Monthly Archives: April 2016

Is Taihojutsu modern Torite?

Following his assignment at Kadena Police Station (December 1931 through August 1933), Nagamine Shōshin was sent to the Tōkyō Metropolitan Police Department, i.e. the national police HQ of Japan. Not much is known about the training he received there over … Continue reading

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Sueyoshi no Kon III – Après moi le déluge !! (Bojutsu Kata Series)

Today I scratched and scraped off a 50 year old paper slip to get closer to a secret… A secret related to what Urasoe, Sueyoshi, Sesoko, Soeishi, and Shiishi no Kon have in common. And what not. Here we go. … Continue reading

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Sueyoshi no Kon II – Taira Shinken’s own description (Bojutsu Kata Series)

I wrote about Sueyoshi no Kon previously. Here I present Taira Shinken’s own description of the kata, in photo and text (my translation). You can also view how it is performed here, while I tried to leave out the typical performing habits … Continue reading

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Abolish the Buddha and Destroy His Statues

It is true: most of the time it is sufficient to consider things based on readily available information and experiences. This is called WYSIATI — What You See Is All There Is. It means, you don’t consider what you don’t know. And indeed, usually … Continue reading

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The Goddess Mazu, Guardians, and a Drawing of Wang Ji, Chief-envoy of the Investiture Mission of 1683

This short article shows how the Chinese guardian deity and patron goddess of seafarers Mazu 媽祖 is related to chief-envoy Wang Ji of 1683, and presents his portray. As had been pointed out, there was a whole “Mazu Culture” which spread from Fujian … Continue reading

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Ōshima Hikki – 005 – The Description of The Ryūkyūan Crew Members (II)

Among the sailors are many islanders from Ryūkyū islands other than Okinawa, as well as carpenters, blacksmiths and others. They serve on the ship as craftsmen as a substitute for tribute payments payable by all the various islands. At the … Continue reading

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Asymptotically towards 100%

As many other people, I also study some Kobudō from Japan as well as from Okinawa. Within this study, I conducted a technical survey of 1700+ individual techniques, which comprise of 100+ different methods of what is called bōjutsu or the “fencing techniques of … Continue reading

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Ōshima Hikki – 005 – The Description of The Ryūkyūan Crew Members (I)

Since the House of Shiohira originally served the Sasu-no-soba 鎖の側 (Department of External Affairs), it was a high-ranking family involved in the liaison management with foreign countries. Therefore, still now the family serves as Zashiki officials. In the country of … Continue reading

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Ōshima Hikki – 004 – The Order of Ryūkyūans Who Drifted Ashore (琉人漂着次第)

Below are given the 52 persons from the country of Ryūkyū who drifted ashore in Ōshima. Given are the duty, the name and rank, and in brackets the origin and the age of the person. Master and servants of Shiohira … Continue reading

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Ōshima Hikki – 003 – About the Tribute Ship (Kaisen 楷船)

The ship is a tribute cargo ship (kaisen 楷船) in the service of the royal government of Ryūkyū. The products loaded are destined to be landed at the Ryūkyū Kariya 琉球假屋 in Satsuma. At the time when the tribute ship goes to … Continue reading

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