Training in the Cold

I got up this morning and followed my normal ritual, put the dogs out, feed the dogs, and then head out to the dojo for my daily training.  This morning when I went outside it was cold, yesterday it was chilly, but today when I went into the dojo, the thermostat said it was 50 degrees.

As I slipped my shoes off and stepped onto the cold mat, I had a few flash backs of training in my father’s dojo, over the years.  I remembered when we trained in our home dojo in the 1970s, it was all warm and cozy and we only trained outside in the summer, when we moved over to the YMCA in the 1980s, we were in a basement that was cool but not bad, it was those days in the middle of winter that he would look at everybody and say, ok take off and run around the block and come back.  People would stop to put on their shoes and he would yell, “No one told you to put your shoe’s on, move!”  Running barefoot in the snow builds character.  I also recall when we moved out of the YMCA and opened the first stand alone Marion dojo, we spent months in the winter working on it and getting it ready to open. We had the grand opening in January; the first few classes were ok and then something went wrong with the furnace, the water froze under the building.  My father continued to teach classes, everyday. It was cold, so cold. I remember one of the students asking if he could bring in some kerosene heaters and if we could wear socks, my father replied, I suppose if you want to be a bunch of pussies.  So we continued training in the cold with only our own body heat, and sweat from hundreds of repetitions to warm up the dojo. (It is amazing that we were young and no one got sick), and yes we would run laps barefoot around the parking lot.

Like a good student, I never asked my father questions, just did what I was told, but after class one day, when everyone had left, I asked him why he was training us in the cold, he looked at me and said, “Sometimes you must train yourself and your body in extreme conditions, and outside of your comfort zone. You can not always train in a warm or cool dojo, sometimes you must train in extreme hot and extreme cold, out in the rain or snow, in nature, you do not know where you maybe when you are called upon or when you maybe in need of your skills.”

He eventually fixed the furnace, and when summer rolled around we trained without the air conditioner on and that same year, we moved into the dojo to live, training took on a whole different meaning, but that is a post for another time………. 

Suffice it to say that even though it is my dojo and I control when the heat gets turned on, today I trained in the cold and felt good about it!

The Karate Creed

When I was a small child, even before I began training in Karate, my father would sometimes take me to the dojo, of his teacher, Mr. Glenn Keeney, where I would sit and watch class. I remember that they would recite what they called the karate creed.  In 1977, when I started training at my father’s dojo, at the beginning and ending of each class we recited the karate creed. In 1982, when I began training at Mr. Keeney’s dojo, we still recited the creed.  Somewhere after 1990, we stopped doing it.  I am not sure why we stopped reciting it, I never thought to ask why.  I also remember that for years the creed was engraved on a plaque that hung in the Komakai Dojo, and every time we moved the dojo, it was again hung in a place of honor, however, I do not remember it hanging in the last dojo.

My point for all of this is that I feel the creed helps to promote meiyo or honor into a class. The creed itself is simple, but the meaning that one takes away from it can be many. I am sure that each reader will read it and take away there own thoughts about it, some may look at it and say Mike you’re an idiot, others might read it and say it is profound in its simplicity.

 空手の信条 私は空手だけとのあなたに来る。 私に武器がない。 しかしもし自分自身を守るためにIが強制されれば私の主義、か私の名誉。 もしそれが生命の問題か死、権利または悪事なら。 私の武器はここにそれからある、 空手-私の空手。

Karate Creed

I come to you with only karate.

I have no weapons.

But should I be forced to defend myself, my principles, or my honor.

Should it be a matter of life or death, right or wrong.

Then here are my weapons,

KARATE – my empty hands.

In my opinion, this small creed helps to instill a sense of pride and honor into a student. Not the modern day I will kick your but attitude that some have, but a sense of here I am I don’t want to use what I know but if you force me to then I will, but only in defense of myself, my principles, or my honor. I think that these days too many people learn karate because they got beat up and want revenge, in return the teacher doesn’t care why they learn as long as he can pay the rent and over head. I for one feel a sense of responsibility to take the students I have accepted into my dojo and make them upstanding and productive members of society, I think by instilling teachings such as the karate creed and dojo kun into them and leading by example, you will provide your students with tools that will assist them in becoming well balanced and productive members of society.

Ryu Ryu Ko



Xie Zhongxiang

 Ryū Ryū Ko (ルールーコウ,, 1852 - 1930), also known as Ru Ru Kou, Ryuko, Ryuru Ko, Liu Liu Gung, Liu Liu Ko, To Ru Ko, was a teacher of Fujian Gung Fu, notable for instructing many of the founders of Okinawan martial arts which later produced Karate. There is still no consensus of opinion neither about Ryu Ryu Ko’s exact identity nor about the exact martial art style that he taught, both Gojuryu and Ryueiryu claim Ryu Ryu Ko as the Chinese teacher who taught their patriarchs, however their accounts of Ryu Ryu Ko differ.

