Wing Chun - Chinese Martial Art

Wing Chun (also known as Wing Tsun, Ving Chun or Ving Tsun) is one of the most popular types of Chinese martial arts. Though it’s basically an unarmed combat technique, Wing Chun may include weapons as part of its course. The origin of Wing Chun can be traced back to China, but the real history of its creation has long been a topic of much debate. The most credible suggestion regarding the origin of Wing Chun dates back to 1700 AD in the Henan Shaolin Monastery.

When the Qing forces raided and ravaged the Southern Shaolin temple, a nun named Ng Mui fled to the distant Daliang Mountains, the only survivor. Ng Mui already had knowledge of Kung Fu in the Shaolin temple, which she assimilated with a new form she had learnt while observing a battle between a snake and a crane. She taught this new combat style to her adopted daughter whom she named Yimm Wing Chun. The new system was refined and then passed on from generation to generation, and was eventually named Wing Chun, after Yimm.

The modernization of Wing Chun started in Hong Kong during the 1950s under a Grandmaster called Yip Man. The discipline began to gain real popularity in Asia and the West when actor Bruce Lee became one of the most famous Wing Chun practitioners.

The Concept of Wing Chun:

Wing Chun is based on three basic principles - Practicality, Efficiency and Economy of Movement.

1. Practicality: Techniques such as Palm-up Hand (tan sau), Wing Arm (bong sau), Slapping Hand (pak sau) are designed to maim the most sensitive or vulnerable parts of the opponent’s body such as throat, groin, eyes and lower torso. Many movements and techniques in Wing Chun are often meant to be fatal.

2. Efficiency: Wing Chun does not use force against force, in order to gain the most efficient manipulation of the body's energy. It believes in accurately timed and appropriately positioned little movements, and counter-attack is based on the opponent’s own force. This concept is also called Contact Reflexes.

3. Economy of Movement: This is a linear concept in which movements are based on an imaginary pole running vertically through the center of the body. The Center Line spreads out from this Mother Line, and since most of the vital points of the body are located along the Center Line, many offensive and defensive movements are based on this line. The Central Line, on the other hand, is the shortest path between the fighters where most of the combat exchanges take place.

Wing Chun Forms:

There are three basic forms in Wing Chun:

1. Empty Hand Form: This form has three more sub-forms - Siu Nim Tao - the foundation of the art, Chum Kiu - focus on advanced footwork and entry techniques, and Biu Jee - extreme short-range or long-range techniques, low kicks and sweeps, and emergency techniques.

2. Weapon Forms: The Dragon Pole and Butterfly Swords are the two forms of weapons incorporated in Wing Chun, categorized under advanced training.

3. Wooden Dummy or the Muk Yan Jong Form: A dummy made from several wooden posts represents a human opponent. The contraption is used to perfect angle, position, and footwork.

Mixed Martial Arts - MMA Explosion

There is a lot of talk about what martial art is the toughest and which masters of the art could beat all the rest, but never has that question been tested so thoroughly as in the field of Mixed Martial Arts, more commonly known as MMA. This full combat, nearly no-holds-barred type of fighting pits one competitor against another and the results, while occasionally brutal, go further towards declaring a fighting supremacy than anything short of full-out warfare.

More and more, people are discovering that Mixed Martial Arts holds more appeal than simply going to the gym to pump iron. This raw and vital application of their strength, their speed and their stamina has become a rallying point for people around the world, and it cannot be denied that other segments of this rarefied society is taking note.

Mixed Martial Arts is turning into a real proving ground for the Holy Grail of the sport, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and while there are some clear favorites and some near-sure bets, there is still plenty of speculation who is really going to be entering the ring every year. If you are interested in Mixed Martial Arts, there is no better time to start than now, but keep in mind that being prepared is one of the most important factors when it comes to avoiding catastrophic injury.

The full contact nature of Mixed Martial Arts sets it far apart from the sterile and regimented stylings and posturing of other martial arts, and the high velocity and sheer strength that is behind the moves of this activity are legendary. Make sure you don't go into it unprepared and that goes for your protection as well as your mind and your body. Make sure that you find MMA gloves and shorts that fit you appropriately. Your MMA gloves and shorts are an integral part of helping you move and bend appropriately, so make sure you don't forget this very simple, but altogether vital factor.

Take some time and really learn about this sport. Mixed Martial Arts has quite a pedigree; it stretches back to ancient Greece and the Olympic games. In 2005, more than ten years after the activity's creation, the US Army began to allow Mixed Martial Arts when the first annual All Army Combatives Championship was held. While some continue to complain about the sport not being as raw or as real anymore, head to a tournament, and you'll soon see different!

Shotokan ryu

Shotokan-ryu (松濤館流, Shōtōkan-ryū?) is a school of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Yoshitaka Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi is widely recognized as having brought karate from Okinawa to mainland Japan, although Kenwa Mabuni, Chōki Motobu, and other Okinawan karate masters were actively teaching karate in Japan prior to this point. Shōtō ("pine waves") was Funakoshi's pen-name,[1] while kan means "house." Hence, shōtō-kan was the name of the hall where Funakoshi trained his students. Shotokan is one of the four traditional karate styles, the others being Gōjū-ryū, Shitō-ryū, and Wadō-ryū.[2] Although it began as a unified karate school that developed into the Japan Karate Association, Shotokan now exists as several independent organizations.
Contents

Ranks

Most schools use the kyu/dan system but have added other colours. The most common, used by the JKA and most other large mainstream, international Shotokan associations is given below but other variations exist.

* 9th kyu: Orange
* 8th kyu: Red
* 7th kyu: Yellow
* 6th kyu: Green
* 5th kyu: Purple
* 4th kyu: Purple/white
* 3rd kyu: Brown
* 2nd kyu: Brown
* 1st kyu: Brown/white
* 1st dan and above: Black

Kata
Kata is often described as a set sequence of karate moves organized into a prearranged fight against imaginary opponents. The kata consists of kicks, punches, sweeps, strikes, blocks and throws. Body movement in the various kata includes stepping, twisting, turning, dropping to the ground and jumping.

Several Shotokan groups have introduced kata from other styles into their training, but when the Japan Karate Association (JKA) was formed, Nakayama Sensei laid these 26 kata down as the kata syllabus for the JKA karateka. Even today, many thousands of Shotokan Dojo only practice these 26 kata.

Kata should be executed with the correct attitude first and foremost. If the karate practitioner has an understanding of the kata, close attention will be paid to the control and timing of all moves throughout the entire sequence, while each fast move will be executed with speed, power and intent. The karateka will execute the technique as if their life depends on it!

Kata is not a performance, or a demonstration, it is for the individual karateka to practice full techniques with 'Ikken Hisatsu' (finishing blow or to kill with one blow).

As the karateka grows older, more emphasis is placed on the health benefits of practising kata, promoting fitness while keeping the body soft, supple and agile.
Gichin Funakoshi executing Kanku dai kata (観空)
Gichin Funakoshi executing Kanku dai kata (観空)
Name Kanji Meaning
Taikyoku shodan (aka Kihon) 太極初段 Great Beginning
Heian shodan 平安初段 Peaceful Mind, One
Heian nidan 平安二段 Peaceful Mind, Two
Heian sandan 平安三段 Peaceful Mind, Three
Heian yondan 平安四段 Peaceful Mind, Four
Heian godan 平安五段 Peaceful Mind, Five
Tekki shodan 鉄騎初段 Iron Horse, One
Bassai dai 披塞大 To Penetrate a Fortress (Major)
Jion 慈恩 Jion is the name of a temple, and also the name of a buddhist saint
Empi 燕飛 Flight of the swallow
Kanku dai 観空大 To Look At the Sky (Major)
Hangetsu 半月 Half-moon
Jitte 十手 Ten hands
Gankaku 岩鶴 Crane on a rock
Tekki nidan 鉄騎二段 Iron Horse, Two
Tekki sandan 鉄騎三段 Iron Horse, Three
Nijushiho 二十四步 Twenty-four Steps
Chinte 珍手 Unusual Hands (Also rare hands or crazy hands)
Sochin 壯鎭 Tranquil Force
Meikyo 明鏡 Bright Mirror
Unsu 雲手 Hands in a Cloud
Bassai sho 披塞小 To Penetrate a Fortress (Minor)
Kanku sho 観空小 To Look at the Sky (Minor)
Wankan 王冠 King's crown
Gojushiho sho 五十四歩小 Fifty-four Steps (Minor)
Gojushiho dai 五十四歩大 Fifty-four Steps (Major)
Ji'in 慈陰 Love of Truth (Also the name of a buddhist saint)



Kumite
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Beginners are usually introduced to kumite training with 'gohon kumite' (five-step sparring) or 'sanbon kumite' (three-step sparring). Two karateka are required for the exercise. Once they pair up and bow, the attacking karateka steps back into a zenkutsu dachi (front stance) while executing a gedan-barai (downward block) and announces in a clear, audible fashion the attack. The first type is designated 'jodan' (high level), where they will subsequently execute a high oi-zuki (lunge punch). Their partner must then react by stepping back and executing an age-uke (rising block) to block the attack. This is repeated until the fifth oi-zuki, when the defender executes a minor counter in the form of a gyaku zuki (reverse punch). The defender is expected to kiai with their counter attack.

That completes one sequence. The next step is for the karateka to return to yoi position (in some associations the counter-attacker moves forward to the yoi position, in some backwards) and the one that was defending takes a turn at attacking, repeating the sequence above.

Another type of gohon kumite is designated 'chudan' (mid level). The differences are that chudan level oi-zuki are used by the attacker and soto-uke blocks are used by the defender. An alternative sequence of attacks may be employed at this level, in which the attacker executes a series of maegeri (front snap kicks), while the defender blocks each one using a gedan-burai (downward block).

At intermediate level (usually above 5th kyu), karateka are expected to learn 'ippon kumite' (one-step sparring). Though it is only one step, it is more advanced because it involves a greater variety of attacks and blocks. It also requires the defender to execute a minor counter in a timely fashion. Minor counters can be almost anything, including strikes, grapples and take-downs.

The next level of kumite is the 'jiyu ippon kumite' (freestyle one-step sparring)(Tsutomu Ohshima actually says in his book "Notes on Training" that jiyu ippon kumite is the most realistic practice in Shotokan Karate, and that it is more realistic than jiyu kumite). This is almost the same as ippon kumite but requires the karateka to be in motion. Practice in this is beneficial in improving jiyu kumite (freestyle sparring) skills, and also provides an opportunity for practicing major counters (as opposed to minor counters).

Usually the last element of sparring to be introduced is jiyu kumite (free sparring) where two participants are free to use any choice of karate technique or combination of attacks, and the opponent is free to avoid, block, counter and attack at will. Tradition in shotokan karate is that participants of jiyu kumite are encouraged to make controlled and focused contact with their opponent, but to withdraw their attack as soon as surface contact has been made. This allows a full range of target areas to be attacked (including punches and kicks to the face, head, throat and body) with no padding or protective gloves, but maintains a healthy degree of safety for the participants. The use of throws and takedowns is permitted in free sparring, however it is very unusual for fights to involve extended grappling or ground-wrestling as shotokan practitioners are encouraged to finish a downed opponent with a punch or kick.

An additional method of training which is usually introduced for higher grades is kaishu ippon kumite. This starts in a similar manner to jiyu ippon kumite; one karateka names the attack they intend to throw, attacks, and their partner blocks and counters their attack. Unlike jiyu ippon kumite, however, the original attacker must block their partner's counter-attack and strike back at them. This exercise is often considered more difficult than either jiyu ippon kumite or free sparring as participants cannot escape to a safe distance.



Funakoshi had trained in both of the popular styles of Okinawan karate of the time: Shorei-ryu and Shorin-ryu. After years of intense study of both styles, Master Funakoshi arrived at a new understanding of martial arts, and a simpler style was created, that combined the ideals of Shorei and Shorin. He combined and modified the styles, and made his own, though he never named it, always referring to it simply as "karate". The karate that he transmitted to his students reflects the changes made in the art by Anko Itosu, including the Heian/Pinan kata series. Funakoshi himself changed the names of the kata included in his curriculum, in an effort to make the "foreign" Okinawan names more palatable to the then nationalistic Japanese mainland.

