We headed for the Koza Butokukan again for a run-through of kata and the fine tuning of things that would be looked at carefully during tonight's testing. With the night's gradings looming over the heads of my students, everyone decided to stay very quiet and relax for the afternoon. Izumi Sensei called me to come join him at a sushi restaurant in the neighborhood and we spent his lunch break talking about this week and the international gasshuku in August 2012. I came back to the room where we laughed hysterically to the comedy of Robert Schimmel on YouTube which broke the nerves for a while.
The Geico Gecko(Okinawan Branch Division) visiting our bathroom.
We arrived at the dojo and Gibu Sensei told the guys to start warming up for the test. He told me previously that he appreciated their dedication but that no special accomodations would be made for their test and that only one mistake is permitted/overlooked on the testing boards and that if more than one was made, they would not pass. They understood this and soon Gibu Sensei called for the testing to begin while all of the seniors of the dojo quietly looked on.
Joe, Dave and Carel all did a great job and I was very proud of them. It is one thing to test, but it is another to have the head of the school watching you as well as all of the senior students. Gibu Sensei called them up together at the end and explained that 4th dan, 5th Dan and 6th Dan are very hard ranks to get on Okinawa. There are many shodans and so on because it means first rank(shodan) and that it is not that difficult to achieve. However, the higher ranks, there is a much greater standard. He talked to each of them individually and remarked on each of their performance and complimented on each of their contributions to their dojos and to the Butokukan.
It is another amazing thing that Gibu Sensei knows so much about each of the black belts as well as students that we bring to Okinawa. He cares about each person and makes an effort to learn about each of them. Even with new visitors to Okinawa, Gibu Sensei has me write every person's name in katakana so he can address them personally in the dojo. And he does, he memorizes each of their names.
After promotions and pictures were done, it was time to train, as the test had taken time away from our senior's practice. There were no hoots and back slapping, as each of our sempai understand that after each promotion, there is a lot of living up to that rank. Remember that you enter that rank at the lowest level and in time, hopefully can exemplify what it stands for physically as well as in character and responsibility.
To many in the West, a new promotion is a chance to have your 'accomplishment" plastered all over the webpages or Facebook to let everyone know that they were promoted and are now higher than others. The Okinawans don't even discuss their tests/promotions and feel very uncomfortable about the position it puts them in.
An example of this is with these two gentlemen-Makoto Gibu(Gibu Sensei's son) and Hisashi Izumi. I know both of these men very well. I train with them every year, email constantly(every week with Izumi Sensei), they have stayed in my home and they are amazing teachers and karateka.
Makoto Gibu Sensei was promoted to nanadan/kyoshi back in January and the only reason I knew this was there was a picture of him teaching a kids class in the Hombu newsletter wearing a red/white obi. No articles, no announcements or congratulations- nothing. I was very excited that he received this promotion and he certainly deserves it. His karate is just like his father's and so is his heart.
Izumi Sensei politely refused nanadan 3 times before Tamaki Sensei stepped in as the number two in the Butokukan and nudged him into it. With Izumi Sensei, again, I didn't not know of this promotion until 2 months after it happened and by falling upon it in the Butokukan newsletter. My exchange student was helping me translate some of the kanji when she was the one who noticed it, "Hey! Izumi Sensei has on a different belt! When did that happen?"
I had no idea. This is one of my closest friends. We talk on the phone every other week. We email about every other day. Yet in all of our communication over the past months, he never mentioned that he got promoted.
It was great to see them in their new obi when we got to Okinawa this time by each of us noticed an even greater seriousness about them both. I only hope that more people can follow in their example.
Makoto Gibu Hisashi Izumi
Anyway, back to training. After the new certificates were stowed in a safe, dry location. We lined up and started hammering away at sai and kama.
As free time began after formal training, Aragaki Sensei asked Naka Sensei for a little kumite training. They started out in a common high kick/forearm block drill and then a relaxed sparring session began. It was amazing to watch Naka Sensei's flexibility and body posture as he shifted around attacks and countered.
my apologies for the unsteady camera work but I was trying to take pictures at the same time
Izumi Sensei met us back at the hotel afterwards and told the guys that he was surprising them with a dinner to celebrate their successful grading. He packed us up and we headed to his favorite izakaya for again, another amazing meal. He also surprised each of the guys with a pair of shureido kama and kama case with their names embroidered on it.
Wednesday July 13th
Today was really special. Izumi Sensei picked us up and had arranged for us to visit a man that made kama near Hamahiga Island. We thought we were visiting perhaps a large facility but it turned out that it was a very special workshop with a very talented gentleman.
