China and the Origins
of
Okinawan White Crane
Kenpo
Part I
The martial arts of Southern China have been
the source of much of Okinawas martial art culture, especially its
emptyhand system known as Naha-Te. Another unique martial art system
known as Shuri-Te (Shorin Ryu) was also influenced by Chinese martial
arts but it has its own history and evolution distinct from Naha-Te. The
white crane system of Southern China has in fact defined Naha-Te.
The people responsible for the importation of
Naha-Tes kata from Southern China include but are not limited to Kanryo
Higashionna, Nakaima Kenri, Bushi Sakiyama and Arakaki Seisho. The kata
they learned from various teachers in China were absorbed into Okinawan
karate. The Okinawans have transformed these kata to some extent and
added their own cultural touch to them. For example, Kanryo Higashionna
changed sanchin kata from an open-handed kata to a kata that uses
closed fists. He did this to reflect the Okinawan preference for the use
of the fist. Additionally, Chojun Miyagi (1988-1953) created the
tensho kata. He used the concept of rokkishu (six wind hands)
from the Bubishi, a Chinese marital arts text, as a guide for the
hand manipulations and the sanchin kata as the three-step
embusen or pattern of footwork. Other kata such as sochin,
niseishi (nijushiho) and unshu (unsu) are
additional Naha-Te kata brought to Okinawa by Bushi Sakiyama and Arakaki
Seisho (Kamadeunchu). This was in the mid-nineteenth century. Arakaki
(1840-1920) was known to have performed in a demonstration for Chinese
dignitaries visiting Okinawa in 1867. Kenwa Mabuni (1889-1953), the
founder of Shito Ryu karate passed these three kata down to the current
generation. He was a collector of kata and had the vision and
intellectual candlepower to preserve these kata. In fact, Mabuni
standardized the techniques within the kata so that they would be
performed universally throughout all the kata. He had a repetoire of
fifty-four kata. These included what he had learned from Arakaki and
Higashionna and twenty-three swift fists or kata he learned from Anko
Itosu. Shotokan karate includes these three kata in its curriculum
[derived from Mabuni] but they have been modified from the original
Okinawan forms.
The modern styles of Naha-Te include Uechi
Ryu, Goju Ryu and Ryuei Ryu. Uechi Ryu, originally called Pangai noon
meaning half hard and half soft, was a Southern Chinese white crane
tradition. Interestingly, Kanbun Uechi (1877-1948) in March of 1897
traveled from Okinawa to Fuzhou in Fujian Province, China to learn
martial arts and to avoid conscription into the Japanese Army. He
studied there with a monk named Shu Shi Wa (1874-1926) (Chinese: Chou
Tzu Ho/Zhou Zihe) and learned the Southern Chinese tiger style embodied
in the kata sanchin, seisan and sanseiryu.
Incidentally, these kata are common to Goju Ryu and Ryuei Ryu as well.
After ten years of study he earned a teaching license and began to teach
in Nansoue, a town about
250 miles
west of Fuzhou. He taught there for almost ten years but closed the
school because a man was killed because of a misapplied Shu family
technique. Uechi felt responsible for the incident and because of this
and other legal problems left China. He returned to Okinawa in 1910
vowing never to teach martial arts again and became a farmer. In 1924 he
left Okinawa for Wakayama, Japan. He opened a dojo there in 1924 and
began teaching again. He only taught the three kata sanchin,seisan
and sanseiryu. (See: Japanese Martial Arts Dictionary, Alexander
and Jespersen). According to one source Kanbun never referred to his
style by name but simply called it Pangai noon. This means that
the original Uechi Ryu style or Pangai noon as he called it was a
pure white crane (or perhaps more accurately Tiger/Dragon and Crane
since this system incorporated movements of all three animal styles)
style of Southern Chinese Kung Fu uninfluenced by Okinawan karate.
Another style of Naha-Te is called Ryuei Ryu.
This literally means the style in honor of master Ryu. The system was
founded by Nakaima Kenri (1850-1927) and was perpetuated by his son
Nakaima Kenchu (1856-1953). This family tradition was further carried on
and perpetuated by his son Nakaima Kenko (1911-1994). The style was kept
a family secret through three generations of adherents. The grandfather,
Nakaima Kenri supposedly studied in Fuzhou under a teacher by the name
of Master Ryu Ru Ko (Xie Zhongxiang). This is the same teacher claimed
by Kanryo Higashionna. In addition to using Naha-Te strength-building
kata such as sanchin, the style incorporates seisan and
sanseiryu as well as niseishi. Additionally, Ryuei Ryu has
six unique kata namely anan, ohan, pachu, paiku,
heiku and paiho (See: Okinawa Island of Karate,
Yamazato Publications). The style didnt actually go public until 1971
when its current headmaster Tsugo Sakumoto popularized it by becoming a
world kata champion using the unique anan kata in competition.
Prior to this the karate master Teruo Hayashi studied Ryuei Ryu under
Nakaima Kenko and added the six unique kata of Ryuei Ryu to his Shito
Ryu style.