Around the 1920s, Funakoshi adopted the Kyu/Dan system, along with the keikogi that had been developed by judo's founder Kano Jigoro. This system used colored belts as an indication of rank. Originally, Karate had only 3 obi (belt) colours, white, brown and black, with several ranks within each. Here is the original belt system, still used by Shotokan Karate of America
* Ungraded: white
* 8th kyu: 4th kyu: white
* 3rd kyu: 1st kyu: brown
* dan grades: black

The first "shodan" (初段) ranks given by Funakoshi in karate were to Tokuda, Otsuka, Akiba, Shimizu, Hirose, Gima, and Kasuya on April 10, 1924.

Japan Karate Association

The Japan Karate Association (JKA; Nihon Karate Kyokai in Japanese) was the first formal Shotokan organization, formed by the Shotokan karate clubs of Japanese universities. Takushoku University provided the most members initially, but Hosei, Waseda, Gakushuin, and Keio Universities also contributed members. Masatoshi Nakayama (1913–1987) led the JKA, with Gichin Funakoshi holding a position equivalent to Professor Emeritus. The JKA grew to be one of the biggest karate organisations in the world. Differences between senior instructors and administrators gave rise to several breakaway groups, with the JKA itself eventually dividing into two factions. Nobuyuki Nakahara, Ueki Masaaki, Tanaka Masahiko, and others led one faction, while Asai Tetsuhiko led the other. Following legal battles, the Nakahara group retained control of the JKA. The following sections describe some of the Shotokan organisations that descended from the JKA. The founders of these organisations are some of the most senior Shotokan instructors in the world.

Shotokai

Shigeru Egami (1912–1981), 10th dan, founded the Shōtōkai, or association/group of Shoto (Funakoshi). The Shotokai claims that Egami, the most senior of the Shotokai, was named successor by Gichin Funakoshi after the death of his son Yoshitaka.

International Traditional Karate Federation

Hidetaka Nishiyama (1928–), 10th dan, is Chairman of the International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF) and President of the American Amateur Karate Federation (AAKF). Nishiyama began his karate training in 1943 under Gichin Funakoshi at the Shotokan-ryu. Two years later, while enrolled at Takushoku University, he became a member of the university's karate team, for which in 1949 he was named captain. He was a co-founder of the All Japan Collegiate Karate Federation and was elected as its first chairman. In 1951, Nishiyama became a founding member of the JKA, and was elected to the JKA Board of Directors. In 1952, he was selected as a member of the martial arts combat instruction staff for the US Strategic Air Command (SAC) Combat Training Program. The other karate instructors for this program included Funakoshi, Nakayama, and Isao Obata. Nishiyama is one of the most senior Shotokan karateka in the world. His former students include Hiroshi Shirai and Takeshi Oishi. Nishiyama continues to instruct at the Central Dojo in Los Angeles.

World Shotokan Karate Academy

Taiji Kase (1929–2004), 10th dan, also founded his own group, called the World Shotokan Karate Academy, since re-born as the Shotokan-Ryu-Kase-Ha Instructor Academy (SRKHIA).[8] He studied martial arts under his father (a Judo instructor), as well as both Gichin Funakoshi and his son Yoshitaka Funakoshi. He left Japan in 1964 to teach karate internationally, but started teaching his own style of Shotokan to avoid the power struggles in the art. The SRKHIA is an organisation for 3rd Dans and above as individual members; it does not register national associations and as such its mission is for the technical development of its members to continue.
Shotokan Karate of America

Tsutomu Ohshima (1930–present), 5th dan (the rank Funakoshi awarded him, and the rank he has retained by choice), is head of Shotokan Karate of America (SKA), a non-profit organization that has been teaching traditional karate-do in the United States since 1955. Ohshima was believed to have been given permission by Gichin Funakoshi to bring Shotokan karate to the USA. Ohshima is also recognized as the chief instructor of many other SKA-affiliated Shotokan organizations worldwide. SKA maintains its national headquarters in Los Angeles and is not affiliated with the JKA.

Shotokan Karate-do International Federation
Hirokazu Kanazawa (1931–), 10th dan, was the first to break away from the JKA, and called his organization "Shotokan Karate-do International Federation" (SKIF). Kanazawa had studied under Masatoshi Nakayama and Hidetaka Nishiyama (1928–), both students of Gichin Funakoshi. SKIF introduced elements of Tai Chi Chuan, particularly in the matter of flow and balance, and actively promoted the evolution of Shotokan while maintaining the traditional core of the art. Kanazawa is considered one of the most technically brilliant Shotokan exponents, and was a top contender in competition. Most notably, he won the kumite championship at the first JKA Open Tournament (1957) with a broken hand. Kanazawa was awarded 10th dan in 2000.

International Shotokan Karate Federation

Teruyuki Okazaki (1931–), 9th dan, leads the International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF), which is the largest Shotokan karate organization in North America and South America. Okazaki studied under Gichin Funakoshi and Masatoshi Nakayama, and was integral in the founding of the JKA Instructor Trainee program. As part of an effort by Nakayama to spread Shotokan karate internationally, Okazaki came to the USA in 1961. Okazaki founded the ISKF in 1977 and it was part of the JKA until June 2007.
Karate Union of Great Britain

Keinosuke Enoeda (1935–2003), 9th dan, was the JKA representative in the United Kingdom for many years, with his organisation, the Karate Union of Great Britain acting as the largest British arm of the JKA. The Karate Union of Scotland (both North and South) represented the JKA in Scotland, and also came under the direct leadership of the KUGB. Since Enoeda's death in 2003, the KUGB has continued as an independent organization under the leadership of Andy Sherry. The KUS has splintered into many subgroups, with the JKA being represented in Scotland by two groups: the JKA (Scotland) and the JKA World Federation (Scotland). The JKA continues to be represented in England by JKA England headed by Yoshinobu Ohta.

Japan Karate Shotorenmei

Tetsuhiko Asai (1935–2006), 9th dan, often practiced Sumo, Judo, Kendo, and the Spear in his youth. Asai studied at the Takushoku University in Tokyo, where he also studied Shotokan karate. He joined the instructors' program and became a JKA instructor. In later years, Asai instructed in China, Hong Kong, America, Europe, and Hawaii (where he led the Hawaiian Karate Association). Asai was made Chief Instructor of the JKA after Masatoshi Nakayama's death in 1987; however, he—along with a number of other senior JKA instructors—opposed the appointment of Nakahara as Chairman, and so formed a separate JKA (Matsuno Section). Following a lengthy legal battle, the Nakahara group won the rights to the JKA title and Asai's group adopted the name of the Japan Karate Shotorenmei (JKS).
Japan Shotokan Karate Association
Keigo Abe (1938–present), 8th dan, as a student at the JKA Honbu, learned directly from Nakayama, which is reflected in his deference to Nakayama as being his only headmaster. Abe was a former senior instructor at the JKA Honbu, having graduated from the instructors' program. He held the office of Director of Qualifications in the original, pre-split JKA. However after the split in 1990, he became the Technical Director of the JKA (Matsuno Section), during some of the association's most turbulent years. In his youth, Abe took 3rd place in the very first JKA National Championships; was the captain of the Japanese team at the second World Championships in Paris, France; won 1st place at the JKA International Friendship Tournament (1973); and took 1st place in the second and third JKF National Championships as a representative of Tokyo. Renowned for his strong traditional approach to Shotokan karate, he retired from the JKA in 1999 to form his own international organisation—the Japan Shotokan Karate Association (JSKA). Abe was also responsible for formulating the Shobu Ippon tournament rules, which are used by most Shotokan stylists today.

Karatenomichi World Federation

Mikio Yahara (1947–), 8th dan, is Chief Instructor of the Karatenomichi World Federation (KWF). Yahara graduated from Kokushikan University and became a JKA instructor during that organization's zenith in the 1970s and 1980s. In over a decade of competition, Yahara distinguished himself as a predatory fighter, monopolizing the high ranks of domestic and international championships. As a Kata World Cup Champion, he is probably most famous for his performance of the Unsu and Empi kata. He is known for single-handly defeating 34 local gangsters (yakuza), facing down a gangster with a gun, and turning up for a competition with a knife wound.[9] When Tetsuhiko Asai, Yahara, Keigo Abe, Akihito Isaka and other leading JKA Karateka formed the Matsuno Section of the JKA, Yahara became Assistant Chief Instructor. In 2000, Yahara formed the Karatenomichi World Federation with Isaka and which is represented in over 40 countries. Yahara fractured three of his opponent's ribs during his 8th dan promotion kumite in July 2006. The KWF claims that no other senior karate instructor has ever submitted himself to real kumite, in front of juniors and in front of the camera, for his 8th dan. In April 2007, Yahara and Japanese industrial loan magnate Kenshin Oshima, who is also a personal pupil of Yahara officially opened the ShotoKan, ￥1 billion private members' dojo donated to the KWF by Oshima.

* games, the character Sub-Zero uses shotokan as one of his styles. Although his version is not completely accurate.
* Bruce Kanegai, a contestant on Survivor: Panama, is a Godan (5th degree black belt).[citation needed]
* The American singer Elvis Presley studied Shotokan for a while when he was stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army. Some of his signature stage moves are stylized Shotokan postures.[2]
* Impressed by the ability of some Shotokan instructors, Bruce Lee chose to train in the style while working towards developing his eclectic system (Jeet Kune Do), studying for a time under Hirokazu Kanazawa.[citation needed]
* Howard Stern is a brown belt in Shotokan.[3]
* Neil and Adrien Rayment, the evil twins from "The Matrix Reloaded," are both Nidan (2nd degree black belt).[citation needed]
* Bear Grylls is a black belt in Shotokan.[citation needed]
* Jean-Claude Van Damme is a black belt in Shotokan.[citation needed]
* In the Street Fighter series of video games, Ryu, Ken, and Akuma officially used the Shotokan style, though their actual techniques bore little resemblance to the style. The style was retconned later in the series and renamed Ansatsuken, though the characters are still widely known as "shoto" characters in fighting game terms.
* Actor and writer Louis Mustillo has been a practitioner of Shotokan for years and holds the rank of black belt.

Goju ryu

Go" means hardness or external force; "jū" means softness or internal force.

The naming of Gojū-Ryū came about more by accident than design. In 1930, numerous martial arts masters asked Chojun Miyagi’s top student, Jin’an Shinzato, while in Tokyo as to what school of martial arts he practiced. As Naha-Te had no formal name he came up with the impromptu name Hanko Ryū (Half-Hard Style). On his return to Okinawa he reported this incident to Chojun Miyagi. After much consideration Chojun Miyagi decided on the name Gojū-Ryū (hard and soft school) as a name for his style. This name he took from a line in the Bubishi (a classical Chinese text on martial arts and other subjects). This line, which appears in a poem, the Hakku Kenpo (roughly, "The eight laws of the fist"), describing the eight precepts of the martial arts, reads, “Ho wa Gojū wa Donto su” (the way of inhaling and exhaling is hardness and softness, or everything in the universe inhales soft and exhales hard).

History

The development of Gojū-ryū goes back to Higaonna Kanryo, (1850–1915), a native of Naha, Okinawa. As a teenager he trained with an Okinawan master named Arakaki Seisho, before moving to Fujian Province, China, to study Wushu (Kung Fu) from Master Liu Liu Ko.

Higashionna returned to Okinawa during the middle of the Meiji Era (1868–1911) and continued in the family business of selling firewood, while teaching a new school of martial arts, distinguished by its integration of go-no (hard) and jū-no (soft) kempo in one system. The word karate (empty hand) was not in common use at that time, and Higashionna's style was known as Naha-te. It is accepted that Chinese Nanpa Shorin-ken was the strain of kung fu that influenced this style 1. As such, this style and that of Uechi Ryū were built upon a similar foundation.
Gōjū-ryū founder Chōjun Miyagi.
Gōjū-ryū founder Chōjun Miyagi.

