The Canadian Isshinryu Way Everything Karate & Kobudo
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Isshinryu.ca The Canadian Isshinryu Way Everything Karate & Kobudo Volume 2, Issue 1 January 2006 Inside this issue: Second Year of the newsletter begins The newsletter is now officially This newsletter is slightly smaller History of Isshinryu 2 into it’s second year of exis- than normal and does not have Naihanchi Part 1 tence. I would like to thank specific city pages. This is par- everyone for their tremendous tially the fault of the company support. which hosts our website having a Understanding Condi- 3 severe crash and losing all the I would like to invite everyone, tioning II—Trevor War- updates sent in, and the fact that no matter their rank to consider a full page of news every 2 ren writing an article for the news- months is a great deal of infor- letter. You don’t have to be a mation. Isshinryu Kobudo— 5 sensei to have something to Trevor Warren contribute, in fact some of the This issue will have all city news most compelling reading doesn’t on a single page and this may be answer questions, but instead the new style of the newsletter Improve your Karate 6 asks them. depending on contributions. Stances As well, questions are always welcome for the Ask a Sensei Improve your Kobudo 6 portion of the newsletter. Tonfa Swinging The newsletter will continue it’s regular schedule throughout 2006, again taking a break in the Training Tips 7 summer. Please share the news- letter with all Isshinryu clubs. It’s free for all to enjoy and hopefully benefit from. Information about your 9 City! Fifth Edition of new Canadian Isshinryu Newsletter! Upcoming Events • Valuable training information Seminars: Open Tournaments: Bay, ON • Important historical March 11th, 2006—Shihan Feb 19th, Thunder Bay Mini- Albert Mady Seminar, Thun- Tournament. articles der Bay, ON. March 4th, Kenora Isshinryu • Promotion & Tournament Isshinryu Tournaments: Open, Kenora, ON Results 32nd Annual AOKA World March 19th, Thunder Bay Mini- Championships. Hosted for Tournament. the first time in Canada by March 25th, Winnipeg WKA Shihan Albert Mady. July Qualifier. 8th, 2006, Windsor, ON. Apr 8th, MAC Open. Thunder Page 2 The Canadian Isshinryu Way Inside Story Headline Naihanchi - Part 1 By Mike Fenton Isshinryu Karate Kata Back- Walk or Progress: Denotes the careful progression of tech ground Part 5 niques throughout the kata. Understanding the history of the Isshinryu kata can The Strip of Land between two rice pad provide the Isshinryu Karateka with a greater dies: knowledge of the kata and the techniques it em- ploys. The origins of a kata can guide us toward Marks two of the possible applications for understanding both the application of the technique the kata. The first being a fight in which as a student and a deeper respect for the evolution lateral movement is the preferred direc tion given the terrain. The other being a of the art as an instructor. battle taking place within knee deep water as is common in a rice paddie. The information within this article is a result of research done as part of a book in progress. It is to represent a comprehensive resource of data con- Half, split or divided. cerning the art for all Karateka. While every effort A term used to describe the balance of has been taken to ensure accuracy of the informa- techniques in the kata. tion, any corrections or additional details are wel- come from one and all. Chin: A rather simple translation similar to Sanchin and Seiuchin referring to “War, Battle, Fight, Conflict, etc.” Naihanchi Kata “It is a phonetic Combining the above portions of the name we can alphabet as opposed create many combinations to describe Naihanchi. to the typical Here is the most appropriate combination. Hiragana which The Name provides a deeper Internal Divided Conflict: Accurately reflects the careful balance between the internal and external understanding to the Naihanchi’s name is subject to a great deal of inter- techniques used in the kata. Alternates of this name meaning of the pretation. The main reason for this is the loss of the original Kanji used to represent the Kata. The Japa- include “Fighting within”, “Half inside, Half outside”. word.” nese writing above denoting the kata is known as Katakana. It is a phonetic alphabet as opposed to The other important consideration is the update of the typical Hiragana which provides a deeper under- the name to Naihanchi. This naturally changes the standing to the meaning of the word. meaning of the syllables. While han varies from fuan the translation of half or divided remains, the signifi- cant change is that of the chin to chi. This may have In tracing the history of the