|
|
 The International Ryukyu Karate Research Society is an information based world-wide organization dedicated to studying, the origins, evolution & tactical application theories of old-school karate & Okinawan kobudo.
The IRKRS aims to bring together a new generation of more progressive learner seeking to better understand the true history and application practices of the original art, and not afraid to step outside their own peer group to find it.
Each year the IRKRS names its Honour Roll recipients and I am proud to be listed as Researcher of the Year on the 2011 list of nominees, following my recent (2nd) trip to Fujian province (China) where I not only participated in the karate – wushu contest and exchange convention but also conducted my own research while in Fuzhou city, working with some of the most prominent crane based (i.e. Minghe Chuan) groups that operate there today.
I’d like to thank my Koryu Uchinadi instructor Hanshi Patrick Mccarthy for the privilege and recognition and look forward continuing my studies under the IRKRS in 2012.
Two brand new classes will start in January 2012 in Homerton E9 at Ringmasters Olympia and in Bethnal Green E2 at Oxford House.
Free introduction classes are available in January, please see our junior karate pages for more info on venue and class times or contact sensei Joost Frehé on 07897 824302 for any further info.
 From Nov 2 – 7 the IOGKF Black Belt Gasshuku and Karate – Wushu Exchange Convention and Contest took place in Fuzhou, China, the historical place where Ryu Ryu Ko, Kanryo Higaonna’s teacher in China, taught in the latter part of the 19th century.
Because of a interest in both the historical as the technical connection with China and Chinese gongfu I decided early on this was an event not to be missed and somehow I managed to not only attend both events but also squeeze in an extended stay in Fuzhou city to continue some of the research I started while in Fuzhou previously.
 I was particularly interested to find out if the research Higaonna Sensei conducted over the many visits he did over the years had lead to any new insights in the identity of Ryu Ryu Ko and/or the style he taught i.e. tiger, crane, luohan or perhaps a combination of them all.
In fact I was pleased to hear Higaonna Sensei himself refer to this, during the second day of training, where he recalled that in the early stages of his research, when showing the Goju Ryu Kata to a group of Fuzhou gongfu experts, it was remarked Sanseru kata contained many tiger style techniques, undoubtedly referring to the marauding tiger single-leg take down from the Bubishi which is commonly seen in tiger based gongfu i.e. Tai Chor.
Furthermore Sensei recalled that Suparinpei kata in addition also showed features of crane style and luohan chuan (monk fist boxing) of which the former I believe could as simply refer to the the use of the Goju Ryu hiki uke while the latter refers to the so called windmill palms characteristic of luohan chuan, as I’ve learned of through the practive of the Koryu Uchinadi old-school version of the kata Happoren.
What impressed me was that Higaonna Sensei himself, by sharing these facts, seemed to indicate that what we know today as the single system of Goju Ryu, at some point in time might have actually been an eclectic mix of several styles.
The first 3 days were reserved for the black belt gasshuku, held in Chang Le, a southern suburb of Fuzhou which coincidentally is the birth ground of Whooping Crane master Xie Zhong Xiang (1852 – 1930) who according to some historians (but not according to the IOGKF) is one and the same historical figure as Ryu Ryu Ko.
Higaonna Sensei was in great form and about 50 participants from all over the world shared in the unique opportunity to see the master at work once again moving through kihon, kata, kakie and finishing the 3 days with some preparatory kata group practice for the upcoming demo during the exchange convention.
From here it was off to Fuzhou city and once again the location, the Fuzhou Gymnasium only minutes away from Fuzhou’s southern park, was one with a historical significance as in Higaonna Sensei’s book the history of karate it’s said the park was possibly close to Ryu Ryu Ko’s house.
Not having forgotten the IOGKF’s Fuzhou China Goju Ryu History Researrch Report from March 2009, which indicates that the [white crane] temple (also Xie Zhong Xiang’s training ground) could have been the historical place where Ryu Ryu Ko trained, I decided, for better or worse, seek out those crane based groups in Fuzhou with a direct lineage back to Xie.
 Funny enough they all supported the Xie – Dong en (Chinese name for Kanryo Sensei) connection although after persistent questioning some reminded me they could simply not talk about ‘politics’ in China freely while others advised me to let the whole thing go as a joined government (China and Japan) agreement on the subject was now the accepted story, whether historically correct or not.
I decided to then find those remaining crane schools with a direct lineage to Xie for some cross comparative analysis, hoping to find answers this way.