Higashionna's most prominent student was Chojun Miyagi (1888–1953) who began training under Higashionna at the age of 12. After Higashionna's death Miyagi sailed to China and studied there for several years, returning to Naha in 1918. Many of Higashionna's students continued to train with him, including Higa Seiko (1898–1966). However, Higashionna's most senior student Juhatsu Kyoda, who studied under Higaonna one month longer than Miyagi, formed his school To'on-ryu ("Higaonna's style") preserving more of Higashionna's approach to Naha-te.

Gojū-Ryū was the first officially recognized style of Karate in Japan by Dai Nippon Butoku Kai and the only style of Karate with a full historical representation in both Okinawa and Japan.

sources

The history of karate itself is one of cultural and social exchanges with China going back to the Tang dynasty—-hence the Korean name for karate, "Tang Soo" or "Chinese hands." Before the development of modern Karate started by Gichin Funakoshi, Okinawan karate styles generally took after the names of the towns they came from, thus "Naha-te," "Shuri-te" and "Tomari-te" were karate styles that came from the towns of Naha, Shuri and Tomari, respectively.

The late 19th century saw the great karate masters going back to China for a "martial-arts pilgrimage" of sorts. The great Chinese pugilist Liu Liu Ko ("Ryū Ryū Ko" in Japanese) in Southern China taught a handful of these Okinawan students who went on to become karate legends.

The use of tensho or "soft" techniques in Goju-ryu reveals an obvious influence from the Fujian White Crane style (known as "Fujian Bai He" in Chinese). From White Crane, Goju takes the circular movements and fast strikes. From Tiger Style, Goju takes the strong linear attacks and the tiger claw pinching (especially in kyusho-jitsu). Also, one of the main components and sources of Okinawan karate is the native tradition called "tuite": grappling, joint locks and breaks, throws, sweeps, which often led to ground fighting. These techniques were widely practiced in Ryūkyū's small villages and were blended with Chinese martial arts to give birth to karate. In kata, usually low stances and/or hands in chambers are the signs of a technique of this kind.


Karate kata
A kata is a set of pre-arranged movements that simulate a fight. Each movement can be interpreted (hence bunkai) as a different technique and its application. They serve as the basis upon which Goju Ryu is taught. It is to be understood as a "living textbook" in which karate proper—its techniques and philosophy—is passed down. The practice of kata itself provides the practitioner a sense of structure and possibilities to use in a real fight. Bunkai, on the other hand, is the analysis—or interpretation (oyo-bunkai)—of kata movements. Techniques-within-techniques are revealed through constant practice of kata and bunkai.

The kata taught in Gojū-Ryū are rather traditional and are emphasized more than actual kumite (or free sparring). This emphasis in kata is also an emphasis in bunkai, the actual self-defense application of the kata movements. The self-defense approach explains why Gojū Ryū does not emphasize free sparring and its limiting rules.

Kata detractors say that these kata are useless in a real fighting situation, while proponents say they are failing to realize what the purpose of kata and bunkai is.

Kihongata

Kihongata means a "kata of basics". It is intended to teach basic movements and technique so that the karate-ka is ready for the Heishugata learning stage.

Sanchin kata

Sanchin kata is the foundation to all other Gojū kata, it is also the foundation of body conditioning. First variation of Sanchin-kata (sanchingata dai-ichi) serves as Kihongata. See more on Sanchin kata below.

Heishugata

Heishugata means "kata with closed hands" or "fundamental kata". This kata teaches fundamentals (i.e. not only basics of movement but also principles) of the style while basics are learned during Kihongata. Traditionally, Kaishugata was taught as a second kata, or a "specialty kata" of a student, after Heishugata (e.g. Sanchin-kata and/or Tensho-kata for Naha-te or Naifanchi-kata for Shuri-te and Tomari-te is learned (sometimes it could take up to three years). Ranking (dan/kyu) and current kata curriculum with grading was established only after 1953, i.e. after Miyagi-sensei's death.

Sanchin kata

Sanchin kata (三戦, サンチン) has the simplest techniques, and yet is arguably the most difficult to master of all Goju kata. Sanchin is often taught as a black belt kata, yet it is simple enough to teach at the white belt level. This is often done in order to prepare the student for this kata by the time he or she reaches black belt.

Only one stance is used—the sanchin (meaning "three battles") stance, from which a name of the kata is derivative now (initially it was named as Peppuren 1. Sanchin-dachi is a practical stance, and yet is the most difficult stance to master. The legs protect the body from sweep kicks, the thighs are to trap low kicks. According to a tai chi manual ("Zhuangzi 13 postures"), the punch draws its power from the earth through the legs—the flip of the hips enables the strength of the whole body to be channeled and focused into one punch.

Properly employed, Sanchin kata follows the "hard" style of karate—all the muscles are to be flexed and tensed throughout the kata—actually making it the most strenuous kata. This type of strength training, taught for thousands of years, is only recently understood in Western science and is known as "isometric training" in bodybuilding.

In Chinese training, Sanchin kata also introduces the student to the use of "qi" (Japanese "ki") for training and fighting applications. It can be understood to be a form of "qigong" as employed in Chinese Wushu. Many western interpretations of qi/ki explain it as an enhanced understanding of internal body dynamics and muscle control through repeated and strenuous training.

In Gojū, there are two sanchin kata: the first one, Miyagi's sanchin (or "sanchin dai ichi"), the most widely taught as initial and Kihongata, was created for such purpose by Chojun Miyagi, and has no turns so the karateka goes forward and then backwards. The second sanchin, Higaonna's sanchin (or "sanchin dai ni") is a full-version Sanchingata and is older and was taught by Higaonna Kanryo. In this kata the karateka always goes forward, but turns 180 degrees twice. Initially it was taught with open hands, as sanchin-kata still is in Uechi-ryu, but later it was also revised to closed fists by Miyagi's co-student Juhatsu Kyoda, founder of To'on-ryu, and adopted by Chojun Miyagi as well.

Tensho kata

Tensho (転掌, テンショウ) was created on 1921 as "softer sanchin" by Chojun Miyagi to balance Go aspect of Heishugata (Sanchin-kata) with Ju variation for Heishugata. Tensho means "revolving hands." It is a combination of hard dynamic tension with deep breathing and soft flowing hand movements, and is very characteristic of the Goju-ryu style. Some styles calls it as Rokkishu and it was created from some movements taken from Hakutsuru, although more careful analysis suggest that it might be Miyagi's personal interpretation of Kakufa-kata that was in Higaonna's syllabus but is omitted in Goju-ryu now.

Kaishugata

Kaishugata means a "kata with open hands." This is a more advanced from Heishugata type. Kaishugata serves as a "combat application reference" kata and is open to vast interpretation (Bunkai) of its movements purpose (hence, "open hands").

Saifa

Sai-fa (砕破, サイファー) means "to destroy and defeat." This kata is the first traditional Gojū-Ryū's Kayshugata. It is usually first taught at gokyu to sankyu levels (green to brown belt). The first three moves are the signature of the kata—a wrist-grab-throw technique that is very similar to Aikido's iriminage technique. Saifa teaches, among other things, how to counter being grabbed by one or two opponents. The centrepiece of the kata is the crane kick movement. The layout of the footwork is similar to Taikokyū kata.
Seiyunchin

Sei-yun-chin (制引戦, セイユンチン) means "Attack, Conquer, suppress (also referred to as "to control and pull into battle")". This kata is typically taught at sankyu to ikkyu levels (brown belt). Seiyunchin kata demonstrates the use of techniques to unbalance, throw and grapple, contains close-quartered striking, sweeps, take-downs and throws. Though the kata itself is devoid of kicks, many practitioners make the grave mistake by missing the opportunity to apply any leg technique, not discovering a "hidden bunkai" in it. Though almost invisible to the untrained eye, the subtleness of ashi barai and suri ashi can represent footsweeps, parries and traps. The centrepiece of seiyunchin kata is a stance taken directly from the White Crane style.

Shisochin

Shi-so-chin (四向戦, シソーチン) means "to destroy in four directions" or "fight in four directions" and emphasizes the power of Goju-ryu, the hard and the soft, and integrates it into one. It is a switch between long distance combat (Shotei zuki-palm punch ) and close quarter combat (Nukite-or knife hand-and armlocks).

Miyagi Chojun called Shisochin his favorite kata when he was getting old, as he believed it to be best suited to his body type at that time.

Sanseru

San-se-ru (三十六手, サンセイルー) means "36 Hands" and is taught at higher black belt levels. The number 36, as are numbers 13, 18, 54 (e.g. kata Gojushiho in other styles), and 108 that provided names to other kata, is based on Buddhist mythology. Thirty-six representing 6×6, the first six being eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and spirit and the second six, colour, voice, smell, taste, touch and justice. The kata teaches complex punching combinations, employs many entry, joint attacks and defences against kicking attacks.

Sepai

Se-pai (十八手, セイパイ) means "18 Hands". Eighteen being 6×3 (colour, voice, smell, taste, touch and justice as in sanseru) and three representing good, bad and peace. This kata is one of four (Sepai, Kururunfa, Seisan, and Suparinpei) that are more subtle and contain more hidden moves. The true meaning of a kata becomes clear only when one learns the application of it (Bunkai). In Sepai, and the three that follow, the applications are not immediately clear. Techniques were deliberately masked within these kata so that bystanders were not able to fully comprehend the depth of the applications being practiced. Sepai kata incorporates both the four directional movements and 45° angular attacks and, as in Shisochin, implements techniques for both long distance and close quarter combat. This was a Seikichi Toguchi's specialty kata.

Sesan

Se-san (十三手, セイサン) means "13 Hands." Thirteen is also a number representing good luck and prosperity in Chinese numerology. This kata contains many unusual techniques and demonstrates the difference between Go (Hard) and Ju (Soft). Sesan is thought to be one of the oldest kata quite spread among other Nahate schools. Shito-ryu has its own version and different versions are now practised even in Shurite derivatives like Shotokan (called Hangetsu) and in Wado-ryu (called Seishan). Sesan was a favourite kata of Jin'an Shinzato and his specialty kata initially.

Kururumfa

Ku-ru-rum-fa (久留頓破, クルルンファー) means "holding on long and striking suddenly" and its techniques are based on Chinese Praying Mantis style. Initial idea was to have a "counter-style" against other "traditional Shaolin-type styles" where each kata could be considered as a representative of such particular "style" (or expression of certain strategy in fighting). It was Ei'ichi Miyazato's specialty kata.

Suparimpei

Su-pa-rim-pei (壱百零八, スーパーリンペイ) means "108 Hands"—6×6×3, combining the elements represented in the meanings of Sanseru and Sepai. One hundred eight also has special significance in Buddhist beliefs from where the kata originated. The most advanced and intricate kata of the Goju Ryu system now. While initially it was known as Pitchurrin and had three levels to master (Go, Chu, and Jo), later Miyagi left only one, the highest, "Jo" level. This was a Meitoku Yagi's specialty kata.

Wado Ryu

Origin and Philosophy

On the surface Wadō-ryū looks very similar to other styles such as Shōtōkan-ryū. However, there are some important differences.

It may be argued that Wadō-ryū is a Jujutsu style rather than Okinawan Karate. When first registered with the Japanese Dai Nippon Butoku Kai in 1938 the style was called Shinshu Wadoryu Karate-Jujutsu, a name which reflects the hybrid nature of Wado. Wadō-ryū's founder Hironori Ohtsuka was a licensed practitioner in Shindo Yoshin Ryu and a student of Yoshin Koryu Jujutsu when he first met the Okinawan karate master Funakoshi. After having received tutelage of not only Funakoshi but later also the Okinawan masters Mabuni and Motobu, he set off to merge Shindo Yoshin Ryu with Okinawan Karate.

