Any Yamanni-Ryu practitioners?

[Grenadier]

Just curious to see who else is practicing Yamanni-Ryu.

We actually made the switch to Yamanni-Ryu for our kobudo training, about a year and a half ago.

We were once doing kata such as the Shushi No Kon series, along with Rohai No Kon, but have dropped those, as well as the techniques, in favor of the Yamanni-Ryu ones that Oshiro Sensei teaches.

I'm still trying to polish all of the basic ones (Don Nyu Kon Ichi / Ni, Chou No Kon Sho / Dai, Suji No Kon), before moving onto more advanced ones, but I have a lot of work to do.

I'll say this much; it's a lot different, and more reliant on flowing techniques that seem to chain one right after another.

 

[searcher]

I use some of the kata from Yamanni-ryu, but I don't know the complete system. I would loveto take the time to learn it, but I have no time for another style at this time.

 

[Grenadier]

I had a chance to do some practice while I was out of town, with a fellow practitioner, and found that weapon choice makes a huge difference in performing the techniques of this system.

My normal bo is a hefty 1.25" diameter beast made from solid purpleheart wood. Great for bo-tae-bo drills, or for building up strength, and I had been using it in previous bo training.

However, now that I've switched to a 1.125" bo made by Ray Stephens, I've noticed that the movements are ever so much more fluid. This bo is octagonally shaped, and the diameter is measured from one "corner point" to another, so the weight is actually less than that of what a normal, round 1.125" bo would be.

 

[Ray B]

I used to train with Oshiro Sensei a few years ago before I moved away.

I agree, the bo makes a difference. I too used to use a 1.25 bo but
picked-up a tapered bo (not a toothpick). I think it is 1.12 and tapers
to .88. Much more fluid in my movements. I use the heavier bo for
strength training.

Do you train with him often? I haven't seen him in about 5 years.
Sure do miss it.

Peace.

 

[Grenadier]

Do you train with him often? I haven't seen him in about 5 years.
Sure do miss it.

Peace.

I haven't had a chance to train with Oshiro Sensei yet, although the chief instructor here has trained with him before, and that there are several other senior instructors in the same system that have trained with Oshiro Sensei, on a regular basis.

All I have is a video of him teaching one of those classes to the senior instructors, but from what I've seen, the man's eyes are as sharp as ever, and he knows how to teach to just about any kind of student.

I do hope to rectify this in the very near future, though, once I can get my vacation time in order, and things settle down at work.

 

[okidude]

i trained in yamanni ryu quite extensively for more than 20 years, with both oshiro sensei in california and kishaba sensei in okinawa.

while it may be true that weilding a weapon of one particular weight, balance, or length may be preferable than weilding another, im sure oshiro and kishaba or anyone else who matters will tell you that you must be able to do a kata well no matter what kind of weapon youre holding.

when i was first starting out, oshiro sensei used to tell me i had to train with a light bo, a medium-weight bo, and a heavy bo. the medium-weight bo was supposed to be, of cos, my favorite. training with the light bo was for me to get an understanding of how quickly and fluidly i needed to be able to swing the weapon to be effective. the heavy bo was to be used to train myself how to swing the bo "without using muscles." yeah...u read that right...without using muscles. well, thats just how it was explained, at least. in reality, it was meant to be used as a tool to get me to understand how to reduce the amount of energy put into the move by the arm and to increase the amount of energy put into the move from bigger muscles, such as the torque of the torso and hips. if u practice shirataru no kun 15-20 times in a row with a heavy bo, ure arm muscles will be jelly before you get to #10 unless u know how to keep arm muscle to a minimum.

anyway, on top of that, whereas when i was training in california, most of us had an attachment to one or two of our favorite bo. in okinawa at kishaba sensei's dojo, almost no one had a favorite. we all picked from the bo closet each time we came to the dojo. we had long ones, short ones, heavy ones, light ones, cheap ones, expensive one ... and we were all expected to do our kata equally well no matter what we had.

well, just thought id weigh in.

cheers
m

 

[Ray B]

I didn't play with Oshiro Sensei for any significant time.
I do however like what you said about using different bo.
Thanks for the insight.

You didn't happen to be with Oshiro during the late
80's/ early 90's? I remember a guy named Mike who
was a classmate with Piccalotto Sensei. Are you him Mr. M?

If I recall correctly, he made bo for the school.

Peace.

 

[okidude]

no, im not mike.

i was indeed with oshiro sensei in the 80s and 90s. my name is martin.

i forgot the guys name who youre talking about. man. yeah, he made very nice bo. i had two from him. a beautiful purple heart one and another made of some brazilian wood called wenge, or something like that. somehow i lost both of them while i was in japan. eheehe. hence another reason to explain my becoming unattached to any particular favorite bo.

but yes, those were good days.

cheers,
m

 

[JIKC-Kaneohe]

Martin,

Are you the same Martin who performed sakugawa no kun in this video?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...l=6&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

I've been studying yamanni-ryu for two and a half years. I saw this video and have been trying (but not succeeding!) to replicate the fluid movements. The rhythm is very similiar to a performance I saw by Sensei Oshiro when he did a seminar with our dojo in Honolulu last year.

I attended his Yamanni-ryu seminar last November where he taught choun no kon sho and sakugawa no kun. He's coming back in February 2008, and I can't wait.

I am still very much a novice with yamanni-ryu, and I felt like I was starting over for the first time in both of the seminars I had the priviledge of attending.

Ken

 

[Grenadier]

Martin,

I've been studying yamanni-ryu for two and a half years. I saw this video and have been trying (but not succeeding!) to replicate the fluid movements. The rhythm is very similiar to a performance I saw by Sensei Oshiro when he did a seminar with our dojo in Honolulu last year.

Amazing, isn't he? I saw his clinic on a video disc, that was conducted a few years ago (I think it was with Sensei Rusty and Sensei Howard), and despite his age, he's in better shape than people 20 years his junior.

I attended his Yamanni-ryu seminar last November where he taught choun no kon sho and sakugawa no kun. He's coming back in February 2008, and I can't wait.

I'll see you there, then. I think he's teaching Shirataru No Kun this time.

 

[JIKC-Kaneohe]

Grenadier,

I was at that seminar. I had just learned the sequence for sakugawa no kun, and i learned from the seminar that there is so much more to learn about yamanni-ryu techniques - and that got me hooked.

at the request of sensei rusty, he did a demonstration of sakugawa no kun, but he ordered the video camera shut off (shucks!).


Ken