I felt first time lucky after chasing a contact I was provided by no was less than Pan Cheng Miao shifu from Yongchun Baihe (white crane) last year. The contact was Master Yu who succeeded his father who passed away in 2002 aged 95 and who had been a direct student of Xie.
Although initially there for some information only I ended up training with Yu for 10 days on a daily basis working on the first form in Xie’s system, babulian (Happoren in Karate) as well as White crane sticky hands.
Interesting fact of course is that the Babulian is one out of 2 forms (taolu in Chinese) that are featured in the Bubishi, the book Miyagi Chojun Sensei used as a reference to name his style Goju Ryu.
Not only that, the second form in the Bubishi, Neipai (Nipaipo in karate) is also featured in the Bubishi, as is the life story of Fang Chi Niang, the woman responsible for creating White crane boxing.
Either way, after having become familiar with Yu’s Whooping crane dynamics I came to the apparent conclusion many similarities exist between his crane style and modern day Goju Ryu, nevertheless many differences too.
 What seems clear to me though is that Yu’s crane most definitely reflects mechanics that, perhaps in different forms and variation, were an integral part of 18th century Fuzhou based gongfu that, as a whole, had an impact too on the development of Goju ryu. In fact if anything I feel that, by having experienced Yu’s for-fighting-based Babulian (which is Sanchin kata with an additinal 5 steps i.e. a second generation Sanchin), I have come to both understand and appreciate the Goju Sanchin dynamics for the better.
To finish the trip off the exchange convention was a combination of demonstrations, both from the IOGKF contingent which included myself, as several gongfu groups including tiger, bird, crane etc, all who were keeping seminars for those who were interested in a taster session in the respective arts.
Interestingly a spin off version of the Ming He Chuan Babulian was taught here too but unlike Yu’s powerful version using muchime-like power dynamics this one had a lot of shaking in it expressing energy or qi release.
I was knocked out of the karate contest early on due to not finishing Sanseru kata ‘in the exact way it should have been’ but was more ‘lucky’ the next day in the gongfu section and was awarded Gold for my performance of the old-school Kume (Matsuyama Koen) version of the kata Sanchin.
I’d like to thank my teachers Hanshi Patrick McCarthy (Koryu Uchinadi Kenpo-jutsu) and Sensei George Andrews (Goju Ryu) for supporting me in attending the events and everyone who was present for the great times shared.
© Joost Frehe November 2011
 Just back from the Central UK Koryu Uchinadi Kenpo Jutsu training that, for the second time this year took place at Barry san’s purpose build dojo in Leeds, where I was invited to teach alongside Ben Ryder Sensei.
We spend both the Saturday and the Sunday (Oct 15 & 16) on the ‘gyaku-waza’ drills (escapes & counters), both standing and ground parts, that culminate the prescribed defensive applications of Karate kata (indiscriminate of style) in a continuous 2 person fighting set (futari renzoku geiko).
The Saturday session was concluded with some free kumite (ri-ai kumite) which was enjoyed by all.
The next one is planned for January 2012, if anyone’s interested to come along please feel free to contact me through this site for more info.
Thanks to Ben Ryder Sensei for the organizing and to all participants for coming along.
Joost Frehé
 On Sunday Oct 9 2011 a Children’s Fun Day and Squad Training was organised by the Basildon and Harlow (OTGKA) dojo’s and 10 junior Legends karate students arrived from different corners in London (Hackney, Holloway, Isleworth and Norbury) to participate.
All students showed a great standard which was reflected in the many certificates & medals that were handed out at the end of the day, both for participation and the competitions.
 It was a great opportunity not only for the kids to meet children from a different club/style, but also for the instructors to catch up and work together in making this event a success, under the ever watchful eye of no one less than Sensei George Andrews (Shihan, 7th Dan), chief instructor of the Okinawan Traditional Goju Ryu Association (OTGKA).
I’d like to thank Sensei George Andrews, Sensei Dave Amber and Sensei Dick Lovett and everyone who helped out on the day, including parents who supported the event and, last but not least, Laurent from the UCL KU club, for their support.
Arigato!
 As part of the YMAA London annual seminars with YMAA Poland director Robert Was, a Shaolin White Crane Chin Na seminar was held on June 19.
Robert Was is one of the most prominent instructors under Master Yang Jwing Ming’s YMAA organisation. Master Yang studied Shaolin White Crane in Taiwan under Master Cheng, Gin-Gsao (1911-1976) who on his turn studied White Crane under Master Jin, Shao-Feng who passed on his Zong He Quan or Ancestral Crane Boxing in the 1930′s. Master Jin was originally from Fujian province, China.
