Occurence and year of the term “Tegumi” in Google Books

I conducted a short query about the occurrence and year of the term tegumi by using Google Books. It will not show all occurrences but shows the general trend. The results show that the term “tegumi” appeared on the karate stage in 1998, in the English translation of Nagamine Shoshin’s book “Tales of Okinawa’s Great Masters.” Afterwards it appears rarely until there since 2009 it occurs more frequently. In other words, the topic of tegumi is getting more and more in the focus of interest.

  • 1998, Spring: McCarthy, Patrick: Tegumi. Part 1. In: Bugeisha: Traditional Martial Artist. Spring 1998, Issue #5. Pp. 36-40.
  • 1998. Nagamine Shoshin: Tales of Okinawa’s Great Masters. Pp. 136-141: “In the history of civil fighting traditions here in Okinawa we refer to such grappling concepts as tegumi. There is every reason to believe that tegumi, after being enhanced by techniques of striking and kicking, also served as the …”
  • 1999. McCarthy, Patrick and ‎Yuriko: Ancient Okinawan Martial Arts Volume 2: Koryu Uchinadi. “Culminated by his lengthy analysis of the Bubishi, the hallmark of Mabuni’s Shito-ryu was his attention to kata application: the striking of anatomically vulnerable points (kyusho-jutsu); throws (nagewaza); the use of joint-locks, come-along techniques, and techniques of dislocation (kansetsu-waza), ground work (ne-waza); countering (gyaku waza); attacking the respiratory system (shime-waza) and grappling (Tegumi).”
  • 2001. Black Belt Magazine. Vol. 39, No. 3, Mar 2001. P. 140: Video Advertisement: “The 9 Throws of Gichin Funakoshi. … Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Japanese Karate, and his senior student Shigeru Egami, both advocated throwing in karate. In fact, it was Funakoshi, when first settling in Japan, who taught Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo, throws that Funakoshi had learned in Okinawan Karate and Tegumi. In Funakoshi’ s Karate-do Kyohan, he outlines nine throws of the many done in kata.”
  • 2006. Sakihara Mitsugu: Okinawan-English Wordbook: A Short Lexicon of the Okinawan Language …. 2006. P. 176: “ti-gužmi, n. [tegumi] Arrangement; preparation”
  • 2006. Seiler, Kevin L., and ‎Donald J. Seller: Karate-do. Traditional Training for All Styles. 2006. Page 12: “Traditional Karate-do is a complete fighting art combining ancient Chinese forms with early Okinawan traditions of atemi waza (focused striking techniques), kyusho-jutsu (pressure point applications), tuite (grasping and manipulation of bones and joints), and tegumi, an ancient form of Okinawan grappling sometimes referred to as Okinawan sumo wrestling.”
  • 2009. Lowry, Dave: The Karate Way: Discovering the Spirit of Practice. 2009. p. 8: “[extensive historical investigations] seem to indictate that grappling methods, called tegumi in some places in the island chain and mutou in others, were popular indigenous methods of combat.” p. 183: “tegumi: A form of grappling indigenous to Okinawa”
  • 2009. Seiler, Kevin, and ‎Donald Seller: Karate-do: Traditional Training for All Styles, 2Ed. 2009. Page 17: “Traditional Karate-do is a complete fighting art combining ancient Chinese forms with early Okinawan traditions of atemi waza (focused striking techniques), kyusho-jutsu (pressure point applications), tuite (grasping and manipulation of bones and joints), and tegumi, an ancient form of Okinawan grappling sometimes referred to as Okinawan sumo wrestling.”
  • 2010. Green, Thomas A., and ‎Joseph R. Svinth: Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation. 2010. p. 206: “It has been suggested that the early Ryukyuan fighting was actually composed of five distinct styles: di, the original civil combative discipline of Okinawa; martial arts from Fujian, in Southern China; torite, a system of seizing the body to inflict various physical responses; tegumi, derived from Chinese grappling; and buki’gwi, the use of weapons (McCarthy 1996).”
  • 2010. Kogel, Helmut: The Secret Karate Techniques – Kata Bunkai. 2010. Photo captioned, “Evan Pantazi demonstrating a Kyusho Technique in floor combat, Grappling (Tegumi Waza).”