The result of Ohtsuka's efforts is Wadō-ryū. While its techniques may be very much karate in looks, most of the underlying principles have been derived from Shindo Yoshin Ryu. A block in Wado may look much like a block in Shōtōkan-ryū, they are nevertheless performed from a completely different perspective. A Shōtōkan-ryū practitioner is likely to force an incoming fist out of the line of attack. A Wado expert, on the other hand, will rather move himself out of the line of attack while taking up a position that will gain him an advantage over the opponent. Both ways will look almost similar to the untrained eye, but couldn't be further apart when considering the tactics behind them. Key in Wadō-ryū is the principle of taisabaki, often wrongly referred to as evasion. The Japanese term can be translated as body-management and refers to body manipulation so as to move the defender as well as the attacker out of harm's way. The way to achieve this is to move along rather than to move against. Or, harmony rather than physical strength. See hard and soft (martial arts)

The term Wadō-ryū can be broken into three parts: Wa, do and ryu. Wa can be read to mean harmony. Do is a Japanese term for way. ryu simply means style. Wa or harmony shouldn't be interpreted as pacifism in any way. It is merely the acknowledgment that yielding is sometimes more effective than brute strength.

However, modern karate competition tends to transform Wadō-ryū away from its roots towards a new generic karate that appeals more to the demands of both spectators and competitors.

From April 1, 1981, after the split-up of Wadokai, Hironori Ohtsuka sensei changed the name of his organization into Wadō-ryū Karatedo Renmei, with Renmei meaning 'group' or 'federation'. After his death in 1982, his son Jiro Ohtsuka continued the style under his leadership. He became the second grandmaster of Wado Karate and honored his father by taking the name Hironori Ohtsuka II.

A third major Wado organization, Wado Kokusai (Wado International Karate Federation), was founded in 1989 by Tatsuo Suzuki Sensei.

Kata list

* Ten-No: Basic drills first invented by Gichin Funakoshi's son, Yoshitaka Funakoshi.
* Taikyoku series: Basic Katas developed by Gichin Funakoshi as a prelim before Pinans. Many Wado schools trails these Basic Katas, particularly Taikyoku ShodanTaikyoku Shodan.
* Pinan kata: Created by Anko itosu sensei: Consisting of Pinan ShodanPinan Shodan, NidanPinan Nidan, SandanPinan Sandan, YondanPinan Yondan, and GodanPinan Godan. Renamed by Gichin Funakoshi as the Heian series.
* Naihanchi Naihanchi:This was the original name for the three Tekki Katas, but was changed by sensei Funakoshi. A lateral kata, learned from Motobu Choki. Wado practices only the third Naihanchi kata.
* KusankuKusanku: "Sky Viewing". Kusanku was the Okinawan name for Master Kwang Shang Fu, a Sapposhi (Emissary of China's ruling class) sent to Okinawa in the 18th century. This kata uses stances and attacks comprising of the 5 previous pinan katas. No new techniques are introduced. Renamed by Gichin Funakoshi as Kanku Dai.
* Passai / BassaiPassai: A Tomari-te kata that uses dynamic stances and hip rotation. Renamed by Gichin Funakoshi as Bassai Dai.
* SeishanSeisan: "13 hands". Named after a well known Chinese martial artist who lived in or near Shuri circa 1700. The movements are repeated in sets of three, and has pivots and turning of the head. Renamed by Gichin Funakoshi as Hangetsu.
* ChintoChinto: Formulated by Sokon Matsumura from the teachings of a sailor or pirate named Chinto (or Annan, depending on the source). Crane stance occurs many times, and the flying kicks differentiate Chinto from other kata. Renamed by Gichin Funakoshi as Gankaku.
* NiseishiNiseishi: Means "24 steps". Transmitted by Ankichi Aragaki, it is known in Japanese as Nijushiho.
* RohaiRohai: Rohai has three variation invented by Itosu. Wadō-ryū practices Rohai Shodan. Renamed by Gichin Funakoshi as Meikyo.
* WanshuWanshu: - "Flying Swallow". A Tomari-te kata based on movements brought to Okinawa in 1683 by a Chinese envoy of the same name. The metaphorical name of "Flying Swallows" is derived from the soft blocking patterns near the end. Renamed by Gichin Funakoshi as Empi.
* JionJion: A Tomari-te kata part of the Jion kata group.
* JitteJitte:: Another Tomari-te kata of the Jion kata group meaning "10 hands".
* SuparinpeiSuparinpei: Known as '108 hands' – representing the 108 evil spirits of man. It is also said to have represented a band of 108 warriors that travelled the Chinese countryside in the 1600s performing 'Robin Hood'-type tasks of doing good deeds, giving to the poor, etc. It’s also known by its Chinese name of Pechurrin and occasionally referred to with the Funakoshi-altered name of Haiku Hachi Ho. Suparinpei was originally listed as a Wado kata with the Dai Nippon Budokukai by Otsuka Sensei, but was eventually discarded by Otsuka. Some Wado instructors and schools still teach this kata.

History
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On 1 June 1892 the founder of Wado-ryu, Hironori Otsuka, was born the second of four children to Dr. Tokujiro Otsuka, in Shimodate, Ibaraki Prefecture.

In 1898 Otsuka began practicing Jujutsu. Between 1905-1921 Otsuka studied Shindo Yoshin Ryu Jiujitsu under Tatsusaburo Nakayama (1870-1933). In 1922 Otsuka met a soon-to-be-famous Okinawan named Gichin Funakoshi and began to train with him. In 1924 Otsuka became one of the first students promoted to Black Belt in Karate by Funakoshi. In 1929 Otsuka organized the first school karate club at Tokyo University. Eiichi Eriguchi coined the term 'Wadoryu' in 1934.

In 1938 Hironori Otsuka registered his style of karate with the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai, originally under the name of "Shinshu Wadoryu Karate-Jujutsu." Soon thereafter this was shortened to Wado-ryu (和道流). In 1938 The Dai-Nippon-Butoku-Kai awarded Otsuka the rank of Renshi-Go. In 1942 The Dai-Nippon-Butoku-Kai awarded Otsuka the rank of Kyoshi-Go. Tatsuo Suzuki, founder of the WIKF, began training in Wado.

In 1944 Otsuka was appointed Japan's Chief Karate Instructor.

In 1946 Otsuka awarded Tatsuo Suzuki 2nd Dan.

Circa 1950 Otsuka's second son, Jiro Otsuka, began training in Wado around the age of 15.

In 1951 Otsuka awarded Tatsuo Suzuki 5th Dan, the highest rank awarded in Wado at that time.

In 1952 the Wado-ryu Honbu (headquarters) was established at the Meiji University dojo in Tokyo. In 1954 its name was changed to Zen Nippon Karate Renmei (All Japan Karate Federation).

In 1955 Otsuka published a book expounding hs style of Karate, Karatejutsu no Kenkyu. In 1963 Otsuka dispatched Suzuki, along with Toru Arakawa and Hajimu Takashima, to spread Wado around the world.

In 1964 the Japan Karatedo Federation (JKF) was established as a general organization for all karate styles. Wado joined this organization as a major group.

In 1965 Otsuka, along with Yoshiaki Ajari, recorded onto film, which is now still available on two video tapes, much of his legacy of Wadō-ryū Karate. The first video, Wadō-ryū Karate Volume 1, consists of: in-depth history and recollections, demonstrations of the 8 Kihon No Tsuki body shifts, the first 5 Kihon-Kumite, and the katas: Pinans 1-5, Kushanku, Jion, Naihanchi, Seishan. The second video, Wadō-ryū Karate Volume 2, consists of: more history, plus the katas Chinto, Niseshi, Rohai, Wanshu, and Jitte, as well as Kihon-Kumite 6-10, along with application.

In 1966 Otsuka was awarded Kun Goto Soukuo Kyokujujutsu (comparable to a knighthood) by Emperor Hirohito, for his dedication to the introduction and teaching of karate.

On 5 June 1967 , the Wado organization changed its name to Wadokai.

In 1972 the President of Kokusai Budo Renmei, a member of the Royal Family, awarded Otsuka Sensei the title of Meijin, the highest possible title.

In 1975 Tatsuo Suzuki received his 8th Dan, the highest grade ever given by the Federation of All Japan Karatedo Organization, and was named Hanshi-Go by the Uncle of Emperor Higashikuni.

In 1980 as the result of a conflict between Hironori Otsuka and the Wadokai organization, Otsuka stepped down as head of Wadokai. Eiichi Eriguchi takes over his place within Wadokai.

On 1 April 1981 Hironori Otsuka founded Wadoryu Karatedo Renmei. After only a few months Hironori Otsuka retired as head of this organization. His son Jiro Otsuka took his place. Renmei means 'group' or 'federation.'

On 29 January 1982 Hironori Otsuka passed away in his 90th year.

In 1983 Jiro Otsuka succeeded his father as grandmaster of Wadō-ryū and changed his name to Hironori Otsuka II, in honor of his father.

In 1989 Tatsuo Suzuki founded his own organization, the third major Wado organization, Wado Kokusai (WIKF). Kokusai means 'international.'

Different Wado names

The full name of Wadokai in English is Japan Karatedo Federation Wadokai. In Japanese it is Zen Nihon Karatedo Renmei Wadokai.

Nowadays the full name of Wadoryu is Wadoryu Karatedo Renmei.

The full name of Wado Kokusai is Wado Kokusai Karatedo Renmei, also known as Wado International Karatedo Federation abbreviated as WIKF.

Strictly speaking Hironori Ohtsuka founded and developed Wadō-ryū. The people who trained with him became the Wado group or Wadokai. So today, the style that is trained within Wadokai is Wadō-ryū.

Belt order

A typical belt order. Goes 10th Kyu down then 1st-5th Dan for technical grades. 6-10th dan are honorary. Although it is typical for other styles to add stripes for the dan grades, Wado practitioners tend to refrain from that practice.

* 10th Kyu: White Belt
* 9th Kyu: Red Belt
* 8th Kyu: Yellow belt
* 7th Kyu: Orange Belt
* 6th Kyu: Blue Belt
* 5th Kyu: Green Belt
* 4th Kyu: Purple Belt
* 3rd Kyu: Brown Belt
* 2nd Kyu: Brown
* 1st Kyu: Brown
* 1st Dan: Black
* 2nd Dan: Black
* 3rd Dan: Black
* 4th Dan: Black
* 5th Dan: Black
* 6th-8th Dan Red and white blocked (wider belt)Optional as a lot of high ranking Sensei still wear their black belt
* 9th-10th Dan Wide Red Belt again optional as Ohtsuka Sensei himself wore a black belt

"As soon as a karate-ka achieves their first black belt (1st dan upwards), they become a sensei" is one of the misconceptions around in the Martial arts. The grade at which Wado (and most other legitimate Japanese martial arts) finds you trained enough to be able to teach is 3rd Dan and up, but even then it depends on the organisation. Some still require that a special course is completed successfully.

Zen Shito ryu karate do(andhra Pradesh)

History

Kenwa Mabuni was born in the shuri in the city of Nahi, Okinawa in 1889. Mabuni-sensei was a descendant of the famous Onigusukini samurai family. Perhaps because of his weak constitution, he began his instruction in his home town in the art of Shuri-te at the age of 13, under the tutelage of the legendary Anko Itosu He trained diligently for several years, learning many kata from this great master. It was Itosu who first developed the Pinan kata, which were most probably derived from the "Kusanku" form.

One of his close friends, Sensei Chojun Miyagi introduced Mabuni to another great of that period, Sensei Kanryo Higaonna and began to learn Naha-teunder him as well. While both Itosu and Higashionna taught a "hard-soft" style of Okinawan "Te", their methods and emphases were quite distinct: the Itosu syllabus included straight and powerful techniques as exemplified in the Naifanchi and Bassai kata; the Higashionna syllabus, on the other hand, stressed circular motion and shorter fighting methods as seen in the popular Seipai and Kururunfa forms. Shito-ryu focuses on both hard and soft techniques to this day.

