Understanding the Practice: The Value of Ryukyu Kobudo

        Kobudo literally means “ancient warrior way” or “old martial way” and refers to the classical weaponry methods developed in the Ryukyu kingdom. ^[1]

        The significance of classical weapons training to the modern Okinawan Karate student may not be apparent at first glance.  But training in Kobudo can have a profoundly positive impact on the development of the serious Karate practitioner.

        People might wonder why a Karate practitioner in modern times would train with classical weapons.  What is the meaning behind this obscure, seemingly antiquated practice?  What is the value of studying classical weaponry?

        Firstly, studying and training with classical Okinawan weapons can greatly enhance the unarmed skills of the Karate-ka (Karate practitioner).  There are many parallels between the unarmed methods of Ryukyu martial arts and the Ryukyu weapon arts.  Many of the same techniques can be seen in both.  For example, while it is possible to arm-bar without weapons, you can also arm-bar with Tanbo (or Bo, or Jo, etc).  Striking motions are also interconnected.  Training in weaponry helps your empty-hand.  For example, practicing Bo kata tends to help a person’s punching (and promotes a unified body movement), while Sai work can improve Tuite (as well as some striking aspects).

        Another aspect to consider is that training in Kobudo offers many insights, attributes, and skill sets that are difficult to develop by practicing only empty-hand motions.  Weapons training can improve the quality of a person’s grip, the strength of their grip, their hand articulation, and dexterity.  Long-term weapons training can increase a person’s hand speed.  Even in the short-term a change in hand speed is sometimes apparent.  Also, the spatial and body awareness gained through weapons training cannot be easily understood by just doing empty-hand kata.  The weapons are teaching tools, not just single-dimension blunt instruments.

        Kobudo offers a unique way of developing more power, and as a form of strength training.  Conventional weight training strengthens and builds muscles, but not necessarily in a way that improves a person’s Karate.  (I should note that some students may benefit from weight training – it depends on the individual).  Some forms of weight training can actually be detrimental to a Karate-ka’s movement and technique (overuse sometimes results in too much tension or tightness).  There are ways of using weights and other tools to strengthen the body to enhance one’s Karate.  But certain weight lifting methods can cause a person to form bad habits (in regards to Karate) and re-pattern their movement to be less effective and less efficient.  Their movement may also become stiff and rigid, and deviate from ideal technique mechanics.  This is especially true for beginners.  If a Karate student supplements their study with weight training, it is advised that they proceed with thoughtfulness, being cognizant of the weight lifting movements they are using, and how they might influence their Karate movements or technique.  Of course, Kobudo training does not have these potentially detrimental effects.  In fact, it complements and supplements Karate training in powerful ways.  By practicing with weapons, you are effectively “weight training” with your Karate practice.  As many motions are correlated and similar, and sometimes identical, you are strengthening the motions and techniques used in your empty-hand kata and techniques by having the additional weight of a weapon. 

        Classical weapons training can greatly enhance one’s empty-hand (unarmed) skills, especially over the long-term.  It can have a positive influence on your technique, as well as develop your body in unconventional ways – helping to build a “connected body” and improve balance and issuing of power, and also fluidity and many other useful aspects.

        Training with classical weapons also has the added benefit of being able to effectively handle improvised weapons.  For example, a Jo (4 foot staff) or Sanjakubo (3 foot staff) can be training substitutes for a cane or stick.  Tanbo (short sticks) can also substitute for other weapons (such as a stick or baton, etc).

        And then, of course, there is the preservation of a cultural and historical tradition.  We are not only learning how to fight with weapons, or even improving our unarmed protection skills.  We are carrying on a classical art, which has been passed down from teacher to student for many generations.  We are keeping an art alive.

        In addition to all this, I should state that Kobudo practice is an enjoyable aspect of training.  It can be fun!

        In the final analysis, no one can understand Kobudo by reading about it, or even watching it.  You can only understand it by actually doing it.  To understand Kobudo or Karate, like so many profound things, it is not enough to simply ponder or observe.  Direct experience is a much stronger teacher.

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[1] The term “Kobudo” is also separately used in reference to ancient martial arts of the Japanese mainland.

Essay: The Technical Sub-Arts of Ryukyu Kempo: Tuite-jutsu and Kyusho-jutsu

Ryukyu Kempo, as taught by Taika Seiyu Oyata and his direct students, has a very comprehensive curriculum.  Students initially train in the basic 12 unarmed kata.  Soon, they begin weapons training as well (the weapons curriculum itself is quite extensive).  And they begin training in technique also.  The art is so vast that even after decades of training, there is still more to learn.  This is an art you can practice for your entire life, even into old age (especially if you start and develop basic and intermediate skills at an early age or as a middle-aged adult).

What are the techniques of Ryukyu Kempo?  And what do they consist of?

There are two main “sub-arts” of our style regarding technique. Those are Tuite-jutsu and Kyusho-jutsu.  Tuite-jutsu is perhaps best translated as “Grappling Hand arts”.  And Kyusho-jutsu means “Vital Point arts”.  Taika Oyata also used the term Atemi-jutsu.  Atemi-jutsu refers to the use of vital points or pressure points to stun or distract an opponent.  Kyusho-jutsu is the art of striking or accessing vital points.  There is some overlap between Atemi-jutsu and Kyusho-jutsu.

Although they are not the exact same, here I will use the term Kyusho-jutsu to refer to both Todome strikes (finishing strikes) and Atemi-jutsu (warning or stunning strikes).

