Monthly Archives: April 2020

Launch of “Tijikun”

I finally realized an old childhood dream, namely to design my own t-shirts. So I am excited to announce the launch of TIJIKUN. As you know, TIJIKUN has been the original name of karate. Well, it is designed for afficionados … Continue reading

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Inoue Motokatsu (1918-1993)

Inoue Motokatsu was born 1918 in Tôkyô. He was the grandson of the elder Meiji statesman Inoue Kaoru and Inoue Keitarô. He studied a synthesis of Bujutsu under Fujita Seiko, the 14th generation headmaster of Kôga-ryû. After completion of Keiô … Continue reading

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The “tea cloth squeeze”

In bōjutsu, depending on the teacher, various methods of how to hold the bō are taught. In the Taira lineage of Okinawa, students are supposed to basically adhere to a 3/3 division of the bō and keep both hands fixed … Continue reading

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Nagamine Shoshin performed Chatan Yara no Kusanku in 1969

On October 10, 1969, a National Special Invitational Kata Demonstration was presented at the Nippon Budōkan in Tōkyō. There, a number of Okinawan karate masters were invited to present Okinawa karate kata in front of a nationwide audience. The occasion … Continue reading

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Shikiyanaka no Kon (Oki.: Shichanunāka nu Kun)

According to Nakazato Jōen’s tradition, the fifth-generation ancestor from Chinen village Shikiya, Nakazato Hitohisa who had was called “Shikiya no Naka” (yagō=a name to identify individuals otherwise difficult to identify), was widely known as a master of bōjutsu. Even today, … Continue reading

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Chinen Shikiyanaka no Kon (Oki.: Chinin Shichanaka nu Kun)

Chinen Shikiyanaka is remembered as a master of bōjutsu. It is said that he begun to study bōjutsu while serving as a live-in public apprentice of the Soeishi Udun, a clan related to the royal family. It is said that … Continue reading

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