THE KOBUDO

OKINAWAN ANCIENT MARTIAL ARTS

Okinawa is the main island of the RyuKyu archipelago, placed between China and Japan (300 miles in the south of Japan and 400 to west from China) and flowed through the  South  China Sea. Like such, the islander culture of the local people always was enormously influenced by the Chinese and Japanese controls, which over a long time span continued to alternate themselves to the command of the Okinawan people; wonderful people whom he has always known to join great kindness to a honourable combative spirit.

The Okinawan girls in a typical ballet of the Ryu Kyu Islands

The outcome is one singular culture that mixed harmoniously one’s autochthonal peculiar natives to typical features of China and Japan. Therefore the traditional karate descends primordially from the Chinese Kung Fu, and the history of the armed arts of the RyuKyu follows exactly tha same philogenesis: in the island we find, since the ancient times, many of the weapons that already existed in China, sometimes used in the style and with the formality according to local usage in which its added unique objects of the islands.  Many of these weapons are common also to Japan, but lacking the so-called “noble” arms, as swords and spears, than they do not included in the official conception form of the Okinawan Kobudo.

During the Japanese feudal period, it was imposed to the Ryu-Kyu islanders the prohibition to carry the arms. In fact, at first they endured the repressions of the Chinese, above all from part of Sho-Shin emperor around 1,400 and, successively beninning from 1609 (period of the regnant family Tokugawa), from part of the Shimatzu Daimyo; this is also the cause of the substantial lack of written documentation of the arts of the past times; many documents were destroyed above all during the World War II, because of fires, bombs, etc. Then they remain the peasant ‘s popular objects, with which the equivalent classes, anagolously to the Japanese colleagues, they were defended against the duress of the local samurai, sea-robber (waka) and various dictatorial governments. Such tools gave rise to more than 15 arms, between which the most known and used are following:

Bo, rokushaku Bo, kon, kun: It is the first weapon of the Kobudo, according to historical sources, spreaded in Okinawa more than to-de (the ancestor of Karate); it is a stick long on an average 6 shaku, or rather approximately 180 cm. Similar to the rokushaku bo, but longer, are the hakushaku bo (243 cm.) and kushaku bo (274 cm.). As it can be noticed, to the ideogram bo its make to add the number of shaku that the stick measure. Therefore like for the other sticks, the kind of wood can go from the rattan to the red oak, trying to preference the hardness but also the flexibility of the fibre.  Some theories let to derive the rokushaku bo from the tenbin, the stick used by the Okinawan common people in order to transport buckets and other containers, hanging them in brace to the end of the stick, like a balance; but the martial use of the stick, in its methods, is as much old as the anthropomorphous monkeys. Often the today’s models have the tightened extremities more in comparison of the central side, one particular detail of the Kobudo of Okinawa.

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For the present practising the Bo, beyond putting them in a better position to combat with an easy available object, it offers also the opportunity to train the upper part of the body and to develop the equilibrium

Yonshaku Bo: it’s a long stick 4 shaku.  

Hanbo: arm become famous for choise use that in Okinawa the emperor body-guards it used. They hands on that the soldiers themselves have codified some katas, of which some outlives until to-day. The Hanbo revealed all above all its versatility in the narrow spaces of the rooms.

Tanbo or nijotanbo: long sticks from the 70 to 91,5 cm., generally used in brace.   

Nunchaku, sosetsu kon, nunchiku, nuchiku, nunchaku kon: flexible weapon made from two sticks of approximately 30 centimeters, joined between they from one chain, horse hair or from one simple rope. The tradition says that in origin it was used by peasants like a whip in order to strike the rice straw, while recent historical researches have suggested its derivation from a riding whip, than initially had the sticks curved. Its one of the weapons of the Kobudo whose handling is approached to the movements of the Karate.

The nunchaku it is not used only to spin round and striking with the extremity sides, but it is so much efficacious, held engaged with two hands, in grasps, blocks, torsions, and immobilizations, still more in  closer blows. In this way, the weapon can be revealed good as to the average that to the short distance. Contrarily to how much its reputation puts into effect them can leave to believe, the nunchaku was not one of the primary arms of the Okinawan people, that it found in the tonfa and in the sai, more effectiveness in order to fight against swords and other classic naked steels. Some cite like ulterior test of that the substantial lack of classic shapes of nunchaku. The advantage of the nunchaku is rather in the possibility of to keep various adversaries at bay. This weapon is diffused, beyond that, as usal, in China, also in Indonesia and the Philippines, demonstrating the undeniable influences between those countries.