Tuite-jutsu and Kyusho-jutsu go very well together.  If you are able to apply grappling maneuvers, this can create openings for your Ate-waza (punching or striking techniques).  And, your Kyusho-jutsu strikes can create openings for grappling maneuvers.

A Tuite technique can control or guide the opponent temporarily so that you can access a vital point strike (Kyusho-jutsu).  Alternatively, if you use Ate-waza (striking techniques) or Kyusho-jutsu (vital point striking arts) to create a distraction or opening, you may be able to apply a Tuite technique on the opponent. 

Tuite can be used to control an opponent, or in more serious situations, Tuite can be used to dislocate joints and break bones. 

Kyusho-jutsu (as applied in Atemi) can be used to simply stun or distract.  Or, in some instances Kyusho-jutsu (as applied as Todome) can create a knockout-like effect, making the opponent lose their balance or equilibrium.  In some cases, the Kyusho techniques can cause unconsciousness (resulting in a “knockout” or TKO).  Taika Oyata was famous for demonstrating the effectiveness of such techniques.  Some people would doubt Oyata’s ability to do these techniques effectively.  Oyata Sensei would then offer to demonstrate their effectiveness.  These kinds of demonstrations would silence his critics.  But Kyusho-jutsu is not magic.  And to make some of the techniques work, you must develop a certain quality in the power of your strikes.  But basically, if you hit the right place in the right way, the opponent’s body reacts.      

Be sure to find authentic Ryukyu Kempo if you’re interested in studying the art, as some people have been known to misuse or misrepresent the name.

Even though Kyusho-jutsu can enhance a striking technique, making it more painful or more effective, it is not a magic solution to all problems.  You still need to develop solid ‘basics’ and learn to hit properly.  Then if you want to add some pressure point knowledge, you can benefit and perhaps enhance your results.  If you miss the pressure point (or even hit the pressure point), you still need to be hitting properly.  Plus, the location of a pressure point is not the only thing that matters when applying your striking technique.  How and when you hit can be as important as where you hit. 

In addition, some people rely too heavily on pressure points, without developing solid basics and proper form.  Vital point strikes and pressure point hitting (or pressing) can amplify a technique, but you still need proper basics and form to be a good martial artist. 

Some people use pressure point techniques for pain-compliance.  That is fine and we also have some such techniques, but the downside is that if the person is drunk or high on drugs, pressure point compliance is often no longer effective.

I have experienced kyusho-jutsu technique from some of Taika Oyata’s direct students.  The techniques were quite effective.  Taika Oyata was very successful with these types of techniques because of his immense skill and heavy hands.  He was a highly trained martial arts expert (privy to family styles or lineage), and also a renowned fighter.  He could make some high-level techniques work that most people could not.  He not only had vast knowledge, he was highly skilled as a fighter and as a martial artist.  He was able to hit you virtually anywhere and make it feel like a pressure point strike.  The man could pack a punch.  Coupling that with vulnerable areas on the body resulted in some very effective striking maneuvers.

These high-level skills are not to be studied in place of solid basics or fundamental fighting techniques.  They act as an excellent addition to your technical repertoire, but you still need to develop a good foundation.  Tuite-jutsu and Kyusho-jutsu are considered to be “advanced” methods of life-protection.  They are part of what makes Oyata’s art unique among Karate styles and they work together with other aspects to develop a complete system of Goshin-jutsu (life-protection art).

Learning Tuite-jutsu and Kyusho-jutsu makes for a very interesting study.  Coupling these two sub-arts with standard Ate-waza (striking techniques), Kata (forms), Bunkai (kata interpretation), Kobudo (classical weaponry), and various partnered drills, and you have a winning formula for a classical martial art.  All the parts work together to form a comprehensive lifelong study.

 

 Essay: Kata training: Omote & Ura

Kata training is an important aspect of Karate.  But collecting kata is not the only thing we do in Ryukyu Kempo.  We do not only memorize the kata for belt tests or tournaments.  We study the kata.

The first stage of learning Karate is the omote.  Omote is a Japanese term that basically means “outward layer”.  A large part of omote is to learn the kata sequences and develop good body structure and movement.  As you delve deeper and deeper into your study of Ryukyu Kempo, you start to explore the ura, or “inward teachings”.  Part of the ura aspect is the interpretation and application of kata motions.  This is referred to as bunkai, which literally means “to break apart” or “to break down,” i.e., to analyze.  The bunkai and oyo (applications) of Ryukyu Kempo are largely built upon applying kata motions as Tuite-jutsu and Kyusho-jutsu.

Tuite-jutsu and Kyusho-jutsu are the primary sub-arts of Ryukyu Kempo applications.  Tuite-jutsu refers to the joint manipulations of Ryukyu Kempo, while Kyusho-jutsu refers to the manipulation (or striking) of vital points.

Although we sometimes separate Tuite and Kyusho, they are not standalone martial art systems.  These methods are used in conjunction with each other.  They are part of the bigger picture of Ryukyu Kempo.

The motions of Tuite-jutsu and Kyusho-jutsu can be found within the various kata.  This leads to deciphering, interpretating, and connecting kata motions with the applications.  It is possible to “reverse-engineer” kata in order to discover these concepts and techniques.  One should also attempt to understand the correlation of seemingly “standalone” techniques with the principles, positions, and motions of the various kata. 

It is important to keep in mind that there is often more than one effective or acceptable application for a given kata motion. 

The study of Ryukyu Kempo does not end with the omote stage of learning or development.  We do not merely collect kata for tournaments or show.  We study the kata to understand the art on a deeper level, and for the enjoyment of the practice.