Do You Study ____ -ryu karate?

[isshinryuronin]

This started as part of my post #90 in the thread "Training in Multiple Dojos," but I took it out as it was already too long. In that thread I brought up "continuity" and will expand on that here. We are familiar with many karate styles: isshin-ryu, goju-ryu, shorin-ryu, chito-ryu, wado-ryu, uechi-ryu and others. That's a lot of "ryu's!" But what does ryu mean?

Looking at the kanji for ryu it can be seen that the bottom portion contains the element of "river" (vertical lines). If you have a patch or certificate with your style's name in Japanese, you can see it. The literal definition of the entire ryu kanji can be defined as "flow." A river flows and transports its waters downstream over time. Is ryu just a cool word to mean "style" or did the old masters have something in mind? Of what relevance is this to TMA? Does it have any effect on the way you view your art?

 

[_Simon_]

Yeah when I discovered that ryu was more akin to "flow" or "stream" like a river... it really opened something up to me.

Not some rigid dead structure... but something flowing, living, and constantly moving. And how downstreams often have forks that separate the water, they flow naturally and unimpeded. I often see many stark traditionalists say "oh if only karate were unified and became one, and back to how it was", well.... I don't see it that way. I see the different "streams" and styles as simply a natural evolution and expression of different principles and emphases. Each style is a beautiful manifestation, and whilst having its roots in karate of old, has been passed down a different stream.

And it really helped me to appreciate and honour all the different styles and what they're all about. Karate is along a spectrum, each having a different focus or emphasis (same with all martial arts really), they don't have to contain every single element of every martial art.

Just like how the simple flower, how many natural permutations and variations there are... None are more flower-like than the others huh? I very much see the different ryu like this . As a living stream that we draw from and explore.

(Thank you also for bringing up wonderful topics to explore. I feel we would have lots to talk about haha)