Sai: it is the Japanese Jutte, a trident knife, with a long pole and two short prongs that acts as also like guard/parry thrusts. Seeing that in Okinawa the Sais was taught in much secret way, their origin is rather keep in the dark: according to some, they would derive from the tips of the harpoons used from the fishermen; but in conformity with the more following theories, the sai was born with the use that of it the police made, as Japanese that Okinawan. The police above all used this arm in brace, but in Japan also in a singular way. A good forged sai is quite good in order to catch off the blade and, in case of expert handling, to be able to break it through one torsion of the arm. Sometimes a third sai was carried  threaded in the obi and to be used for replace what it came threw against the adversary.

Manji sai: in the use and the shape its similar to sai, but with two short branches  places specularly, one face in one direction, the other on the contrary.

Nuntei, nunti: a  long stick with a manji-sai fixed in tip; probably it derives from harpoons used by the islander fishermen. It does not confused with a nozzle, even if with it it shares the attention for the precision of the movements and the favourable predisposition for the small circular techniques. The manji sai place on the top allows also to hook and to entrap the arms or parts of the body of the adversary.

Yari, hoko: similarly to the Japanese yari, it is composed of one blade or ferrule applied on the top of a long stick, than measure from 213 to 305 cm.; it joins the advantages of the stick with those of the nozzle.    

Tonfa, tunfa, tuifa, taofua, tuiha, tunfua, tonfua, toifua, tonkua, tunkua: those also used generally in brace, in origin were tools in order to bore holes in the land in which planting potatoes or other seeds, or else for  the rice threshing (tools and similar customs were traceable in past times between the rice-fields of the North Italy); the tonfa it must be longer of the practicing elbow at last two fingers when it comes held along the forearm; the wood must follow accurately the line, in quite adherent right; for this the taken one on the handgrip it must be very firm. A less conventional use of the weapon, consists in grasp it to the base of the long branch for  parry thrusts and also to hit with the short part, then usually is used as handle.

Kama, nichokama, mamori kama: sickle, generally used in brace; practically whichever peasant culture has used this object, above all for the pruning and the reaping. Its one of the most dangerous weapons, since it is endowed by a sharp blade. Like in common use in Japan, above all in Okinawa it came out some models with one chain attacked to the end of the handle, to leading to similar models like the kusari gama.

Eku, ieku, ueku, Kai: the paddle with which, on the boats of Okinawa, it oared or it held the ship ‘s course. In fact in the shapes of eiku the movements of rowing are various. Also adopting, in the common characteristics, some techniques of Bo, the long and wide terminal shovel of the paddle allow to special strategies. The original katas  of eiku are not at all so numerous.

Tinbei, tinbe: a type of shield made with a big and hard sea tortoise shell; used in combination with an arm, generally rochin (a short stick furnished to an extremity with one ferrule or one blade)  or banto (a type of machete).

Kuwa, kue: unusual weapon that derives from a simple hoe.

Tekko: In practice a kind of  “knuckle-duster” or iron fist, in wood or metal, with which the hands were armed, than it is said is derives from horse-shoes; they could bring nearish the knuckles some spikes or even short blades and their handling, beyond in similitude of fist techniques, included slashing and cleaving; adapted to the combat to the short distance, was above all used in brace. There is a tightened version of this arm called ticchu.

Other weapons less known derived from China-Japanese experiences, who some Kobudo schools included in the training are following: Sansetsu Kon (flexible stick with three sections), the axe hoko, the naginata one, Surichin (rope with two weights on the tips).

Being respectful the Okinawan tradition, the learning begins with simple techniques of defence and attack (hojundo or Kihon), in order then to pass to the Katas, therefore to some periods of their appliances (bunkai). In our school we training also the yakusoku kumite, the defined combat. 

Kata RyuKonKai

1

1.     FuKyu Bo

2.     ShuShi No Kon

3.     Choun No Kon

4.     Sakugawa No Kon

5.     Chikin No Kon

6.     Shirotaru No Kon

7.     Chikin No Eku

8.     Nicho Sai

9.     Ishikagwa No Sai

10. Chatan Yara No Sai

11. FuKyu Nunchaku

12. Nunchaku Jutsu

13. Nicho Nunchaku Jutsu

14. RyuKonkai Tuifa-Jutsu

15. Toma No Tuifa

16. RyuKonKai KeBo

17. Ishikagwa No Kama

18. Katancha No Tekko

19. Sansetsu Kon Jutsu

The trainer-coachs Livio Liverani and Maurizio Caneparo are the official representatives for the Piedmont District of the school RyuKyu Kobudo RyuKonKai, direct students of the Sensei Oscar Higa (9^th Dan Karate/Kobudo – representative for Italy and Europe of the RyuKyu Kobudo RyuKonKai). They continue to transmit the Kobudo ‘s art with the same passion and according to a tradition handed down from century to century that has distinguished the decision temper, but always in a humble attitude, of the inhabitants of the Ryu Kyu Islands and Okinawa during the feudalism period.

YAKUSOKU KUMITE Higa- Liverani- Caneparo