OThe Matayoshi Family and Kingai-ryuP Fred Lohse explores the mysterious Kingai-ryu, guiding us through its history and shedding light on its relationship with other Okinawan martial arts. - by Fred Lohse - The OmysteriousP Kingai-ryu is refer- Matayoshi legacy. To further confuse Taiwan, some travel around China, enced in a variety of ways in the exist- matters, one way the family referred trips back to Okinawa and Japan, and ing literature on the Okinawan martial to their martial tradition is Kingai-ryu a period of around 10 years during arts. It has been treated as the progenitor Matayoshi Kobudo, or Kingai system which he lived back in Okinawa (from of Goju-ryu, a sister system to Uechi- Matayoshi traditional weapon arts. the early 1920Rs), Shinko studied with ryu, a Chinese crane system, and more This would mean that everything un- Roshi Kingai from about 1909 or 1910 commonly as the empty-hand system der the Matayoshi umbrella is Kingai- WR ZKHQ KH ¿QDOO\ UHWXUQHG WR of the Matayoshi tradition. In reality, ryu, whether it came from Roshi Kin- Okinawa for good. In addition to mar- it is none of these things. While actual gai or not. However, for this article I tial arts, he also studied Chinese herbal information on the system is rather will treat the term Kingai-ryu as that medicine, acupuncture, and moxabus- scarce, this article is an attempt to dis- element of the Matayoshi tradition that WLRQZLWK.LQJDL%HIRUHKH¿QDOO\OHIW pel some of the myths about Kingai- VWHPV VSHFL¿FDOO\ IURP ZKDW 6KLQNR for Okinawa in 1935, Roshi Kingai pre- ryu, and its connection to the Okina- Matayoshi learned from Roshi Kingai sented him with two scrolls, the upper wan martial arts. It draws on written in Fuchow. and lower, that detailed Kingai-ryuRs documents about the system published bushin (god of military arts or patron by the Kodokan dojo in Okinawa, the Kingai-ryu Tode Jutsu ㊄⎬ᵹ໊ᚻⴚ saint), Roshi Komyo Taigen (Guang- practice of the OunarmedP arts passed Shinko Matayoshi traveled to Fuchow ming Da Yuanshuai, or Generalissimo down in the Matayoshi tradition, and on the recommendation of his friend Guangming). 3 Roshi Komyo Taigen is conversations and interviews with a Kenki Go, arriving sometime around seen as a Buddhist saint (bodhisattva). number of people familiar with the 1907-08. In Fuchow, he took up resi- He symbolizes wisdom, a knowledge system(s). While this article is not dence with Koki Go, Kenki GoRs fa- of the evil passions inherent in human PHDQWWREHGH¿QLWLYHDVPXFKRIWKH ther. Koki Go soon introduced Shinko nature, the imparting of the light of secrecy and OmysteryP around the sys- to a friend and fellow martial artist, BuddhismRs virtue and the protection tem remains (and is perhaps even less Roshi Kingai. Kingai is said to have of the 18 arhats, as well as the need to penetrable since the death of Shinpo been a well known martial artist in the stay true to these teachings. The fam- Matayoshi), it is meant to shed more Fuchow area, and is supposed to have ily still holds Roshi Komyo TaigenRs light on a virtually undocumented por- been a senior to the same Shu Shi Wa tion of OkinawaRs martial culture. (Zhou Zeihe) that was Kanbun UechiRs The most common understanding of teacher in Fuchow. 1 Kingai referred to Kingai-ryu is that it is the unarmed art his system as Kingai-ryu, and referred passed down in the Matayoshi family, to the characters comprising the name stemming from the instruction Shinko in the following manner: OKin refers to Matayoshi received from Roshi Kin- supplely reacting to change, while Gai gai, his teacher in China. However, refers to a steel like hardnessP. Togeth- this initial assumption is incorrect. The er they refer to hard and soft as one. 2 Kingai-ryu as taught by Roshi Kingai is The reading for Kin, which is usually not a solely unarmed style; it includes translated as gold, money, or metal, is the use of weaponry, such as the nunti, rather idiosyncratic, perhaps based on tinbe, suruchin, and shuriken. Addi- a personal understanding of the name. tionally, there is more than one art with The system was also referred to as a an unarmed element that the Matayoshi Golden Bird style by Shinpo Matay- family preserved but did not common- oshi, connecting the Kin (gold) char- ly teach, making the Kingai-ryu only acter to it in a different way. Courtesy of Mario McKenna. part of the OunarmedP portion of the With some breaks, including travel to Kenki Go, seated right, and one of his students, VHDWHGOHIWZLWK&KRMXQ0L\DJLFHQWHU Kingai-ryu Wankan or Sanchin to the extant Okinawan forms, but given the similarities in the other kata, it may be safe to assume there are some. It is also safe to assume that these kata are not identical to the other Okinawan ver- sions. This