  • 2010. O’Brien, Andrew and ‎Emma: The Little Bubishi: A History of Karate for Children. 2010. Page 78: “They had been engaged in a game of ‘Tegumi’ (Okinawan wrestling), which had been disturbed by the commotion coming from the field. Curiosity getting the better of them, they now stood on top of the wall, jumping up and down and waving their arms like a flock of frantic frogs, screaming for Itosu to run faster.” Page 102: “Funakoshi and young Azato would spent hours at each other’s homes tudying their schoolwork and playing their favorite game, Tegumi, with other friends under the watchful eye of Azato and his close friend Anko Itosu.”” Page 103: “One evening whilst watching the boys at their usual rough-and-tumble game of Tegumi, he ordered them to stop and come and sit with him for a while. ‘Boys,’ Master Azato announced, …”
  • 2013. O’Neill, Simon John: The Taegeuk Cipher: The Patterns of Kukki Taekwondo as a …. 2013. “Over the years, Okinawan grappling methods called Tegumi or Mutou were combined with the Bujutsu of the occupying Japanese warriors and the various forms of Quan Fa brought to the island by Chinese colonists and visitors, or by Okinawans returning from China.”
  • 2014. Ashrafian, Hutan: Warrior Origins: The Historical and Legendary Links between … . 2014. “Some masters classify Ti as an indigenous grappling art that would approximate to a mixture of Aikido and Jujutsu; the ostensibly native Okinawan grappling art is also often referenced as Tuite or Tegumi.”
  • 2015. McCarthy, Patrick: Bible of Karate. Bubishi. 2015. p. 153: “Modern Japanese karate-do has popularized other terms to describe specific components of bunkai in recent times: torite (tuidi in Okinawan Hogan), to seize with one’s hands; kyusho-jutsu, vital point striking; tegumi, grappling hands; kansetsu waza, joint locks and dislocations; shime waza, chokes and strangulations; and atemi waza, general striking techniques.”
  • 2015. Miketta, Heero, and ‎Cornelia Heinz, ‎Sascha Wagener: Missing Link Martial Arts – Curriculum. 2015. “Master level degrees are granted in four fields of knowledge: Kata/Form, Tegumi/Fighting, Teaching, Philosophy/Energy/Health. One Okuden master level in each of these areas can be achieved.”
  • 2016. DeMarco, Michael et al.: Okinawan Martial Traditions: Te, Tode, Karate, Karatedo. “Dave Lowry has speculated that the [alleged] contest between Motobu and Yabu was not in karate, but in tegumi, or Ryukyuan sumo (1985: 13). That sounds plausible, especially since Yabu went out of his way to organize tegumi matches during the Okinawan celebrations held near Fresno in July 1921 and August 1922.[6] The History of Okinawans (1988: 339) reports that: ‘Sergeant Kentsu Yabe was a great fan of sumo. In Okinawa, he had been so enthusiastic that he got involved in every match that came up. His talking of sumo fired up all the younger men, and they decided to hold a big match. Considering the absence of entertainment in the life of the issei immigrant, those who participated in the sumo returned home pleased an happy.’” [6] In tegumi, officials restarted bouts whenever one of the players was thrown to his stomach or knees. Also, judges only counted falls to the back. A typical outdoor tournament started about 10:30 a.m. and continued until dark. To give everyone a better chance of winning, American competitors were ssometimes divided by age and weight. If so, the divisions were usually 150 pounds and over, 130-149 pounds, and 129 pounds and under. Hawaiian blue laws, by the way, required players to wear a pair of shorts under their wrestling belts.     
  • 2016. McCarthy, Patrick: Bubishi: The Classic Manual of Combat. 2016. P. 38: “Nagamine Shoshin’s Biographies of Karate & Tegumi Masters.” p. 253: “Modern Japanese karate-do has popularized other terms to describe specific components of bunkai in recent times: torite (tuidi in Okinawan Hogan), to seize with one’s hands; kyusho-jutsu, vital point striking; tegumi, grappling hands; kansetsu waza, joint locks and dislocations; shime waza, chokes and strangulations; and atemi waza, general striking techniques.”
