Tag Archives: Chinen Sanra

A characteristic combination in old-style Sakugawa no Kon

In the late 1920s, Miki Jisaburō of the Karate Club of Tokyo Imperial University travelled to Okinawa to meet the then-current masters and to research and record the techniques of original karate and kobudō. He published his findings in an … Continue reading

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Sakugawa no Kon old-style

This is my recinstruction of “Sakugawa no Kon” old-style as described by Miki Jisaburo in 1930, after learning the kata from Oshiro Chojo a year or so earlier.  If you follow closely, it is the same kata and Enbusen as … Continue reading

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Yamanni-ryu – Is the founder’s name Sanrā, Sanda, Masanrā, or Saburō?

Chinen Masami (1898–1976) was an Okinawan bōjutsu expert. He taught privately at his home in Shuri Tōbaru, Okinawa. He named his style Yamannī-ryū after his grandfather Chinen Sanrā 知念三良 (1842–1925). There is some confusion about the first name of Chinen Sanrā. For instance, various … Continue reading

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Shirotaru no Kon (4) – Techniques of Shirotaru Deciphered

As I noted before, Miki Jisaburō learned Shirotaru no Kon from Ōshiro Chōjo (1887–1935), who lived in Shuri Ōnaka 1-54 at the time. At that time Ōshiro served as a regular teacher as well as the head of the karate … Continue reading

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The techniques of Chinen Masami’s Yamani-ryū

Chinen Masami 知念正実 (1898–1976) was an Okinawan bōjutsu expert. He taught privately at his home in Shuri Tōbaru, Okinawa. He named his style Yamani-ryū 山根流 after his grandfather Chinen Sanrā 知念三良 (1842–1925). In a newspaper article from 1918 Sanrā was … Continue reading

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Yonegawa no Kon and the Western bayonet rifle

It would be a mere rethorical question to ask if historical Ryūkyūan combative methods were influenced by the outside world. Notwithstanding, somehow this seems to be a weird question. One of the persistent beliefs making Ryūkyūan combative methods so likable … Continue reading

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