The Elusive Ryu Ru Ko
(1852-1930) Arakaki Seisho (1840-1920) Higashionna Kanryo (1851-1915)
The Goju Ryu style of karate is no doubt the
most widely practiced Naha-Te style throughout the world. Its founder
and designer was Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953). Miyagi carried on the
traditions of his teacher Kanryo Higashionna (1853-1915). Higashionna
studied under Arakaki Seisho at age
15. In
March of 1873 he left for Fuzhou to study martial arts. There he studied
for six or seven years under Ryu Ru Ko and Waishinzan, Master Ryus
assistant instructor. Apparently, Higashionna studied other styles as
well in China. After Higashionnas death in 1915, Miyagi went to China to
find Ryu Ru Ko. He only found the dojo, which was destroyed and
abandoned. Some years later [in the 1930s] he returned to China with the
white crane master Gokenki (1886-1940) and together they searched for
Miyagis lost roots and the elusive Ryu Ru Ko. But because of the
political climate (Japan was at odds with China over the occupation of
Manchuria) he was unable to conduct the research he wanted to [since he
was Japanese he was not allowed to leave his hotel room]. Legend has it
that on his first trip Miyagi actually discovered Ryu Ru Kos grave and
other information about him such as the location of the temple he
studied in outside of Fuzhou in the mountains. Ryu Ru Ko had eventually
opened his own school in Fuzhou and developed the Whooping Crane style
of Chinese kenpo. Unfortunately, the information Miyagi gathered on his
first trip was destroyed during the bombing of Okinawa in 1945 during WW
II.
Its interesting to speculate as to why neither Uechi, Higashionna and
Nakaima ever referred to their styles by their Chinese names. Uechis
style was a tiger/dragon /crane system, and both Higashionna and Nakaima
studied whooping crane alla Ryu Ru Ko but none of them ever
referred to their respective arts as a crane style. Perhaps they were
content to simply establish their own traditions melded with indigenous
Okinawan martial arts once back in their homeland.
Miyagi was an innovator when it came to karate. He was from a wealthy
family who imported herbal medicine from China. Therefore, he had the
luxury of time to practice and dedicate himself to martial arts. He
designed a number of exercises to help the beginning student become
stronger and to prepare him for the more advanced kata. He introduced
three new kata gekisai ichi, gekisai ni and tensho. In 1933 he
officially named his style Goju Ryu meaning hard/soft style borrowing
this concept from the Eight Poems of the Fist contained in
the Bubishi.
In an effort to unravel much of the mystery of hakutsuru or the
white crane influence on the styles of Southern China and on Okinawan
karate the Okinawa Hakutsuru Kenpo Association (OHKA) was formed. This
research group was created to preserve not only the southern Chinese
white crane martial art but also its evolution and development in
Okinawa. Iken Tokashiki sensei of Okinawa has done much research on this
subject as well. The kata syllabus reflects elements of the kata of Goju
Ryu, Ryuei Ryu and Uechi Ryu as well as original Chinese influences. The
tensho kata in OHKA is practiced exactly the same as in Goju Ryu.
This is to honor Miyagi sensei for his brilliance in creating the kata
and for his dedication to karate. Sanchin is practiced in OHKA as
two kata, hakutsuru so and ton or white crane
number one and number two. These kata reflect more of the Chinese origin
without Higashionna senseis changes. They are derived from Gokenki the
Chinese white crane master who lived in Okinawa from about 1910. The
thrusting movements of these sanchintype kata are performed with
open hands. The kata are also performed with an artificial or forced
breathing method similar to Goju Ryu but without as much intensity. In
China sanchin is practiced with an artificial breathing method
similar to Goju Ryu but with shallower breathing and with a more
staccato breathing rhythm. Within the curriculum of OHKA the beginning
movements of the kata seisan and sanseiryu are performed
with open hands similar to Uechi Ryu. This again is a reflection of
their Chinese origins.
OKINAWA
HAKUTSURU KENPO
ASSOCIATION
Kata Syllabus & Rank
Requirements
Shodan Hakutsuru So (sho) (Sanchin)
Hakutsuru Tan (ni) (Sanchin)
Tensho (Revolving Hands)
Fighting Kata Shodan
Nidan Paipuren (Happoren)
Eight steps breathing &
Energy kata.
Seisan
Fighting Kata Nidan
Sandan Matsumura Rohai (Crane standing on a rock.)
Sanseiryu
Fighting Kata Sandan
Yondan Nipaipo (28 steps)
(Pressure points &
knockout fighting
techniques.)
Niseishi (Twenty four
steps)
Godan Arakaki Sochin
(Tranquil Force)
Rokudan Unsu kata (Cloud hand)
Nandan Kumemura Hakutsuru (Highest level kata-
internal and external
energy in one kata.)
Hachidan Additional requirements: Kyusho
jutsu and a
knowledge of the 48 Techniques of Kenpo
from the Bubishi.
Kudan Honorary
Judan Honorary
On my last trip to China I saw many people performing sanchin
(Chinese: sam chien) kata. Members of the Yong Chun Village white
crane tradition such as Mr. Su Ying Han and others performed sanchin
as well as practitioners of the Wuzu Quan or Five Ancestor Fist style
(See: Black Belt Magazine, TheShaolin Path, July 2006). Although
I saw no one demonstrate seisan or sanseiryu.
Oftentimes this type of fieldwork and historical research raises more
questions that it answers. Perhaps much of the information and the
transmission of the lamp so to speak is lost in the mists of time.
Richard Kim once said, The kata are a teacher forever! There is no
question that the more one practices the kata the more insightful one
becomes. The kata are a living record of history and through their
practice their essence is revealed. I plan to return to China in
November of 2006 to conduct more research and of course to train with
the Shaolin monks.
Anyone interested in membership in the Okinawa Hakutsuru Kenpo
Association as well as seminars and training please email me and I
will send you an Instructors Guidebook, etc. Presently, we have DVDs
with many of the kata and explanations on them. For more on this see
Mastering White Crane Karate at
www.yamazato-videos.com