There are a few things that are agreed apon, it is widely believed that Ryu Ryu Ko was born into an aristocratic family, and was sent to study at the southern Shaolin Temple in the mountains of Fujian Province. Due to the internal strife that threatened the feudal system and therefore the Chinese aristocracy, the family was forced to conceal their status in order to survive. For this reason, Ryu Ryu Ko, worked as a bricklayer and a builder. In later life, he lived by making a variety of everyday goods such as baskets, furniture and other items from bamboo.

Ryū Ryū Ko is mostly known from the accounts of his Okinawan students, however today he is generally identified, based on the research of Tokashiki Iken and Patrick McCarthey, as Xie Zhongxiang, born in Changle, Fujian, to a noble family which lost its status in political turmoil of the time. He was the founder of Míng hè quán (鳴鶴拳, Whooping Crane Fist), which he based on the white crane he learned from his teacher Pan Yuban (Kwan Pang Yuiba), who’s teacher was Lin Shixian (who was a student of Fāng Qīniáng, the originator of the first White Crane martial art). He had to conceal his name and aristocratic lineage and took on the name Ryu Ryu Ko, under which he worked, making household goods from bamboo and cane. He has been teaching martial arts at his home to a very small group of students, which included Higaonna Kanryō, who stayed with Ryu Ryu Ko from 1867 to 1881. Ryu Ryu Ko expanded his class to an actual public school in 1883, running it with his assistant, Wai Shinzan (Wai Xinxian, Wu Lu Chin). It is also said that he had a son named Xie Tsuxiang. Xie Zhongxiang’s current living direct descendant is his great-grandson, Xie Wenliang.

Some historians do not agree with Xie Zhongxiang identification, it's been suggested that Ryu Ryu Ko taught other styles of southern Chinese martial arts, or even that Ryu Ryu Ko was the name of the place, rather than a person. Due to the lack of written records and the fact that most kinawan teachers passed there stories down by word of mouth, we will probably never have a difinative answer on who Ryu Ryu Ko really was.

The okinawan martial artists who are believed to have studied in Ryu Ryu Ko's school were Higaonna Kanryō (founder of Naha-te), Arakaki Seishō, Norisato Nakaima (1850-1927) (founder of Ryūei-ryū), Sakiyama Kitoku (1830-1914), Kojo Taitei (1837-1915), Maezato Ranpo (1838-1904), Matsuda Tokusaburo (1877-1931).

Busaganashi: The Chinese Legend

From the research I have been able to do, I have found that the Okinawan and Chinese legends of the Busaganashi or Yuen Sam Tan Doh are basically the same. However the Chinese version has some minor differences that I will list below:

It is said that he was born during the Tang Dynasty, and that he was a gifted musician. He entered the court and took the aptitude examination and placed third but was not known to have joined the military, instead he played at the court of the Tang Emperor.

During the time he was a musician in the Tang court, a large fire broke out in the palace, and Busaganashi took charge of the Imperial Guards and put the fire out. The Tang Emperor was very pleased and gave him the title "Grand Marshall for Wind and Fire" and allowed him to live inside the Palace.

There are many regional and sectarian differences that exist in the legends surrounding Taoist deities (even in China). So it would be plausable that the Okinawan legend is one of these variations taken from another branch of Taoism.

Regardless of the ledgend or source, the Busaganashi is never the less an important aspect of Okinawan Gojuryu history. 

The Importance of Breakfalls

Recently I attended the Professional Karate Commissions International Championships, in Indianapolis, Indiana.  My wife, children and I had been present for the weekend and my sons competed in the tournament. We had a good time seeing old friends and watching the competition.

On the last day of the event, they hold the grand championship rounds, that they call the “Big Dog Finals”.  My family and I were sitting in the audience watching the kata, kobudo and kumite rounds. The competition was held on a platform that was probably four feet off of the ground.  During one of the kumite rounds, the opponents were in a clash and were close to the edge of the platform and moving fast, the corner judge, got up out of his seat and stood in the way, blocking them from falling off the platform. Of course they ran into him and they were spared from falling off and being hurt.  They were called back to the center and the judge went to sit back into his chair, however when he did so, the back legs of his chair fell off of the platform, causing him to fall over backwards. As you can imagine several people jumped up to help, several people yelled and as I got up and headed to lend my assistance, I thought for sure he would be hurt severely.