Although he remained true to the teachings of these two great masters, Mabuni sought instruction from a number of other teachers, including Seisho Aragaki, Tawada Shimboku, Sueyoshi Jino and Wu Xianhui (a Chinese master known as Go-Kenki). In fact, Mabuni was legendary for his encyclopaedic knowledge of kata and their bunkai applications. By the 1920s, he was regarded as the foremost authority on Okinawan kata and their history and was much sought after as a teacher by his contemporaries. There is even some evidence that his expertise was sought out in China, as well as Okinawa and mainland Japan. As a police officer, he taught local law enforcement officers and at the behest of his teacher Itosu, began instruction in the various grammar schools in Shuri and Naha.

In an effort to popularize karate in mainland Japan, Mabuni made several trips to Tokyo in 1917 and 1928. Although much that was known as "Te" (Chinese Fist) or Karate had been passed down through many generations with jealous secrecy, it was his view that it should be taught to anyone who sought knowledge with honesty and integrity. In fact, many masters of his generation held similar views on the future of Karate: Sensei Gichin Funakoshi (shotokan founder) another contemporary, had moved to Tokyo in the 1920s to promote their art on the mainland as well.

By 1929, Mabuni had moved to Osaka on the mainland, to become a full-time karate instructor of a style he originally called Hanko-ryu, or "half-hard style". In an effort to gain acceptance in the Japanese Butokukai, the governing body for all officially recognized martial arts in that country, he and his contemporaries decided to call their art "Karate" or "Empty Hand," rather than "Chinese Hand," perhaps to make it sound more Japanese. Around the same time, perhaps when first introducing his style to the Butokukai, is when it is believed the name of the style changed to Shito-ryu, in honour of its main influences. Mabuni derived the name for his new style from the first kanji character in their names, Itosu and Higashionna. With the support of Sensei Ryusho Sakagami (1915–1993), he opened a number of Shito-ryu dojo in the Osaka area, including Kansai University and the Japan Karatedo Kai dojo. To this day, the largest contingent of Shito-ryu practitioners in Japan is centered in the Osaka area.

Mabuni published a number of books on the subject and continued to systematize the instruction method. In his latter years, he developed a number of formal kata, such as Aoyagi, for example, which was designed specifically for women's self defense. Perhaps more than any other master in the last century, Mabuni was steeped in the traditions and history of Karate-do, yet forward thinking enough to realize that it could spread throughout the world. To this day, Shito-ryu recognizes the influences of Itosu and Higashionna: the kata syllabus of Shito Ryu is still often listed in such a way as to show the two lineages.

Kenwa Mabuni died on May 23, 1952, and he was succeeded by his son Kenzo. Kenzo Mabuni died on June 26, 2005. At present, the third soke of Shito Ryu is Tsukasa Mabuni, daughter of Kenzo Mabuni.

FOR NEW BEGINERS

THE 5 RULES
JAPANESE
1) Hitotsu, reigi o tadashiku suru koto
2) Hitotsu, hito ni meiwaku o kakenai koto
3) Hitotsu, otagai ni naka yoko suru koto
4) Hitotsu, sensei sempai no oshie o mamuro koto
5) Hitotsu, renshu wa mainichi suru koto ENGLISH
1) Be moderate and courteous
2) Be righteous and have a strong sense of justice
3) Be modest in your words and actions
4) Respect others
5) Karatedo is a life time study


COURTESY AND CUSTOMS
1) Members will bow upon entering and leaving the dojo.
2) Students will bow to all black belts when black belts enter the dojo. Students entering the dojo will immediately approach and bow to all black belts present.
3) Common courtesy will be expected. No profanity or loud talking is permitted in the dojo.
4) Under no circumstances will any form of karate be taught by any member to a non-member.
5) When seated on the floor, members will tuck their legs underneath themselves.
6) There will be no smoking, drinking, eating or chewing gum in the dojo.
7) All members will assist in keeping the dojo clean.


SAFETY AND HEALTH
1) Sparring is only allowed with permission of the instructor.
2) Personal cleanliness is essential. Finger and toenails must be clipped. Karate uniforms must be kept clean.
3) No student will provoke violence outside the dojo or allow himself to be provoked into violence.
4) No rings, watches or other jewelry may be worn in class.


BASIC JAPANESE TERMINOLOGY
(FOR WHITE BELTS)
NUMBERS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ichi Ni San Shi Go Roku Shichi Hachi Ku Ju

GENERAL TERMS
Dojo-Gym

Sensei- Instructor

Sempai- Senior

Seiza- Sit

Uniform-Gi

Obi- Belt

Kata- Prearranged forms

Kumite- Sparring

Hajime- Start

Yame- Stop

Yoi- Ready

Dan- Black belt grade

Kyu- Grades under black

Hikite- Retract arm

Kiai- Yell

Gedan- Lower

Harai Downward Sweep-Chudan Middle

Jodan Upper-Lei

Bow-Shomen ni lei Bow to the front

Sensei ni lei- Bow to the teacher

Shihan ni lei- Bow to the master

Shihandai ni lei- Bow to the representative of the Master

Sempai ni lei- Bow to the seniors

Otagai ni lei- Bow to each other

BASIC TECHNIQUES
Uke- Blocks
Harai uke- Downward block
Yoko uke -Middle block
Jodan uke- Upper block
Yoko uchi uke- Outside middle block
Sukui uke- Scoop block
Suto uke -Knife hand block
Geri- Kicks
Maegeri -Front kick
Shomengeri -Front kick
Sukotogeri -Side kick
Mawashi geri -Roundhouse kick
Tsuki/Uchi --Punches/Strikes
Shomen tsuki Front punch
Gyaku tsuki -Reverse punch
Uraken -Front jab
Ura uchi -Back fist
Shuto uchi -Knife hand strike
Dachi -Stances
Heisoku dachi- Attention stance
Shizen dachi- Natural stance
Shiko dachi -Square stance
Zenkutsu dachi -Forward stance
Neko ashi dachi -Cat stance


BASIC KATA NUMBER ONE
1) Face front, heisoku dachi and bow.
2) Move to natural stance, yoi.
3) Look to the left, turn on the right foot and move the left foot to the left to zenkutsu dachi. Execute a harai uke with the left arm.
4) Step forward with the right foot and do shoman tsuki with the right hand.
5) Pivot on the left foot, turning to the right to the opposite side to a right foot forard zenkutsu dachi. Do a right harai uke.
6) Step forward with the left foot to left zenkutsu dachi and do a left shoman tsuki.
7) Look to the front (that is your left side), pivot on the right foot, turn left and move the left foot to the front to a left zenkutsu dachi, do a left harai uke.
8) Step forward with the right foot to right zenkutsu dachi and execute a right shoman tsuki.
9) Step forward with the left foot to left zenkutsu dachi and execute a left shoman tsuki.
10) Step forward with the right foot to right zenkutsu dachi and execute a right shoman tsuki.
11) Cross the left foot behind the right foot, turn left to face the right hand side (turn 270 degrees) in a left zenkutsu dachi, do a left harai uke.
12) Step forward with the right foot and do shoman tsuki with the right hand.
13) Pivot on the left foot, turning to the right to the opposite side to a right foot forward zenkutsu dachi. Do a right harai uke.
14) Step forward with the left foot to left zenkutsu dachi and do a left shoman tsuki.
15) Look to the rear (that is your left side), pivot on the right foot, turn left and move the left foot to the front to a left zenkutsu dachi, do a left harai uke.
16) Step forward with the right foot to right zenkutsu dachi and execute a right shoman tsuki.
17) Step forward with the left foot to left zenkutsu dachi and execute a left shoman tsuki.
18) Step forward with the right foot to right zenkutsu dachi and execute a right shoman tsuki.
19) Cross the left foot behind the right foot, turn left to face the left hand side (turn 270 degrees) in a left zenkutsu dachi, do a left harai uke.
20) Step forward with the right foot and do shoman tsuki with the right hand.
21) Pivot on the left foot, turning to the right to the opposite side to a right foot forard zenkutsu dachi. Do a right harai uke.
22) Step forward with the left foot to left zenkutsu dachi and do a left shoman tsuki.
23) Pull the left foot back to the right to natural stance facing the front.
24) Heisoku dachi and bow.
BASIC KUMITE
Basic kumite consist if one step attacking techniques and a block and counter attack by the defender. In Seikokai basic the first three levels (white, yellow and orange belt levels) have prescribed attacks and defensive moves. For higher levels the attacking techniques remain the same, but defensive moves are left up to the defender.
The techniques for the lowest level only are described.

Attack:
Starting position: left foot forward zenkutsu dachi, left harai uke.
1) Step forward to right zenkutsu dachi and do a right middle punch
Step back and change to a right foot forward zenkutsu dachi, right harai uke.
2) Step forward to left zenkutsu dachi and do a left middle punch.
Step back and change to a left foot forward zenkutsu dachi, left harai uke.
3) Step forward to right zenkutsu dachi and do a right high punch
Step back and change to a right foot forward zenkutsu dachi, right harai uke.
4) Step forward to left zenkutsu dachi and do a left high punch.
Step back and change to a left foot forward zenkutsu dachi, both fists out to the side.
5) Execute a middle kick with the right foot. Step forward after the kick.
Step back and change to a right foot forward zenkutsu dachi, both fists out to the side.
6) Execute a middle kick with the left foot. Step forward after the kick.
Step back.

Defense:
Starting position: natural stance, fists in front of groin.
Response to attack as described above:
1) When the punch comes, move right foot back at 45 degree angle to a left foot forward zenkutsu dachi, left hand yoko uke and right reverse middle punch.
Move back to natural stance.
2) When the punch comes, move left foot back at 45 degree angle to a right foot forward zenkutsu dachi, right hand yoko uke and left reverse middle punch.
Move back to natural stance.
3) When the punch comes, move right foot back at 45 degree angle to a left foot forward zenkutsu dachi, left hand jodan uke and right reverse middle punch.
Move back to natural stance.
4) When the punch comes, move left foot back at 45 degree angle to a right foot forward zenkutsu dachi, right hand jodan uke and left reverse middle punch.
Move back to natural stance.
5) When the kick comes, move right foot back at 45 degree angle to a left foot forward zenkutsu dachi, left hand harai uke and right reverse middle punch.
Move back to natural stance.
6) When the kick comes, move left foot back at 45 degree angle to a right foot forward zenkutsu dachi, right hand harai uke and left reverse middle punch.
Move back to natural stance.



INDIA CHIEF Sensai- C.S.Machaiach
Andhra Pradesh Chief Instructor- Sensai K.Pratap Kumar

Kalari(Indian Martial art)

Introduction

The State of Kerala along India's southwestern coast has an antique tradition of massage therapies intented for health maintenance, strengthening, rejuvenation, or as physical therapies. Vayaskara N.S. Mooss, a member of one of Kerala's most distinguished lineages of Ayurvedic physicians, notes that while the standard classical works on Indian medicine by Charaka and Susruta mention massage therapies, it is only in Kerala that one still finds these traditions practiced today.[1] My focus here is on the specific massage therapies of Kerala's martial masters--those who practice kalarippayattu.

In addition to his expertise as a martial artist, Kerala's traditional kalarippayattu practitioners are also highly skilled massage therapists. As a practicing therapist, the kalarippayattu master follows the fundamental principles of India's traditional system of medicine, Ayurveda, when giving treatments. The kalari master's medical practice is a kriyaprayogam--treatment by direct application to or manipulation of the body. Treatments are of four types: (1) health-giving and maintaining full-body massages, (2) muscle and body-strengthening applications, (3) treatments for specific injuries or pathological conditions including bruises, dislocations, bone breaks, general weakness of the muscles and limbs, or complex crippling injuries, and (4) emergency counter-applications for potentially deadly shocks or blows to the body's vital spots. Applications are primarily massage treatments with the hands, arms, or feet. Internal medicines are also prescribed as necessary.

