Aoyagi Kata

[Pacificshore]

From what I have discovered, this is a Shito-ryu kata developed by Mabuni Sensei for women's self defense. Is this kata still taught in many of the Shito-ryu dojos? Are there different variations to this particular kata as well?

I learned this kata many years back in my old system of Kenpo where many of our katas were from the Okinawan line. I have found very little vid clips of this kata being performed and am interested in other versions if they are out there to be seen.

The translations I've found is either "Blue Willow" or "Green Willow" depending on what website I was looking at. Thanks in advance

 

[Brandon Fisher]

Sorry I do not know as I have never heard of the kata.

 

[twendkata71]

It is still taught in most Shito ryu dojo(seito ha,Hayashi ha,Shukokai). From what I remember there are two versions. The mens version and the womens version. Please correct me if I am incorrect. I will do more research on the kata.

 

[Pacificshore]

It is still taught in most Shito ryu dojo(seito ha,Hayashi ha,Shukokai). From what I remember there are two versions. The mens version and the womens version. Please correct me if I am incorrect. I will do more research on the kata.

Thanks for the reply. This is the one vid clip that I found on You Tube:

Obviously I was unaware of a Men's and Women's version. Here is a short description of how I learned this kata. In the beginning, we have 3 ridgehand strikes originating from a crane stance, stepping into forward stances. Then following the last ridgehand strike, we do a head grab followed by a back knuckle strike as we pull back into a crane stance.

The middle of the kata is similar to the vid, but after the 3 push blocks, we do 3 reverse punches utilizing head blocks, a chop and kick combination, closing the kata with double circular open hand block. Sorry if it's hard to understand, but I'm going off memory as best as I can

 

[twendkata71]

That version is remarkable similar to the seiryu kata of Japan Karate do Ryobukai(Shindo Jinen ryu), that was supposed to be created by Konishi. Then again, Konishi was a student of Mabuni O sensei's. Perhaps Konishi just used a different name for the kata.

 

[Pacificshore]

That version is remarkable similar to the seiryu kata of Japan Karate do Ryobukai(Shindo Jinen ryu), that was supposed to be created by Konishi. Then again, Konishi was a student of Mabuni O sensei's. Perhaps Konishi just used a different name for the kata.

Cool! Do you know of any vid clips of this kata? Very interested to see the similarities of how I learned it. Thanks for the input

 

[twendkata71]

You can go to www.jkr.com and it has a video section for the kata seiryu of Konishi. I think that you have to register to be able to view it. I also saw the same video of Howard High demonstrating on Youtube.

 

[twendkata71]

I guess you will have to go to youtube to see the video's I went to the Ryobukai website and the video links are currently not open. I did see them on youtube though as well.

 

[Pacificshore]

Thanks again

 

[twendkata71]

After looking at the video of the Ryobukai seiryu kata and the aoyagi kata, they are different, but have a few similarities. The ryobukai version is longer. You can still see the Shito ryu influences in it though.

 

[Pacificshore]

The only real difference that I have seen thus far between the two katas, and how I learned it is in the 'softer' movements of the kata. Since this kata contains both elements of hard/soft techniques, than many other traditional forms, the way I learned it the 'softer' techniques were really emphasized in the form. Larger circular movements, deeper/longer stances, etc.

 

[dancingalone]

I was taught this kata years ago by a friend. I suppose he showed me the male version, although he never mentioned that there was a ladies version floating around.

He told me the kata translates to "Green Willow" and that it had been developed through a collaboration with Kenwa Mabuni (shito-ryu karate), Yasuhiro Konishi (ryobukai karate), and Morihei Ueshiba (aikido). Apparently, Konishi has been asked to develop some women's self-defense techniques by the Japanese government or military and he approached Mabuni, widely acknowledged as a kata expert, to help him design a form for this task. Konishi and Mabuni worked on their kata and somehow Ueshiba came into the picture to give his feedback from an aiki perspective.

I wish I knew more about the origins of this kata. Sadly, my friend passed away some years ago, and I never had a chance to ask him more on the subject. I can guess at some of the applications, but I am curious if there are generally accepted interpretations of the movements that are taught.

The form itself is deceptively simple. It appears to be a basic kata as it is mostly elbows and soft palm blocks, but one of the keys to performing it is to carry a slightly higher center of gravity while still being solid and fluid.

Aoyagi deserves a wider audience than it currently has. Most outside of shito-ryu have never heard of it.