  • 2017. DeMarco, Michael, et al.: Okinawan Martial Traditions: Te, Tode, Karate, Karatedo, 2017. Photo series, titled “Basic Tegumi (Grappling) Kumite.” Text 1a) The attacker and defender are in traditional grappling stances. 1b) The defender throws a right slap to the left side of the attacker’s neck. 1c) The defender follows through with his right hand and sweeps the attacker’s front leg.”
  • 2017. Newhouse, Adam: Black Belts Only: The Invisible But Lethal Power of Karate. “When he was growing up, Master Funakoshi spent hours playing tegumi – a form of Okinawan wrestling of unknown origin – with other children. In fact, some people perceived a connection between tegumi and Karate. The very word tegumi is a reverse of kumite, deriving from te, meaning hand, and kumu, meaning joining, linking, crossing or grappling. … Could it be that those playful games of Okinawan children were just ‘warming-up’ exercises for the more adult exercises of no-holds-barred Karate?”
  • 2017. Thrash, Maggie: Strange Truth. 2017. Page 100: “It [Aikidō] was a Japanese martial art unlike karate or tegumi, where the winner of a fight was determined by which opponent could force the other into submission.” Page 316: “Except now he needed Winn to trust that he was man enough to take care of his woman. ‘I have a brown belt,’ he said, which wasn’t a lie, but of course a brown belt in aikido didn’t mean the same thing as a brown belt in karate or tegumi.”
  • 2018. Antony, Vinicio: Jutsu: the hidden art in karate. “This splendid art evolved through centuries of reciprocal contact and exchange between many other fighting styles, but those that were amalgamated in Okinawa Te, i.e., Chinese Kempo, Muay Boran, Tegumi and Ju Jutsu.”
  • 2018. Hopkins, Giles: The Kata and Bunkai of Goju-Ryu Karate: The Essence of the Heishu and Kaishu Kata. Tegumi is only used in footnotes leading to online articles by Dan Smith,
  • 2018. Jurgensen, Gert: Karate Grappling. 2018. “(Tegumi) Karate Grappling”
  • 2019. DeMarco, Michael: Grappling and Throwing From the Near and Far East. “In Abundant Peace (1987: 67), Steven describes the grueling conditioning Ueshiba did with his sumo training. In Okinawa, karate master and pioneer Gichin Funakoshi in his youth engaged in sumo-like wrestling called tegumi…”
  • 2019. Denwood, Chris: Naihanchi (Tekki) Kata: The Seed of Shuri Karate Vol 2. 2019. p. 63: “[koryu karate] Originally being a holistic system that covers a number of combative aspects such as tegumi (grappling), kansetsuwaza (joint attacks) and tuite (seizing), shime-waza (chokes and strangles), nage-waza (throwing) etc., …”
  • 2019. Schmeisser, Elmar T.: Bunkai: Secrets of Karate Kata: The Tekki Series. 2019. In a forword by Tony Annesi, author of Cracking the Kata Code, The Road to Mastery, and The Principles of Advanced Budo, writes,  “In this compact book, Dr. Schmeisser opens the doors to tegumi (Okinawan grappling) as it is manifested in the popular Shotokan versions of the Iron Horseman forms. With no wasted space on preliminaries or filler, Dr. Schmeisser dives into the subject offering unique, imaginative, but nontheless applicable, interpretations of karate forms which most practitioners have heretoforth justified with fanciful and non-functional explanations. There is no excuse for that now.”
  • 2020. Haskins, Randy B.: Martial Advice for Training & Living: The UA Way. 2020. p. 16: “Historically, karate is an all-encompassing art designed for self-prtection. Karate is made up of: – Striking, punching, kicking, and thrusting; – Joint manipulation and muscle and tendon disruption; – Vital point and vital area attacks; – Okinawan grappling and wrestling (tegumi); – Nine basic throws.” p. 27: “Tegumi (Okinawan wrestling) was played and practiced back in the formative years of karate and had an influence on the understanding of violence.”

BTW, here’s an early appearance of tegumi in a non-karate-related matter:

1896. Brinkley, Frank, and Nanjio ‎Bunyiu, Iwasaki ‎Y. 和英大辭典. Sanseidō, 1896. Page 1453. “Tegumi, てぐみ, 手組, n. 1. Folding the arms. 2. A plan; scheme; project. Tegumi ga hazureta, 手組が外れた, my (or his) scheme has failed;  Tegumi wo suru 手組をする, to fold the arms. Syn. mokuromi, udegumi.”

© 2022, Andreas Quast. All rights reserved.

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