Similar to Old school Karate Ancestral Crane boxing uses vigorously shaking of the hips as one of their main ways in generating power (called shaking Jin in Zong He Quan).
Ancestral Crane is considered the most original style of Southern White Crane and combines both hard (external) and soft (internal) body mechanics and Qigong (Chi Kung).
According to karate historian and master-level instructor (Koryu uchinadi) Hanshi Patrick McCarthy, Chin Na (Qinna) is one of the original 5 fighting arts that influenced the early development of Karate do, together with Ti’gwa (a plebeian form of percussive impact referred to as “Te” or “Di”), Buki’gwa (weapons arts) and Tegumi (a multi-faceted style of fighting believed to have been derived from Chinese Wrestling)
Thanks you all who attended and special thanks to the organization and Robert Was for a great seminar!
 From June 1 – June 5 the 4th Annual European KU Gasshuku (training camp) took place in the Netherlands at Jan Kraayvangers Veldhoven (Eindhoven) based Koryukan dojo.
Participants from 17 countries attended including a small delegation from our London dojo (UCL KU Club).
The line up of instructors consisted of Shidoins Darrin Johnson (Washington DC) and Jim Sindt (Copenhagen, Denmark), Renshi’s Phyllis Chalmers (Brisbane, Australia) and Olaf Krey (Berlin, Germany) among others.
The program covered basic curriculum training, bo (six-foot staff) and tuifa (tonfa), grappling and kata Happoren and Wando.
If there was a central element in the broad spectrum of training drills worked on it probably was the link between functional applications and classical kata.
Special thanks to the organizers, instructors and participants and Hanshi Patrick McCarthy for making the event such a success!
Pic above: Nuru san (UCL KU Club) and Paschual san (Nairobi, Kenya) working on KU hiji/hiza waza on a technique seen in the opening sequence (double ‘pistol grip’) of Unsu kata in Shotokan.
 Last weekend Martin Watts, the European representative of the Weng Gong Ci Martial Gym, Yongchun, Fujian, China, hosted an open Tiger-Crane seminar taught by Master Iain Armstrong Chairman/Chief Instructor of the UK branch of the Nam Yang Pugilistic Association. Among those attending were a large group of Goju Ryu Karate practitioners from the IOGKF as well as Shito Ryu, Ryurei Ryu, Wing Chun gongfu and White Crane.
The Tiger-Crane version of the Sum Chien routine (Sanchin kata) was used as a template to move through a wide variety of technical slices including basic take downs, using simple but effective body mechanics. Participants were encouraged to use techniques from their own arts, such as inside middle blocks (uchi uke, chudan yoko uke etc) and look for the universal principals while working through the drills.
A heavy emphasize lay on a strong stance as practiced through Sum Chien. The advantages of the Tiger-Crane version Sum Chien stance (with the feet parallel and toes pointing forwards) were discussed but students were reminded that the most important thing is to use one’s own art to its advantage. Other aspects that Sum Chien covered were covered including positive body language, the use of the eyes as a first line of defence and the importance of relaxation after muscle contraction. The breathing used in Tiger-Crane Sum Chien, diaphragm breathing, was looked at and how it relates to the shaking of the hands when performing the routine.
Having been so fortunate to first hand attend varies South Eastern gongfu seminars that worked with their respective versions of Sanchin kata, the similarities in dynamics of the Tiger-Crane Sum Chien in comparison to the Goju Ryu Sanchin, especially the morote chudan kamae, which is used in virtually exact the same way (see picture above), were striking to say the least.
Nice to meet many new friends and a very special thanks to Martin Watts for setting up the event and Master Armstrong for delivering an inspiring, fun and challenging seminar.
The article below was written by Joost Frehé in August 2010. Joost is an instructor for both the International Ryukyu Karate Society (IRKRS) and the Okinawan Goju Ryu Traditional Karate Association (OTGKA). The article was published in the IRKRS Journal (Journal #60, www.koryu-uchinadi.com) and the IOGKF’s online newsletter (December 2010 issue, www.iogkf.com)
On a recent trip to Fujian province , South-East China, my wife, sister and I stopped by at a site/temple referred to in several White Crane Gongfu and Okinawa Goju Ryu Karate schools as ‘the White Crane temple’ also called ’Crane’s Nest Temple’.
Finding the temple was not easy due to a scarcity of information, the only thing that seemed clear was it was situated somewhere on Gao Gai Mountain, a mountain that lies at about half an hour from Fuzhou city, the province’s capital, and a similar distance from Pan Yu village.
