issue of Okinawa Kobudo

Posted on July 4, 2020 by Andreas Quast

In the bōjutsu tradition of Taira Shinken, we find a rarely seen pole weapon: the Kushaku-bō 九尺棒 (ca. 273 cm long staff). Early sources do not mention it but say that  “The Okinawan bō is either Rokushaku (ca. 182 cm) … Continue reading →

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