Makalakumu wrote:
In Shuri te systems, this gets even more pronounced and I think we start to get the hint at where some of these moves may have originated. All of the "castle" systems of karate had some exposure to a system of swordsmanship that was imported from Japan called Jigen Ryu. This school has empty handed lists that contain techniques for dealing with an armed attacker while you are unarmed. It also contains techniques for subduing unarmed attackers. Many of these techniques are directly found in the kata. In particular, I think techniques for weapon retention, off hand draws of secondary weapons, and specific throwing techniques designed to clear a weapon and disable an attacker, can be identified.
If there are movements in kata that are paralleled in Jigen Ryu, it would be interesting to see those concepts documented with video. I have my doubts they exist, but would certainly be open to evidence that Okinawan kata have such movements. I am most interested in sequences of movements rather than random hand patterns.
However, if it does turn out to be the case that there are parallels, that doesn't necessarily imply that Okinawan kata were designed with Jigen Ryu movements. The implication here is that Okinawans familiar with Jigen Ryu sword and empty hand concepts, designed these movements into Okinawan kata. However there is little if anything in the historical record that attributes Okinawans as the originators of the kata we practice today.
Rather, the historical record, despite its threadbare nature, indicates that the kata we practice today are of likely Chinese origin. Motobu is most specific, naming 12 kata. Funakoshi adds two more. Nakama, in Bishop's text, adds Channan (Pinan). There are other references as well.
One can argue that Itosu created the movements of Pinans, but that would not be fully correct. First, it is clearly obvious that Pinan kata have movements very similar to movements in a number of other kata of Chinese origin. What about those movements in Pinan that are not found in other known kata? Did Itosu design them? First, they may simply have been part of the Channan kata on which Pinans are based. However, we should consider that many kata have not survived, and it is quite possible that some of the Pinan kata draw from movements in kata that are now dead.
The kata attributed by Motobu, Funakoshi and Nakama as being of Chinese origin include nearly the full range of what we consider Shuri te kata. (Naihanchi, Passai, Kusanku, Gojushiho, Seisan, Chinto, Chintei, Pinan, Jutte, Jiin.) Motobu also describes Wansu, Rohai, Seinchin and Suparenpei as being of Chinese origin.
Regarding Naha te kata, though the record is far from clear, the current historical consensus is that Higaonna brought back four kata (Sanchin, Seisan, Sanseru and Suparenpei) from China. It is uncertain where Shisochin, Kururunfa, Seipei, Saifa originate. However, it is quite probable that these were kata practiced in Naha, possibly in the Kumemura district. The historical record does not name them.
There are other records of Chinese origin of Okinawan kata. Nakaima is credited with bringing back all the kata in his system, from China. Uechi, is also credited with bringing back a number of his kata from China. The origins of the other Uechi kata is uncertain, though many, I believe, are attributed to him.
It is common to find speculation on this forum and others, that the Chinese may have introduced kata long ago, and that these have evolved, through significant changes introduced by Okinawans, into the many variations we see today. Kusanku, Passai and Rohai are good examples of kata where there are many divergent variations of kata with a single shared name. However, there is no surviving historical evidence on which to make the claim that there are older "original" forms, and newer Okinawan creations based on the older forms. They could all be very old. For example, Kusanku could have taught a number of different kata to the individuals he trained.
The Okinawans certainly did develop some kata, noteably the "beginner" kata developed in the 30s and 40s. Funakoshi introduced Taikyoku, Miyagi the Gekisai, and Nagamine, the Fukyugata. There is documentation that these kata were created because the older kata were too complex to be learned quickly. Relatedly, there is evidence that Nagamine and Miyagi created their kata in response to the Japanese military authorities' requests for improvements in basic training for military recruits. The older kata were too difficult to be learned in the several months training before a soldier was shipped off to war. In that effort, the Okinawans certainly did contribute a bit to the body of kata that existed in Okinawa at that time. For example Mabuni is credited with a number of kata.
On this and similar forums, one can find numerous instances of arguments that the Okinawans changed the Chinese kata and made them distinctly Okinawan (or Japanese). Many point to the Funakoshi's statement that he made changes in kata to suit Japanese tastes. Perhaps most obvious is the evolution of Funakoshi's kata from shorter stances to longer, deeper stances, and from lower kicks to higher kicks. These changes may have been done to increase the strenuousness of kata practice. In Funakoshi's youth, he likely practiced kata two or more hours per day. In Japan in the 1930s, gym classes were likely far shorter. Longer, deeper stances, and higher kicks may simply have been a way to increase the exercise level of the training. Moreover, the longer back stance was familiar to many Japanese who trained in kendo in school gym classes.
Beyond those cosmetic changes, it is not all that clear what movements Okinawans may have introduced into the kata handed down to them by the Chinese. One can argue that the Okinawans modified the kata in all manner of ways. For example, this is done above in this thread by Makalakumu who claims that movements from Jigen Ryu sword and related empty hand arts were incorporated in Okinawan kata. The historical evidence implies otherwise and therefore the burden of proof falls on those who make such arguments. It's an easy burden. Show several kata sequences, and show the corresponding Jigen Ryu sequences.
In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I find it preferable to rely upon the surviving documentation we do have from Motobu, Funakoshi and others that uniformly note that Okinawan kata are of Chinese origin.
For those that are willing to accept this hypothesis at face value, an interesting follow up question might be useful.
"Why did Chinese military men, tasked with the armed defense of their sailing vessels to and from Okinawa, appear to limit their training of Okinawans in combative arts to empty hand movements only?"
That question has been studiously ignored by the karate community for the hundred years since karate training entered the public domain. And it remains studiously ignored to this day.
The Okinawans had clear military requirements in defending their trade to and from China. For most of the Okinawan elite, their path to success in the Okinawan aristocracy had a fundamental prerequisite. One needed to be assigned to a trade mission to China where one could acquire the goods and profit needed to be a full upstanding member in Okinawan society. (Funakoshi describes this in his opening pages of Karate-do Kyohan... "Even in the authors youth, lack of a full set of Chinese furniture and furnishings in one's home was a serious impediment to the social influence of any leading family.") Sakon describes how many had to toil for years in low-paying government positions, patiently earning their way to an appointment to a trade mission. For those who did receive such an appointment, they well knew the dangers of the voyage, described aptly by Nagamine. It should be a surprise to nobody that should an Okinawan ship be attacked, they would have fought, to a man, with the military weapons of the time, bladed weapons. Nagamine notes a ships arsenal includes spears. He does not mention swords.
Once one begins to appreciate the national interests of the Okinawans in having a population of able bodied men who could be quickly trained in the military fighting concepts of the time, then one can begin to appreciate the significance of the question above.
"For what purpose did Chinese military men, skilled in armed naval combat with bladed weapons, choose to train Okinawans in empty hand combative arts?"