Upon arriving at the workshop, we all made introductions to Higashionna Sensei (Higaonna, Jap. Pronounciation) and he was curious to why we were so eager to visit the workshop and meet him. (To students, the word Sensei is used in a variety of occupations indicating the experience/proficiency of someone greater than yourself) As Izumi Sensei explained that we were karateka who practiced kobujitsu that included the use of a kama, he was very puzzled. He said that he didn't know much about martial arts and was not very happy to know that the farming implement that he dedicated his life to making was used as a weapon at one time. He examined the Shureido kama that we had brought with us and again, was a little puzzled that they could be used for budo the way they were designed.
He asked me to perform our kama kata(Kama no Kata/Nakaima no Kama) for him so that he could see the techniques involved. Afterwards, he smiled and said that he was relieved. He said that he could tell by the techniques that it was method for maiming or wounding the enemy in defense-not for killing. He then demonstrated some methods of cutting with the kama for different crops and how in order to truly kill someone, these types of harai(sweeping cuts) would have to be used.
Higashionna Sensei then offered a demonstration on the beginning stages of making kama blades. His blades are all handmade and are not your inexpensive hardware models. These kama would be the Okinawan "Stihl" kama.
Everyone bought a pair of his kama with no intention of using them in the dojo but for what Sensei would want them used for.
The skies opened up and the upcoming typhoon started to push rain bands up to Okinawa from the South. We headed to a little restaurant on Hama Higa where Izumi Sensei and I have eaten before and we all had a nice meal together. We were supposed to meet Makoto Gibu Sensei to go the beach but the weather had other plans. (I use his first name in reference to distinguish between he and his father without misusing titles-more later)
We met him at our hotel and he apologized to us for the weather not cooperating. We brought him to our room and got to sit and have a chat with him about all things karate and his personal karate history. We felt badly that he still drove all the way to Koza but knowing his character, he wouldn't have cancelled over the phone. He felt that he needed to at least see us in person since we were going to spend time together today. He certainly lives up to his name "Makoto". (Straight, True, Sincere) and has the heart of his father.
After some rest, we headed to the Koza dojo for our night of training and then our second kangeikai of the trip given by Izumi Sensei and his dojo PTA.
Hisashi Izumi , 7th dan/Kyoshi
Izumi Sensei asked us to teach his kids class and after one of his middle school students led us in junbi undo, we worked on kata and then on to kick drills.
Afterwards we had a great kangeikai and got a chance to catch up with some of his dedicated PTA parents. Izumi Sensei brought things to a close and it was great to see the parents taking the leftover food and distributing a little of each of the leftovers into bento boxes for everyone to take home. The Okinawans don't waste anything. When we go out to eat, it is so difficult because they order so much food for us, but we can only fit so much in! If there is any leftovers, they don't want it to be thrown away and so many times there are a lot of to-go boxes.
Thursday July 14th
I got up to go with Izumi Sensei to teach a preschool class as I do each year. Izumi Sensei teaches karate early in the mornings at different preschools during the week before heading off to work.
They were energetic as usual and are always excited to participate in karate. We did some fun warmups and then did punching, blocks and kicks, all in shiko dachi. I headed back to the hotel and got some time to rest. The guys headed to Tuttle Bookstore so Rio and I went to Mickey's for lunch, which is a great place that accepts yen and US dollars.
After everyone returned, Izumi Sensei called and said that he was on his way over. He had arranged for us to go see the famous Shobukan Goju-Ryu dojo of the late Masanobu Shinjo Sensei which is located in Koza. We were politely greeted by his son Masahiro San and he graciously answered questions about the dojo, training and his father. He encouraged us to try out some of the kigu (tools) in the dojo and pointed out which ones were his father's personal favorites. He told Dave that the reason the floor "gave" is because his father (Shinjo Masanobu Sensei) had laid the floor on top of airplane tires that he got from the US military. This was an incredible experience and one that none of us would forget. A very special dojo of a very special teacher who passed away too early but whose memory will never be forgotten.
Shinjo Sensei's favorite chishi- I might as well have picked up an engine block.
This was the heaviest ishi sashi I have ever seen and gave you an idea how incredibly powerful Shinjo Sensei was. His son remarked that his father remarked that the heavy kigu were only meant to be done 3-5 times per set and the lighter ones should have hundreds of repetitions per set.
Shinjo Sensei coached Dave and Carel about how to use the ishibukuro(Training bag that contains rocks or coral) and how to use the knees.
We went back to the hotel and headed to the Hombu dojo for the last training session with Gibu Sensei. He was attending a wedding on Friday and his son would be conducting our final session on Friday.
Tonight, Gibu Sensei wanted to really critique everyone's kata and came around each person and practice shime (muscle/tendon check) by pounding on hips, legs and upper body. It takes a lot to hold those positions in the proper flexion and it is a great workout for each kata. Sensei was very careful to point out "holes" in our form by throwing kicks and punches at us during movments to point out what we were still doing wrong.