leaves us with a variety of pos- sibilities regarding the primogeni- ture of these kata: that there is actu- ally an Okinawan source for them, that they were common Chinese kata that were imported into Okinawa, that these names for kata were common in Okinawa and/or Fujian, or of course something else entirely. The connec- tion to a variety of Okinawan martial arts does seem obvious however. In Courtesy of David Naus. Courtesy of David Naus. Courtesy of David any case, the system includes a vari- Shinpo Matayoshi doing crane kata, Kodokan Shinpo Matayoshi doing crane kata, Kodokan dojo, 1986. ety of empty hand and armed kata, dojo, 1986. emphasizes open hand and knuckle scrolls, which represent ShinkoRs mas- strikes, and is not identical to any of standing of the vital points of the vital tery of KingaiRs system. Unfortunately OkinawaRs extant karate systems. It points on the human body, and is con- the content of these scrolls has never also contains instruction on vital point sidered a killing art, intended solely for been made public. striking (kyusho). actual combat. The system itself appears to be a Fu- ShinkoRs training under Kingai is said Included in this method is OkidaP, a jianese Tiger-Crane system. Sanchin to have been quite severe. However, method of striking the opponent by uti- is the base kata, and central to it. The Shinko treasured the opportunity to lizing his energy (ki). It is also called entire list of kata, as published by the learn the art from such an accom- kokyu-daho, which means to strike Kodokan and Matayoshi family after plished master, and steeped himself the opponent in time with his breath- the death of Shinpo Matayoshi, can be in the training, as well as in the Chi- ing. The spots to strike are chosen ac- VHHQLQ¿JXUH nese medicine he was studying. The FRUGLQJWRVSHFL¿FFLUFXPVWDQFHVDQG As can be seen from this list, a number art master Kingai taught was based on are points related to acupuncture and of the kata are common to other sys- certain core teachings, including kata moxabustion. According to the system, tems in Okinawa, including Sanchin, study and much work with the applica- the appropriate attack for these points Sesan, Gojushiho, and Wankan. How tions of the kata. One of the OsecretsP LVXVXDOO\ZLWKWKH¿QJHUWLSRUWKHSRLQW close these kata are to the other ver- of the system was OdaninpoP, a method of a one knuckle strike. sions on Okinawa is somewhat unclear, for striking a person. This particular It would appear that Roshi KingaiRs however they are not identical. Bishop method of striking is related to human instruction was not a simple pugilistic (1989, pp. 150) states that the Sesan in physiology. It starts with an under- method, but also included medicine, the system is identical to Uechi RyuRs, but having personally seen the Kingai Sesan, I disagree. There are some simi- larities in pattern and technique choice, particularly the extensive use of open hand attacks, but the kata is most as- suredly not identical. As another ex- ample, the late Sensei Seikichi Odo taught a version of Gojushiho taught to him by Shinpo Matayoshi that he called Gojushiho Ichi. He also taught a Kyan lineage Gojushiho, as Go- jushiho Ni. 4 The Matayoshi Gojushiho has some similarities to the other ver- sions on Okinawa, which stem from Sokon Matsumura, but is in most ways a very different kata. I do not know if there are any similarities between the Courtesy of Fred Lohse. written elements, and of course the Kingai-ryuRs historical connections to armed and unarmed skills of the sys- OkinawaRs martial heritage seem ex- tem. Along with the physical instruc- tensive, if somewhat vague. On a more tion, the secrets of this method were modern level, the expression of Roshi transmitted to Shinko through the use KingaiRs teachings in the Matayoshi of three-ideogram poems. In many Kobudo is a core element of the system, ways, this type of instruction is very even if the empty hand kata were not different from that of the more tightly taught as part of it. Therefore, through focused systems, systems which often the impact the Matayoshi kobudo has cover empty handed combat alone, that had on the Okinawan martial arts and are common to Okinawa today. the large number of Okinawan martial It is, not surprisingly, unclear where artists familiar with it, there is also a this system came from. If, for instance, GHHS LQÀXHQFH RQ PRGHUQ 2NLQDZDQ Kingai was a senior to Shiwa Shu, why karate coming from the Kingai-ryu. is the system so different from what But in looking at the Kingai-ryu, it Kanbun Uechi was taught? Who were is also important not to elide it with both Kingai and Shu students of? Was other elements of the Matayoshi tra- the system created by Kingai? If so, dition.