TENSHO DAI

Tensho Dai, a tonfa kata, was created by Master Yuki Koda (1944- 1997) the late head of US Yoshukai Karate.

Tonfa were originally handles used to turn the top stone of a traditional Okinawan rice grinder.

Okinawan Rice grinder with its Tonfa wooden handle

Here the kata is demonstrated by Shihan Mike Lilley at the World Yoshukai Karate &  Kobudo organization summer camp in Eufaula, Alabama, USA on June 17, 2017.

 Enjoy and practice...

Yoshukai Karate Dothan Tournament

Last week end was the 35th edition of the Dothan Open Karate Tournament .

Attendance was great, good competitors in Fighting, Kata, Kobudo, some old faces, some new ones.

The 2 highlights of this event however were the presence of both Soke Katsuoh Yamamoto and Kaicho Hiroaki Toyama. 

Soke Yamamoto brought with him his new book : 

and signed it for those students who purchased it. 

He had come from Japan with his daughter and grand daughter who also competed in the tournament.

But the most emotional part of the tournament was the return among us of Kaicho Toyama. Last February, Kaicho Toyama fell very ill, victim of a sudden infection. For several weeks, we were not sure he would survive. 

After Multiple surgeries, Kaicho Toyama beat the disease, and he was among us for the first time this week end, signing on Soke's book for those of us who asked him to do so ! 

Mr Toyama's will to survive and overcome the disease, and the way his family helped him should be examples to us all. At times, we might feel miserable for having missed a plane or having been treated unfairly by life. The next times this happens, let us remember Kaicho Toyama. 

Iki o sakan no subeshi

(Keep High Spirit)

It sometimes takes a punch in the nose...

How many times have I told beginners in Karate to keep their hands up when sparring - and their hands go down. Always, it never fails.

And the one day they get popped on the nose - sometimes it breaks it, sometimes it bleeds - they remember and all of a sudden their hands stay up. Some of them even tell me I was right...  Well guess what ?

By the way, the same thing happened to me a long time ago. Since then I have consistently kept my hands up...

"When you are ready, the teacher will show up".

Actually, the teacher might have shown up earlier, but you did not pay attention. It is the same with teachings. You may have been told how to do it, maybe times and times, but until you really needed to learn, you just did not listen. 

Last June I had the honor to demonstrate Tameshigiri in front of Soke Katsuoh Yamamoto and a vast crowd assembled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his founding Yoshukai Karate. 

I had planned to demonstrate Rokudan Giri - a classical 6 cuts exercise. 

1. Left to right Diagonal downward cut
2. Right to left Diagonal downward cut
3. Right to left Diagonal downward cut
4. Left to right Diagonal upward cut
5. Right to left Diagonal downward cut
6. Left to right Diagonal upward cut

I was cutting through a roll made of two tatami mats

It all went well for the first three cuts, then on the fourth one, the target got airborne and fell from the stand. Only 2 layers of straw had not been cut.

I stopped there as if this was exactly what I intended to do, and everybody - but me - was satisfied and impressed with my demonstration !

Two weeks later as I discussed the event with Patty Heath Sensei my instructor from the Big Green Drum Dojo in Pensacola, she asked me if I had lined my back hip with the target. I told her I had not, for nobody had ever told me to do so. To which she suggested that probably it had been told to me, but I had not remembered it. And very likely this is what happened. 

The next morning, I installed a double mat on the stand, aligned my back hip on the target, and performed a nice and clean rokudan giri ! 

I was so pleased and impressed that I cut a second target, with the same success !

Morals of this story :

• If you want to cut, line up your back hip with your target...
• Always listen to Sensei.
• If you are the Sensei, sometimes it may be better to let a student struggle with a problem before you tell him how to solve it.

Train hard

Mugen and Yosei no Sai : Yoshukai only Kata

Yoshukai Karate has numerous open hand and weapon kata.

There are however 2 Kata that are purely Yoshukai.

MUGEN  - 無限 - means Endless, or Infinity. This open hand Kata was created by our Grandmaster Katsuoh Yamamoto.

YOSEI NO SAI was created by Sensei Hiroyuki Koda (1944-1997). 

"Yosei" has 2 meanings. One is "Ocean". But "Yosei" is also an other way to read Sensei Koda's first name "Hiroyuki". 

So that "Yosei no Sai" means "Sai of the Ocean", and it also means "Hiroyuki's Sai".(Sensei Koda's Sai)

This was explained to me by Sensei Hiroaki Toyama at the Yoshukai Winter Camp in 2011.


(And Mugen is also my Dog's name...)

Katsuoh Yamamoto - Defense against grabbing

Another video from the 70's of our Grand Master Katsuoh Yamamoto demonstrating defense moves against grabbing opponents. Some of the techniques are the same his instructor Dr Chitose was using, which you can see in one video on one of my previous posts.



These tapes being pretty old the quality is far from good. These are however interesting moves. I was practicing most of these in a slightly different form when I was studying Ju Jitsu with Sensei Rolland Hernaez in France.

I will soon post on You Tube an other video of defense against atemi (Punch and kicks). Stay tuned...

Sai tai Bo Video - Yamamoto Sensei.

For everybody's enjoyment, an old video footage of our Yoshukai Karate Grand Master Katsuoh YAMAMOTO performing Sai tai Bo in the 2 roles, first with the Bo, then with the Sais.

For those of you familiar with the Kata, some waza are a little different than the way we perform them today, also they are not performed in the same order. However, look at the speed and accuracy. Rikki Hitatsu - Strive for excellence...

Thanks to Mike Culbreth Sensei - WYKKO Kukaicho  - for letting me scan some of his videos archives and find these clips. I will soon post more original Yoshukai Karate Videos, some of them featuring our Grand Master again, prepare to be amazed !

OSU