Carel and I tempted fate just enough by attempting to ask cryptic questions about techniques in kata. We got some of the answers that I expected-except the frightening shuto that came a fraction from my windpipe once Gibu Sensei had shown why a particular arm position required a certain angle.
What I mean by "answers I expected" is that the Okinawan answer and the one you will get in the states is different. There is too much emphasis on bunkai outside of Okinawa and I guarantee little of it has been learned from any teacher on Okinawa.
Gibu Sensei gets really frustrated when we try to ask these "application" questions because we asking about something so irrelevent to real fighting and the purpose behind our training. The answers don't lie in how a movement fits like a puzzle piece into some hypothetical fighting scenerio.
The great fighters of the Shorinkan generation: Sokuichi Gibu; Tadashi Yamashita; Jiro Shiroma; Seii Nakaza; Kempo Kinjo; Kenshin Kakinohana; are famous for their incredibly powerful fighting abilities and were feared in the old Aja dojo, not how many bunkai they knew. If they were, they would be teaching it today. Yamashita Sensei teaches some beautiful applications but he is known for his fighting.
You don't need years of experience to tell people are making it(bunkai) up and the chance of them working in a real situation is zero. Next time you are at a camp and the bunkai is being shown, ask yourself if you really think it is going to work. Bunkai always does because your partner or uke allows it to happen. You have to remember that movements in kata are historical and have particular relevency to the time in which they were put into kata. Izumi Sensei says that bunkai is good for students only to give them a "physical visual" and push them to accent different movements however they need to be told that it is a training answer, not an answer to a real situation as a whole.
I myself offer dvds that have bunkai but they are my ideas to get students to think of movements, not necessarily how things are going to happen. A lot of our movements in kata are similar and involve similar body mechanics but in different situations, there is a small hole that they are going to fit in. Yes, bunkai has it's place but lets not go overboard.
The kata are like doing a bench press. Sure there are variations(incline, decline, wide grip) just like there are variations in kata. But the bench press and the movements in kata are the same in intent. They strengthen and improve movements.
Just as bench press concentrates on an area of muscles, kata does the same with our offensive and defensive techniques. Making up bunkai for every little move in kata, is not what the masters intended and is not what is taught on Okinawa, despite what some people claim.
I am not attacking anyone individually and I don't want to sound harsh, but making an observation based on seeing things on Okinawa. Remember that the privilege of being accepted as students is bound by an unspoken promise to keep intact our teacher's and their teacher's karate and so on.
Anybody, regardless of rank, can make up oyo bunkai/interpretation, it just takes creativity. The maybes aren't what our teachers in Okinawa want taught and they will tell you that.
Bunkai is more about analyzing how the strikes and techniques are done to maximize power and the potential injury/effect to the targets, not a completely hypothetical scenerio that looks good in the dojo when someone is standing still, giving you a perfect karate punch or more laughable, grabbing your wrist.
My point is focus on the reality of your karate and not the maybes.
We ended the final training with Gibu Sensei and said our goodbyes as we wouldn't see him again between now and Sunday as he would be in charge of competition rings at the Okinawan Times Youth Tournament.
Izumi Sensei had plans for us.
He always laughs at my willingness to try "getamono"(strange foods) and arranged for us to have a supon meal(turtle) and some other interesting items in Uruma.
This night began an epic battle between man and turtle.
We started out with drinking the blood of the turtle which was mixed together with some awamore(Okinawan distilled liquor) and then were brought out some nice pieces of sushi, pork parts and yaki tori. (I think this was to give us the false sense of security)
The turtle was brought out to us and served in a pot of vegetables and broth with all of the limbs and protruding parts divided up. As we began to attempt eating the turtle(Izumi Sensei also), we all became aware of our digestive organs trying to block the turtle's entry. Even messages were sent to our neuro receptors to lock up our abilities to use chopsticks and pick up the pieces of turtle.
Izumi Sensei and the rest of us suddenly became very interested in the other food items on the table and began fighting with utensils so that we could not have to deal with the turtle again. Izumi Sensei confessed that he had never tried it before and this would be the last time, as it would be for the rest of us.
We managed to tranquilize the digested parts of the turtle with lots of Orion beer and it stayed asleep for the next few hours. Until it reared it's ugly, reptilian head again........
You see, the turtle is a playful fellow and even when we tried to eat chicken to smooth things over in our stomachs, the turtle and the chicken began a rugby game. And so we continued the drowning of all consumed items with Orion back at our hotel.
. (Straight, True, Sincere) and has the heart of his father.