Instead to my amazement and to that of everyone else in the room, the judge who had went to sit in a chair and had fallen off of a four foot platform backwards, performed a flawless ushiro kaiten ukemi (rear rotary break fall) and came up onto his feet, grabbed his chair sat it back on the platform and climbed back into it. The room was completely silent and all he said was “Oh I’m ok, let’s continue.”

Now believe it or not it is not the first time in the last 38 years that I have seen this same man perform some amazing feasts, some times I thought for sure that he would be dead after the events, and each time he has done some amazing stunt maneuver and survived.

After the match was over I asked him , “Dad are you ok” and his reply was “Yes, son, haven’t I told you 100 times or more why it is important to practice break falls”.

Busaganashi: The patron saint of Goju Ryu

 

 

The Busaganashi is a martial arts lesser Taoist deity (kami) venerated by many Goju Ryu practitioners in Okinawa.

According to Miyazato Sensei of the Jundokan, Miyagi Chojun (as a Shinto) venerated the Busaganashi Kami every day. However, in the Okinawan air raid during world war two, Miyagi's picture of the Busaganashi (which he acquired in China during his travels with Gokenki) was destroyed along with many other possessions.

Reportedly, sensing his teachers sadness, one of his students, who had previously made a sketch of the Busaganashi, journeyed to the Philippines to have a three dimensional statue made of the Busaganashi. The student then presented the statue to Miyagi. Apparently, the gesture was so overwhelming that it brought the karate master to tears.

The statue now rests in the Jundokan Dojo in Okinawa and is pictured to the left.

But what are the origins and legends surrounding this lesser deity or Saint? The Busaganashi is found in the Bubishi which is the most influential martial arts book in Okinawa. The Bubishi is a Ching (1644-1911) dynasty White Crane and Lohan Kung-Fu manual. Busaganashi means "my dear respected kung-fu warrior" but the formal name of the deity is the: "Grand Marshall of Wind and Fire." In Chinese the name is Yuen Sam Tan Doh.

The Busaganashi is the local Fujianese and Taiwanese god of business, art, music and wealth. He is worshipped in martial arts schools and amongst musicians and especially Chinese Opera performers.

During the Ching empire when Martial Artists were outlawed because of political unrest, many of the Martial Artists hid in the Chinese Opera troops. In Chinese Opera there is always the figure of a bearded warrior, and martial arts plays an important role on the stage. Because of the close relationship between opera, music and art in general and Kung-Fu, the Busaganashi became the patron saint of Martial Artists and martial arts schools (Guan) in Fujian.

This deity is particularly found in shrines in White Crane or Five Ancestors Kung-Fu schools. Pictures of Busaganashi are also found in restaurants, businesses, and market places.

The Okinawan Busaganashi Legend

In ancient China a young girl gave birth to a baby boy. With no father to take care of him the family decided to abandon the child in a bamboo forest. But after some time the family had a change of heart. When they returned to collect the child they found that the child was being protected by the trees themselves. Seeing this as a sign they decided to take care of the child as well as they could. The child grew up to be very intelligent and although from a lower class, he was able to come in third at the yearly Mandarin aptitude tests. This gave him the opportunity to join the military where he acquired his martial arts skills and excelled.

One day, a tower caught on fire and risked spreading to the rest of the city. Seeing this the Busaganashi used his dynamic martial arts breathing to put out the fire with a simple exhale. By doing this he saved the city and was given his title as the “Marshall of Wind and Fire” and honored by all.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog page.  I have been using Yahoo groups, but think that this may be a suitable substitute and will give blogging a try. Here I will discuss Okinawan Karate-do and my thoughts on the subject, I will also post up coming events for the Gokenkan dojo, IGKA and OGKK.  I am sure that most people who will arrive at this page will be my students, or students of my students, but for those of you that are not, let me introduce myself.

My name is Mike Jones. First and foremost, I am a student of Okinawan Gojuryu following the teachings of Eiichi Miyazato Hanshi and Koshin Iha Hanshi. I am the Owner/ Chief Instructor of the Gokenkan Dojo located in Swayzee, Indiana. I am the Indiana Shibu-cho for the Okinawa Gojuryu Karate-do Kyokai and the Pan  American Chief Instructor / Chairman for the International Gojuryu Karate Association. I started my Gojuryu karate-do training under the guidance of my father in 1977. I have continued to train ever since and have trained under some highly respected karate-ka. Please see my web page for more information http://www.gokenkan.com/

Thank you for your visit and taking your time to read my thoughts, please feel free to leave me a comment.