What distinguishes the kalarippayattu master's medical expertise from that of many other Ayurvedic specialists is his psychophysical training as a martial artist and his practical knowledge of the body's vital spots (marmmam). His psychophysical training gives him extraordinary control over his body, and therefore over his ability to control the vital energy or wind (prana vayu). The assumed efficacy of treatments is in part based on his ability to control and channel this life-force in his body and limbs when giving massage therapies.

The traditional setting for both health-giving and pathological therapies is the kalari or place of training itself. When every village had its own kalari, it was common knowledge that the treatments noted above were available from the local master. In both rural and some urban areas, masters still receive and treat patients informally when they come to his home or kalari. In addition to the informal, personal, and very local context of traditional treatments, there are also kalari "clinics" modelled on a more Western bio-medical model of health care delivery with separate waiting and treatment rooms, dispensaries for prescriptions, etc.

Traditionally therapies and treatments are given by the gurukkal himself and/or by an advanced student who serves as his assistant. However, at the Shafi Dawa Khana, Urdu for "Recovery Hospital," near Calicut in northern Kerala, traditional kalarippayattu therapies have become part of a larger all-encompassing therapeutic system that includes not only kalarippayattu therapies but yoga, Unani medicine, Ayurveda, as well as natural and homeo medical principles and practices administered by a large staff of doctors and therapists.


THE KALARIPPAYATTU SYSTEM AND ITS TECHNIQUES IN THE ETHNOGRAPHIC PRESENT



AN ADVANCED STUDENT OF C. SANKARANARAYANAN MENON OF THE SREE NARAYANAN GURU SMARAKA VALLABHATTA KALARI SANGHAM (CHAVAKKAD) PERFORMS POSES AND STEPS IN ONE OF THE BODY EXERCISE SEQUENCES (MEIPPAYATTU).
Like their epic and purist counterparts, for traditional kalarippayattu practitioners attaining power in practice is still a composite, multi-dimensioned set of practices. There is the power to be attained through repetition of mantra, each of which must be individually accomplished; the power inherent in discovery and control of the internal energy/breath (prana-vayu); the strength of mental power (manasakti) manifest in one-point focus and complete doubtlessness; the elemental discovery and raising of the power per se (kundalini sakti); and the powers of the divine gained through worship and rituals (puja), meditation, devotion, and/or magic.

However, to gain access to the majority of these types of power, one must begin with the body and its training in actualizing particular powers. A Muslim master once told me, "He who wants to become a master must possess complete knowledge of the body." As assumed in traditional yoga practice, knowledge of the body begins with the physical or gross body (sthula-sarira), discovered through exercises and massage. logether they are considered body prepare tion" (meyyorukkam). The exercises include a vast array of poses, steps, jumps, kicks, and leg movements performed in increasingly complex combine tions back and forth across the kalari floor (Figures 1-4). Collectively, they are considered a "body art" (meiabhyasam). Individual body-exercise sequences (meippayattu) are taught one by one, and every student masters simple forms before moving on to more complex and difficult sequences. Most important is mastery of basic poses (vadivu), named after animals and comparable to basic postures (asana) of yoga, and mastery of steps (cuvadu) by which one moves into and out of poses. Repetitious practice of these outer forms eventually renders the external body flexible (meivalakkam) and, as one master said, "flowing (olukku) like a river."

According to tradition, at least during the most intensive period of training while the monsoon is active, masters are supposed to require observance of specific behavioral, dietary, and devotional practices and/or restraints similar to those traditionally practiced in the classic eightfold Patanjali yoga: (1) negative (yama, "do not") restrictions, (2) positive ("do") practices, and (3) the development of a devotional attitude. Students are instructed never to sleep during the day time nor to keep awake at night, to refrain from sex during the most intensive monsoon period of training, never to mis use what one is being taught; to only use kalarippayattu to defend oneself (i.e., when dharma demands); and to be of good character (i.e., not to steal, lie, cheat, drink liquor, or take drugs). Finally, from the very first day of practice in a traditional Hindu kalari, students must participate in the devotional life of the kalari from the point of ritual entry into the sacred space through the practice of per sonal devotion to the kalari deities (Figure 5) and to the master (Figure 7). As Eliade explains, these restraints do not produce "a yogic state but a 'purified' human being . . . This purity is essential to the succeeding stages" (Eliade, 1975:63).


ADVANCED STUDENTS (SATHYAN AND PETER) AT THE C.V.N. KALARI, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, PERFORM THE CAT POSE AS PART OF A BODY-EXERCISE SEQUENCE OFFERED TO THE GUARDIAN DEITY OF THE KALARI UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYE OF THEIR TEACHER GURUKKAL GOVINDANKUTTY NAIR, DURING THE SPECIAL RITUAL CELEBRATION OF NAVARATRI.


THE PUTTARA--A SEVEN-TIERED PLATFORM LOCATED IN THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE KALARI WHERE THE GUARDIAN DEITY OF THE KALARI IS LOCATED. DAILY SIMPLE OFFERINGS OF FLOWERS, INCENSE, AND WATER ARE GIVEN TO THE DEITY--USUALLY EITHER A FORM OF THE GODDESS, BHAGAVATI, OR A COMBINATION OF SIVA AND SAKTI.
Training traditionally began at about the age of seven for both boys and girls. Students come to the place of training (kalari), a pit dug out of the earth, before dawn at about 5:00 6:00 a.m. while it is dark, cool, and auspicious. The most intensive training takes place during the cool monsoon season (June August). Hindu kalari are ritually purified with daily and seasonal offerings (puja) to the kalari deities (Figure 6), thereby insuring protection of those who practice and are treated inside.

One of the important dimensions of initial training is direction of the student's visual focus. Students are told to "look at a specific place" on the opposite side of the kalari while performing the leg exercises, the initial step in developing one-point focus (ekagrata) (Figure 8). As master Achuthan Gurukkal told me, "One-point focus is first developed by constant practice of correct form in exercises." Once the external, physical eye is steadied, the student eventually begins to discover the "inner eye" of practice, a state of inner connection to practice.

GURUKKAL GOVINDANKUTTY NAIR GIVES HIS BLESSINGS TO A NEW STUDENT WHO IS ABOUT TO BEGIN HIS FIRST LESSON DURING CELEBRATIONS OF NAVARATRI--THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW SEASON OF TRAINING.
The body-exercise sequences are linked combinations of basic body movements (meitolil) including poses (vativu), steps (cuvat), kicks (kal etupp), a variety of jumps and turns, and coordinated hand/arm movements performed in increasingly swift suc cession back and forth across the kalari. Masters emphasize the importance of poses (vadivu) in a student's progression. As Gurukkal P. K. Balan told me, "Only a person who has learned these eight poses can perform the kalari law (mura) and go on to empty-hand combat, weapons, massage, or marma applications." The poses (vadivu), usu ally numbering eight, are named after animals. They are not static forms, but configurations of movements which embody both the external and internal essence of the animal after which they are named. P. K. Balan explained his version of the animal names:

When any animal fights, it uses its whole body. This must also be true in kalarippayattu.

The horse is an animal which can concentrate all its powers centrally, and it can run fast by jumping up. The same pause, preparation for jumping, and forward movement [that are in a horse] are in the asvavadivu

When a peacock is going to attack its enemies, it spreads its feathers, raises its neck, and dances by steadying itself on one leg. Then it shifts to the other leg and attacks by jumping and flying. The capability of doing this attack is known as mayuravadivu

A snake attacks its enemy by standing up; however, its tail remains on the ground without movement. From this position, it can turn in any direction and bite a person. This ability to turn in any direction and attack by rising up is known as sarpavadivu (Figure 11).

When a cock attacks, he uses all parts of his body: wings, neck, legs, fingernails. He will lift one leg and shake his feathers and neck, fix his gaze on the enemy, and attack. This is kukkuvadivu


GURUKKAL GOVINDANKUTTY NAIR PERFORMS ONE OF KALARIPPAYATTU'S BASIC POSES WHICH ILLUSTRATES SINGLE-POINT FOCUS.
Like the leg exercises, the body sequences at first further develop flexibility, balance, and control of the body. This most often occurs when the training is rigorous. The oiled bodies begin to sweat, and by the conclusion of a class the student's entire body should be drenched in sweat. As one teacher said, "The sweat of the students should become the water washing the kalari floor." Chirakkal T. Balakrishnan describes the results of such practice for one sequence, pakarcakkal as being like "a bee circling a flower. While doing pakarcakkal a person first moves forward and back, and then again forward and back. It should be done like a spider weaving its web." What is most important is swift and facile changes of direction executed at the transition points between sets of movements, essential for combat in which instantaneous changes of direction are necessary (Figure 13). Only much later are specific martial applications taught.

Behind the fluid grace of the gymnastic forms is the strength and power of movements which can, when necessary, be applied with lightning-fast speed and precision in potentially deadly attacks. "Hidden" within all the preliminary exercises and basic poses are complex combinations of offensive and defensive applications which are eventually learned through constant practice. The body- exercise sequences "just look like exercises," but many applications (prayogam) are possible (Figures 14-15). Correctly executing locks to escape an enemy's grasp, taught as part of the empty-hand techniques (verumkai) late in training, can only be executed with full force when a student is able to assume a pose such as the elephant deeply and fully. An advanced student should be able to move with fluid spontaneity in any direction and perform any combination of moves from the body exercise sequences for offensive or defensive purposes. As Gurukkal Govindankutty Nayar put it, the student himself will begin to discover these applications "in due time."


AN ADVANCED STUDENT OF GURUKKAL P.K. BALAN OF KECHERI DEMONSTRATES THE HORSE POSE IN WHICH THE PRACTICIONER "CONCENTRATES ALL [HIS] POWERS CENTRALLY" WHILE JUMPING FORWARD AND THRUSTING WITH THE LEFT ELBOW IN AN ATTACK.
Students advance through the system individually. The teacher keeps a constant and watchful eye on each student's gradual progress, i.e., on how well the' student masters the forms of practice and on his general demeanor and behavior. The discerning teacher does not simply look at a student's overt, physical progress, but also looks "within at the heart of the student." Some masters say that they "know [each student's] mind from the countenance of the face" (mukhabhavattil ninnu manassilakkam). Nothing overt is expressed, explained, or spoken; the master simply watches, observes, and "reads" each student.

Physically embodying the forms of practice, mentally developing the degree of focus and concentration necessary, and personally developing the requisite devotion for deities and master all take considerable time. Only when a master intuitively senses that a student is psychophysiologically, morally, and spiritually "ready" to advance and when the teacher has no doubts about the student's character, is he supposed to teach a new, more difficult exercise. Ideally, each technique is given as a "gift". The teacher should take joy in the act of giving, especially as the gifts become more advanced and, therefore, more precious.

Unlike varma ati, kalarippayattu's sister martial art indigenous to the Kanyakumari region of the old Travancore kingdom and southern Tamil Nadu, as well as more recent cosmopolitan forms of martial arts oriented toward self-defense and/or street fighting, kalarippayattu is similar to its Japanese counterpart, the traditional bugei or weapons forms, in which use of weapons was historically the main purpose of practice. Empty- hand fighting has always been important to kalarippayattu, but more as a means of disarming an armed opponent than as its sole raison d'etre. Only when a student is physically, spiritually, and ethically "ready," is he supposed to be allowed to take up the first weapon. If the body and mind have been fully prepared (and therefQre integrated), when the student takes up the first weapon it becomes an extension of the integration of the bodymind in action.[20]

THE PEACOCK POSE IN WHICH THE PRACTICIONER, LIKE THE PEACOCK, "SPREADS ITS FEATHERS, RAISES ITS NECK, AND DANCES BY STEADYING ITSELF ON ONE LEG."
The student first learns wooden weapons: kolttari or kolkayattam payattu--first long staff (Figure 16), later short stick and curved stick (otta, Figure 17), and usually after only several years does one advance to combat weapons including dagger (Figure 18), spear, sword and shield (Figure 20), and flexible sword (Figure 21).[21] The teacher's corrections are intended to make the weapon an extension of the body. The use of each weapon involves one or more basic poses from which the practitioner moves into and out of and through which the weapon becomes an extension of the body. For example, the staff is an extension of the natural line of the spinal column maintained as one moves into and out of basic poses. The hands are kept in front of the body and the body weight is always kept forward, maximizing the range of the staff to keep the opponent at bay.