Gao Gai Mountain in fact conveniently houses a popular public park, simply called Gao Gai mountain park but no one there seemed familiar with the temple in question. The park is home to a large monastery though which is still in some form of use, the Miao Feng temple. It lies partly hidden behind a statue of Guan Yin that overlooks the park’s lake and valley’s about halfway up the hill.
After thoroughly skimming the park but to no avail, we came to hear of the existence of a second, more remote entry point onto Gao Gai mountain, about 10 minutes on a motorbike away, in Yue Jing village.
Still an old low-build house village, Yue Jing village has not yet been bulldozed over by the upcoming high story buildings of the inner city and a dusty lane off the main village road, home to a mixture of industry and military administrative zone buildings, was our drop off point.
This was right in front of Gao Gai’s second temple, the Jiu Long An or Nine Dragons temple, a small temple that lies dormant at the start of the road uphill.
It becomes instantly clear that this side of the mountain is a forgotten one, the road partly overgrown and obscured.
As we approach a snake anxiously rushes into the grass on the side of the road where some mountain goats are grazing undisturbed.
Off the main road small paths can be found leading to the many family graves that are built alongside the paths so that they overlook the valleys, which at this side of Gao Gai, includes the military airport.
The mountain is said to be 200 m high and after about a 40-minutes walk uphill we arrive at what we slowly come to understand is in fact our destination, a small valley just a minute away from the top of the mountain, with steps leading down to the entry gate displaying the current name of the site Nan Tian Zhao Tian Jun .
The site includes 3 buildings of which a very small grey building, a smaller red one and the main building that overlooks Fuzhou city with probably the best view you’ll get of the city and its bays.
The middle shrine of the main building is the one we’re here for, if only to confirm we’re at the actual historic training grounds of Da Chong Lin AKA Pan Yu Ba.
Pan Yu Ba studied at the temple under a Master Qing Ding who taught Shaolin Monk Fist or Luo Han Chuan here. Master Qing Ding is said to have come from Quanzhou city, one of the possible original locations of the Southern Shaolin temple, destroyed in the earlier days of the Qing Dynasty.
As Pan Yu Ba was the teacher of Master Xie Zhongxiang, who on his turn, at least according to some researchers, has been identified as one and the very same as Goju Ryu’s Ryu Ryu Ko, the possibility is held open that Ryu Ryu Ko trained at the temple.
A remarkable hypothesis especially because the temple, according to the Flying Crane branch of White Crane Gongfu, is said to have specialized in the White Crane Boxing of Fang Chi Niang, a link that sometimes popularly is brought forward by the Goju Ryu tradition of Karate.
However when Bushi Miyagi Chojun visited the temple in 1915 it is said to already have been in ruins, leading to the conclusion that, if the White Crane temple in the Flying Crane tradition is one and the same as the one we visited on Gao Gai, and providing the Flying Crane’s historical account of the temple being in use in the 1920′s is correct, the temple where Ryuryu Ko studied Shaolin Gongfu could have been an altogether different one.
According to the late Master Shifu Ruan Dong from the Whooping Crane tradition, the Gao Gai White Crane temple was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution before it was rebuilt in 1985.
Local workers confirmed that the site was redeveloped, yet again, into its present make-over in or around 2008 and when it was given its current name Bai He Xian Shi, literally meaning ‘Temple of the White Crane Spirit’ or‘’Master’. This undoubtedly in honour of aforementioned masters, their spirit and traditions whoever they exactly may have been.
© Joost Frehé November 2010
 Last weekend Ben Ryder sensei, one of the UK delegation of KU instructors, held his monthly Koryu Uchinadi Studygroup at Kaizen Martial arts Centre in Leeds. The training was, as always, open to all Martial arts and Karate styles, and was attended by students and instructors alike from different backgrounds. All in all well worth travelling a few hours up North for from London!
After warming up with our Ne-keri waza (ground ‘kicking’ drill) several reaction drills were trained before moving into a wide variety of self-defence drills relating to as much as 22 Kata in total from different styles including impact, throws/take downs and groundwork, joint locks, strangulation etc, concluding the training with the notion that when it comes to functional application common mechanics mean everything.
Look forward to the next opportunity.
Arigato
|
|
The International Ryukyu Karate Research Society is an information based world-wide organization dedicated to studying, the origins, evolution & tactical application theories of old-school karate & Okinawan kobudo.
Recent Comments