kata, Motobu Choki been changed in the same vein that Karate-Jutsu stated in his book that the original name for the kata became Karate-Do. Rather than focus on only the was Naifuanchin. Translating the original name leads combat nature of Karate there was a shift to ac- to a number of possible alternatives. knowledge the internal side of the technique. The term Chi, most are familiar with means Energy or Spirit. Nai: Inside or Inner. Updating the original translation we now get Internal Fuan: Divided Energy. This does not indicate an internal The most contested of the words com battle. The new understanding of the kata became prising the name of the kata. The follow the reservation of energy contributing to the inner ing translations can be used to better concerns and strengths of the body rather than understand the nature of the kata. committing all energy to the external. (Continued on page 3) Volume 2, Issue 1 Page 3 Naihanchi - Part 1 Cont’d By Mike Fenton his time as a student of Matsumora Kosaku. While (Continued from page 2) Naihanchi is an incredible effective kata ideal for Naihanchi also appears within the art of Shotokan as fighting in close, balance of technique is required as created by Funakoshi Gichin. When translating the with everything in life. forms to Japanese the name was changed to Tekki. Tekki translates directly as “Iron Knight” or “Steel horse riding”. The primary reason behind the name The final myth associated with the kata is that the is a potential application of the form. The shotokan name is derived from the capital city Naha. Unfor- version is performed in a deep horse stance which tunately, the only evidence to this appears to be the can be seen as a method of combat while riding a close similarity between the first five letters of Nai- horse. Additional the lack of hip shifting as seen in hanchi. This fact is also largely rebutted by the fact Shotokan allows lateral combat without redirecting that no instructor of significance from the Naha area the horse. included this kata in their teachings. The Myth’s I sincerely hope that you enjoyed reading this. The next article will continue the background of Naihan- chi with the bulk of the article primarily on the Naihanchi has surprisingly few myths associated with kata’s origins focusing specifically on the path the it. The main one could be interpreted as true if one kata took on it’s way to Shimabuku Tatsuo and it’s works hard enough. Many people view the kata as incorporation into Isshinryu Kata. If you have cor- intended to be used with ones back to a wall. While rections or comments regarding this article or any there are only lateral movements within the kata, future article, please feel free to contact me directly. the bunkai frequently represents attackers to the front, back and on a 45 degree angle. The lateral movements only serve to emphasize evasive tech- Mike Fenton “Flexibility is the key niques to oblique angles of the attacker. [email protected] to preventing injuries to the muscles and The second myth is actually more of a myth associ- This article represents part of an unfinished work by ated with the great master Motobu Choki. A com- tendons. “ Trevor Warren and Mike Fenton. Nothing would mon rumour was that he only knew a single kata have been possible without the many resources and used it exclusively in all his fighting experience. available both on the internet and via books cur- While he did favor the kata and referenced it in rently available on Okinawan Karate. Additionally, great detail in his own book, clear evidence exists special thanks must go out to Joe Swift, his research that he did in fact know many kata learned during and willingness to share was an invaluable asset. Understanding Conditioning II: The Hand By Trevor Warren Anatomy Conditioning – Tendons The hand and wrist contain 35 bones, all of which are quite easy to break. The striking areas of the Flexibility is the key to preventing injuries to the hand include the knuckles (heads of the medicarpal) muscles and tendons. Make sure to stretch your and the edge (Triquetrim). The hand and wrist are fingers and thumb for at least 20 seconds per hand. supported by the ulna and radius bones of the fore- Pull the fingers back (or alternately push them arm. Without proper conditioning it would be easy against a wall) until you feel a stretch in the upper to break any or all of these bones while performing part of the palm. It may also be a good idea to work a simple Seiken Tsuki. As well the hand has 3 on grip strength which will be beneficial while grap- groups of muscles and many small tendons which pling. Good grip strength exercises include squeez- may become injured during grappling or striking.