For some masters, practice with the curved stick, called otta, with its deep, wavelike, flowing movements, is considered the culmination and epitome of psychophysiological training because not only is there superb and beautiful external form, but also a simultaneous internal awakening. When correct spinal alignment is maintained, practice further develops the important region at the root of the navel (nabhi mula) region, hips, and thighs. Without the student knowing it, otta also subtly initiates the student in empty-hand combat (verumkai), the most advanced part of total kalarippayattu training, which eventually culminates when the student learns the location of the body's vital spots (marmmam) which are attacked or defended (see Zarrilli 1992).


THE SNAKE POSE IN WHICH THE PRACTICIONER, LIKE THE SERPENT, ALWAYS KEEPS ITS TAIL "ON THE GROUND WITHOUT MOVEMENT" SO THAT "HE CAN TURN IN ANY DIRECTION" TO ATTACK OR DEFEND.
Correct practice of all weapons depends entirely on correct performance of preliminary body exercises. Weapons are never to be manipulated by using overt strength or physical force, i.e., trying to make a blow forceful. Gurukkal Govindankutty Nayar said, "Using overt force is the surest way for a blow to 'become nothing' and 'lose its actuality."' Like the body exercises, each blow, thrust, cut, or defensive movement must be performed with the entire body and not simply with the hand, arm, and/or weapon. While practicing sword and shield, my teacher told me:

A non-actualized cut originates from the shoulder itself and does not bring the entire body into the execution of the cut, nor does it flow into the next cut in the sequence which follows.

Just as one movement should flow into the next when one performs the body exercise sequence, so in weapons practice one blow merges naturally with the next as there is a continuous energy flow which should never be broken.

Eventually the student should begin to manifest physical, mental, and behavioral signs resulting from practice. At first the exercises are "that which is external" (bahyamayatu). Like hatha yoga, daily practice of the forms leads to extraordinary physical control, and eventually should turn the student inward; the exercises eventually become "that which is internal" (andarikamayatu). One master explained the progression: "First the outer forms, then the inner secrets." Therefore, exercises and weapons forms are repeated until the student has sufficiently embodied the "inner life" (bhava) of the sequence, i.e., until the correct form gets "inside" the student's body. Once the exercise becomes "effortless," as one performs the exercise he should naturally begin to experience the "inner action" behind the external movement.


GURUKKAL P.K. BALAN DEMONSTRATES THE COCK POSE, A POSITION FROM WHICH HE LIFTS "ONE LEG AND SHAKES HIS FEATHERS AND NECK, FIXING HIS GAZE ON THE ENEMY AND ATTACKING."
As Gurukkal Govindankutty Nayar discussed in detail with me, simply mimicking correct external form is not enough:

Almost all practice you see is partial. It is not complete. Even with advanced students practicing, their form may be good and correct in [external] form, but it is still lacking something. It is lacking that spark or life (jivan) that makes this a real and full practice. They do not yet have the soul of the form.

The external form remains empty, "lifeless," and a mere shell if there is not simultaneously the correct and appropriate circulation of the internal wind or energy.

THE ACTUALIZATION OF POWER (SAKTI)
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Most masters would agree with Achutan Gurukkal's statement that only through "correct practice" of poses and steps will the student reap the benefits of practice and also begin to discover and eventually manifest power (sakti) in practice. What, precisely, is meant by "power" (sakti), and what are the signs of its-presence7 According to those masters who assume the yoga based pare digm discussed above, three essential features must be realized: (1) precisely correcting the external physical form and corresponding internal circula tion of the wind or energy (vayu or prana-vayu) so that alignment and movement are correct and within the limits of a form; (2) ensuring that the student is breathing properly, coordinating and releasing the breath properly, and, therefore, circulating the wind or energy correctly; (3) ensuring that the student develops correct external focus and even tually realizes one-point focus internally.

DURING PRACTICE OF SET FORMS WITH THE SWORD AND SHIELD, GURUKKAL GOVINDANKUTTY NAIR DEMONSTRATES QUICK SHIFTS OF WEIGHT AND MOVEMENT AS HE TAKES AN EVASIVE STEP TO THE LEFT, SHIFTING HIS WEIGHT FROM HIS RIGHT FOOT TO HIS LEFT, AND DRAWING HIS SWORD BACK FOR AN OFFENSIVE MANEUVER.
Masters like Achutan Gurukkal stress that "correct practice also means breathing naturally and, therefore, having the breath properly coordinated with performing the exercise or pose." Correct breathing is understood to develop naturally over months of practice. Nilakantan Namboodiripad told me that while doing all the preliminary exercises, breathing "should be automatic and effortless, which comes from continuous practice. Inhalation and exhalation should be the maximum possible, but there is no retention." Teachers tell their students to "breath through the nose; don't open your mouth." Keeping the mouth closed, the hands raised, and the spinal column firm in its natural alignment during leg exercises forces the student to begin to develop natural, deep diaphragmatic breathing from the navel region and prevents the natural tendency to take shallow breaths from the chest. As Kallada Balakrishnan asserted, "When the straight kick is done fully and correctly and the foot touches the hand above the head, then there will be correct breathing."

In addition to the natural coordination of breath with exercise some, but by no means all, masters also practice special breath control techniques understood to help activate and circulate the practitioner's "internal energy" (prana vayu) and, therefore, contribute to the actualization of sakti to be used in fighting and/or healing. There are two types of special exercises: (1) pranayama techniques shared with yoga and taught by either kalarippayattu or yoga masters, which require repetition of the fourfold pattern of inhale tion, retention/pause, exhalation, retention/pause (Figure 22), and (2) special kalarippayattu breathing exercises, often simply called swasam, which require continuous deep inhalation and exhalation without retention or pause. Some masters insist that correct practice is only fully actualized by those who practice these special exercises.

SREEJAYAN GURUKKAL OF CHEMBAD USES SOME OF KALARIPPAYATTU'S BASIC STEPS LEARNED "INNOCENTLY" AS PART OF A BODY-EXERCISE SEQUENCE TO BLOCK AN ATTACK, ENTER TO HIS OPPONENT, AND THROW HIM TO THE GROUND.

One Christian master teaches a special form of pranayama called brahmanapranayamam, which is coordinated with practice of basic steps (cuvadu). Strength is developed through repetition of the usual pattern of "puraka (inhalation), kumbhaka (retention), and rejaka (exhalation)" prior to and after body exercises and when performing empty hand movements. For this master, "breath control exercises are superior to all other forms of exercise. The vital energy (prana vayu), mind, intellect, and physical strength (balam) are all closely related." Another master claims that practicing pranayama leads to "control over the mind as well as the body's metabolic functions" and, therefore, to the development of correct form practice in the martial art. Neelakantan Namboodiripad told me that practicing pranayama brings "concentration" and eventually "air strength" (vayubalam) identical with the manifestation of power (sakti) itself. One master explained the practical application of pranayama in the martial art:

In pranayama there are two retentions, one after inhalation and one after exhalation. The one after exhalation is not strong. Therefore, when you give a blow it comes with exhalation. But strong defense comes with inhalation. This is the essence of kalarippayattu, but most people don't know it. Only those who have studied pranayama can understand it.

GURUKKAL MADHAVAN PANNIKAR (NOW DECEASED) PERFORMS LONG STAFF WITH A FEMALE STUDENT.
Other masters have learned special kalarippayattu breathing exercises, simply called "swasam." Their purpose is the same as pranayama, i.e., "to gain strength (balam) and power (sakti)." Master Mohammedunni describes the result as gaining "wind power" (vayusakti) "so that I will have firm steps and for application [in combat]." When performing these exercises, "your mind is simply on what you are doing. There is a grip or power in the stomach at the full point of inhalation."

Although retention per se is not part of these particular breathing exercises, one of the most important signs of correct practice is when there is a "gripping" or "holding" (piduttam) which comes naturally to specific places (sthanam) of the body. (For example, notice the back alignment in and the fact that the region of the navel and hips provides firm support.) The "grip" results from a combination of natural breath control and correct form practice, enhanced in some cases by special breathing exercises.

The third most important feature of "correct practice" leading to actual ization of sakti is developing correct, i.e., one point focus (ekagrata). There are numerous practical ways in which internal one point focus is practiced in the kalari. Visually focusing on the teacher's eyes in weapons training continues the student's development of one-point focus begun when the student is first instructed to focus when he begins the leg exercises. As Achuttan Gurukkal explained:

We should never take our eyes from those of our opponent. By ekagrata here I mean kannottam, keeping the eyes on the opponent's. When doing practice you should not see anything else going on around you.

RAJASHAKHARAN NAIR AND ANOTHER ADVANCED STUDENT PERFORMING OTTA AT THE C.V.N. KALARI, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM.
Master Achutan's comments echo the well known example of Arjuna's actualization of one point focus in the archery test which was administered by Drona to all his students and at which only Arjuna was successful.

Single-point focus should not be confused with the simple act of focusing the eyes on an external object. One-point focus has both external and internal dimensions, the internal developed as an integral part of the raising and discovery of the internal wind or energy. For a few masters, one point focus is simply the first stage in an ever deepening and more subtle process of interior practice, further developed through special meditational techniques.

Whether Hindu, Christian, or Muslim, those who emphasize the internal aspect of practice teach one or more forms of meditation as a natural extension of this inward progression of practice. Meditation is understood to be a complementary means of controlling the natural state of mental flux which stands in the way of the student's achievement of one point concentra tion, as well as a path to higher modes of personal accomplishment and actualization. As one master explained:

Practicing kalarippayattu is conducive to learning both yoga and pranayama; they all come together. Both produce sharpness and steadiness of mind, both also give courage and patience, and both also help to give good health.

What eventually results from practicing kalarippayattu is the discovery of the interior subtle body (suksma-sarira) traditionally associated with yoga and meditation, and assumed to be encased within the physical body (see Zarrilli, 1989).

As Govindankutty Nayar put it, "Kalarippayattu is 80% percent men tal and only the remainder is physical." The eighty percent mental is further developed through a variety of forms of meditation including everything from simple vratam-sitting and focusing one's mind on a deity, name chanting, or focusing on one's own breathing-to more complex forms of moving or stationary meditation which cannot be explained in this brief essay.


THE AUTHOR BEING LOCKED DURING DAGGER PRACTICE AT THE C.V.N. KALARI, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. Photograph by Adam Oliensis.
Following the yogic ideal of self-control to its logical extreme, the ultimate mastery of "mental powers" applied in martial practice is the devel opment of the esoteric, seemingly "magical" power to attack the body's vital spots (marmmam) by simply looking or pointing (Zarrilli, 1992). Belief in these subtle powers is simply an extension of pan-Indian assumptions regard ing the ability of supremely accomplished individual masters of yoga to accumulate and concentrate their powers internally and then to apply those powers externally. In the ethnographic domain, the continued belief in such powers is the closest contemporary reflection of the subtle, esoteric powers attained by epic heroes like Arjuna

Did Kung Fu Originate from Kalari Payat?

There is something about Kung Fu that you will not find in any Western or chinese text. That is , Kung Fu originated from a State called Kerala in Southern India.

As you know lord Buddha or Siddartha Gautama (his real Indian name)was an Indian. He had many disciples who tried to teach Buddhism in India after his death. One of his disciples called Bodhidarhma (also an Indian) came down to south India to teach about the principles of Buddha. He found in this state called Kerala a very interesting martial art called "KALARI PAYAT" being practiced among the Warrior class, the "Kshyatrias" ( like the samurai class in Japan). Instead of teaching buddhism Bodhidharma ended up learning Kalari Payat for many years, which he knew would be useful in crossing the mountain ranges of northern India while protecting him and his followers from the attacks of the Huns, Bandits and Vandals. His stay and his learning process of Kalaripyat is recorded in the Ancient texts of Kerala and are still unavailable today. One look Kalari Payat and Kung Fu andy ou can see the similarity between the two.

Kalari Payat means the martial art that is done in deep chamber dug into the ground in the ground and roofed with a dome. Kalari Payat is like kung fu a very hand based fighting system. A trainee starts when he or she is 4 years old and takes 12 years to become an average fighter. The first 4 months are spent in oiling and massaging the body using herds and medicinal plants. Many strengthening exercises are also done during this period to increase flexibility and endurance. After this initial training the various hand and leg combat techniques are taught, after this weapons like the sword , staff, short blade, short staff, shields, spheres etc are taught. The most advanced weapon is the belt sword which is a long flexible sword that is usually 10 feet long and can be wrapped around the waist. it is so deadly that a person using the weapon can slice off his own body parts if not careful.

There are 4 schools of Kalari Pyat in Kerala- the Northern, southern , Western and Eastern Schools. As a practicer of Kalari for the past 10 years and also wing shu for the past 3 years , I can only be amazed at the similarity of the two arts. When Bodhidharma's disciples set up the shaolin temple, they had already modified KALARIPAYAT into a new but similar fighting system called Kung Fu.

Archived from guestbook entry in Shaolin International Federation




Kalari Payatt

Martial Art Of India


The ethnic Indian martial art of Kalari Payat (Kalaripayattu) - meaning 'Battleground' or 'Gymnasium' - (Kalari), 'Method' or 'Art' - (Payatt), has a special significance for practitioners of the Tibetan and Chinese martial arts.

In tradition, the Shaolin Temple martial art of China was introduced by the Indian Buddhist Patriarch and founder of Ch'an' (Zen) Buddhism; Bodhidharma (450-523 AD).

Bodhidharma known in Chinese as 'Dat-Mo' was the 28th Patriarch in the dhyana (Sanskrit for meditation and hence Ch'an and Zen) Buddhist tradition of India.

He had been invited to China by the Emperor Wu, an ardent Buddhist. Bodhidharma later retired to the Shaolin Temple, and according to legend instructed the Monks there in a series of exercises that went on to form the basis of Shaolin Temple 'boxing'. Variously, these exercises are recorded as martial arts techniques and forms from India, or, simply calisthenics, as identified in the 'I Chin Ching' or "Muscle Changing Classic". Extant wall paintings and murals at the Honan Shaolin Temple in North East China show etnic Indian Monks sparring and training in boxing skills with Chinese Monks, supporting the view that Bodhidharma's exercises were in fact martial arts - the martial arts of his homeland - India.

There are no records that chronicle the historical origins of Kalari Payat, only narrative accounts formatted as myth and legend. Most of these credit Kalari's origins to Lord Shiva, one of the three principle Gods of the Hindu pathenon.

Shiva has many aspects, he is depicted as moral and paternal, but also under one of his other names (mahakala) as the Great God of Time, the 'Destroyer' of all things. He is the Great Yogi who dwells on Mount Kailassa in the high Himalayas, deep in the dhyana meditation that maintains the worlds very existence.

Shiva was said to have taught the Brahmin (highest Hindu caste) Parasurama the art of Kalari Payat, the art itself arising out from Shiva's war with his Father-In-Law Daksha, one of the Prajapatis or 'Lords Of Creation'. Parasurama taught his 21 disciples (all Brahmins themselves) the art of Kalari Payat, and then opened 108 Kalari (school's/gymnasiums) around the Kerala region of Southern India.

The very sparse written historical details that exist today, about Kalari Payat, date back to between the 9th and 12th centuries AD. Obviously, this is much too late for the arts origins given the teachings of Bodhidharma, and the long martial heritage of India, known to the Persian Empire (circa 6th Century BC) and the Hellenistic Empire of Alexander the Great (4th Century BC). It is however, well within the time frame for a transmission (along with Tantric Buddhism) to Tibet, and for the period of Ah-Dat-Tor Lama, founder of the Tibetan Lion's Roar Lama martial art (Circa 1426 AD) - see below.

Nevertheless, Bodhidharma, is remembered in the Kerala Region of Southern India - the Homeland of Kalari, as both a lineage Kalari Master, AND, as the Father of Han-Chinese Shaolin 'Kung-Fu'.

Kalari Payat has many similarities with Chinese martial arts. There is a division into Northern and Southern styles. There is a separation of systems and techniques into 'external' and 'internal' categories. There is a medical tradition (in Kalari: Ayurveda), there is a vital point discipline (in Kalari: Marma-adi), there is a 'spiritual' aspect that covers both orthodox faiths such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, and also, as in Chinese Kung-Fu a demonology and the use of alters. There is a strong weapons training tradition in Kalari, indeed in some systems the empty hand arts are secondary - as in some South-East Asian martial disciplines.

Kalari has many distinct practices too, the use of massage to prepare the fighter for the rigors of training can last a period of several months. The 'Kalari' or Gymnasium - particularly in the Southern systems is constructed as a ritually dug pit of specific dimensions.

Kalari Payat today, is still practiced in the same manner as it was hundreds and probably thousands of years ago, the rural traditions of India keeping it's original practices very much alive and unaltered, in large contrast to much of Mainland Chinese Kung-Fu - which has undergone great change since the homogenization of the Cultural Revolution.

This author was astonished in 1982 to witness a British BBC television documentary entitled: "The Way Of The Warrior": 'Kalari, the Indian Way'. The opening film sequence was of a Southern Kalari Payat Guru (Master) performing a traditional 'Form' that was near identical to a Tibetan Lion's Roar Lama Kung-Fu form that he had learned! This was despite a separation between the arts of many hundreds of miles and several hundreds of years. The connection was real, present and obvious.

An intriguing suggestion has been made by several prominent martial arts historians, notably Tatsuo Suzuki, Hirokazu Kanazawa, and Masutasu Oyama, that the Greek Martial Art of Pankration (all Powers) introduced into India by the army of Alexander the Great in the 4th Century BC, influenced the development of Kalari, and thence, the martial arts of China, Tibet, Japan, Okinawa and South-East-Asia. The Greeks remained in India and Afghanistan for three hundred years, during which time Greek (Hellenistic) culture pervaded that of India, even influencing China and Japan.

Today, mainly for reasons of national pride, many Chinese reject out of hand the possibility of any effect on Kung-Fu from Greek Pankration. The Japanese and Okinawan's, who openly acknowledge the influence of Kung-Fu on their arts are less reticent.

Kalari and Tibetan Martial Arts:

The Tibetan Lion's Roar! Lama, Potala Palace Martial Art: the martial art of the Tibetan Nation and People; is a Tantric Yana in it's own right. The art becomes known to narrative history in the middle of the 15th century AD, when the Lama Ah-Dat-Tor, a Tantric Siddha (Crazy Wisdom Teacher), and student of Dharma Master Gong-Got Lama, at the Potala's famous: Namgyal or "Victorious" Monastery, 'created' the Lion's Roar! martial art through a Tantric meditative and Yiddam (Deity Meditation) process, making Lion's Roar Lama Potala Palace Kung-Fu, part of the Gelugpa or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, a part of the lineage sect of the Dalai Lama himself.

This is as far as the oral narrative histories, can take us. However, broader anthropological research can offer the potential for further insight.

The 'Potala': Early legends concerning the Red Mountain at Lhasa, tell of a sacred cave, considered to be the dwelling place of the Bodhisattva Chenrezig that was used as a meditation retreat by Emperor Songtsen Gampo in the seventh century AD. In 637 King Songtsen Gampo built a palace on the 'Red Hill/Mountain' at Lhasa. From as early as the eleventh century the Palace was called Potala. The name probably derives from Mt. Potala (Sanskrit: Potalaka - derived from the Tamil for 'Brilliance' or 'To Light a Fire') the mythological mountain abode of the Bodhisattva Chenrezig (Indian - 'Avilokiteshvara', Han- 'Kuan Yin') in the Kerala region of Southern India. The Potalaka is sacred to Hindu's, Jains and Buddhists. The Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo has been regarded as an incarnation of Chenrezig (as indeed were all the subsequent incarnations of the Dalai Lama). As he founded the Potala, it seems likely that the Mountain top Palace of Lhasa took on the name of the Indian sacred mountain.

Given this, and given that The Lion's Roar (as part of the Lotus Sutra) was originally a Theravada Arhat teaching, it seems likely that very early Buddhist influence (Theravadian) may well have entered into Tibet, and settled near to the Potala Mountain. The Lion's Roar! Tibetan martial art, is acknowledged to have been influenced by the Indian martial art of Kalari Pyatt. Some narrative histories make direct claim that Ah-Dat-Tor was trained in Kalari, and, some martial arts forms from the 'Southern' style of Kalari Pyatt, from the Kerala district, are very close indeed in technique and sequence to modern Lion's Roar forms, even without any evidence whatsoever of any recent historical contact between the systems. This fact was recorded in a BBC Television film documentary in 1981: "Kalari, the Indian way" which shows a Southern Kalari Master performing a martial arts form near identical to one found in a branch lineage from the Chan-Tat-Fu line of Tibetan Hap-Gar Kung-Fu. Given that the Sacred Mountain of Potala is in Southern India, a potential link to Southern Kalari martial arts is obviously evident (see above).

Given also that Gong-Got Lama (Dharma Master) was also a teacher of martial arts at the Potala to Ah-Dat-Tor Lama, it may well be that Southern Indian Kalari Pyatt together with its sister art Simhanada Vajramukti, was already present at Lhasa, and taught on the Potala Red-Hill for many generations before 'Lion's Roar' as we know it (exclusively through Han Chinese lineages) was 'formulated' by Ah-Dat-Tor himself.

The transformation of the Arhat (Theravadian) tradition into the Mahayana Bodhisattva, may mirror the transformation of Iindian Kalari Pyatt into Tibetan Lion's Roar Lama 'Kung-Fu'. Named Arhat forms still exist in some extant Han 'Tibetan' Hop-Gar, Lama and White Crane Kung-Fu lineages, that all arise from the original Lion's Roar of Ah-Dat-Tor. Bodhisattva forms also exist, showing the mixture of traditions. Indeed some Tibetan lineages in Hop-Gar claim that their Tantra is from the Karmapa 'Black-Hat' tradition, which cannot be the case if Ah-Dat-Tor was a Monk at the Potala, unless, further influence occurred after Ah-Dat-Tor's time, which seems to be the case.

Nevertheless, Ah-Dat-Tor's art, as originated by him, or as 'ascribed to him', albeit arising from a Kalari root, has further diversified into many branches. To be authentically 'Tibetan' however, the Lion's Roar! Lama 'Kung-Fu' MUST be Tantric in form and practice, this is the essential root, and must be 'living' even in the Han-diversified or Westernized branches of the art.

To be practiced as Tantra, TRUE Lion's Roar! Martial Arts will resemble Japanese 'Zen' martial systems, even more than they do Han Chinese, in respect of their integrated spiritual - Buddhist practices. Just as Karate-Do is the way of the 'Empty' (Zen) Hand, so too is Lion's Roar 'Tantra', in it's integrated body, mind, and spiritual form.

Buddhism has always changed to meet 'local' conditions, in host cultures: Tibet, Thailand, Japan, China, the West etc (e.g. 'Gnostic Buddhism'). Lion's Roar! as a Tantric martial art has also changed and evolved, but, as with Buddhism, and in particular, as with 'Tibetan' Buddhism, the art must have a Tantric core. Then, the Lion's Roar! will still Roar the Buddha's Dharma, and still be a vehicle for transformation and enlightenment, just as it was always intended to be.....

'Tibetan' Kung-Fu has been demonstrated to be related in religion to India thru Tantric Buddhism, and now thru actual research the physical connections in technique and form can be seen as still alive, and still flourishing in Kerala, Southern India, the 'homeland' of Kalari, which is perhaps the 'Mother Art' for both Tibetan and Han Chinese 'Kung-Fu'......