Masayuki Shimabukuro Hanshi (1948 - 2012)

It is with great sadness that I learned that Masayuki Shimabukuro Hanshi passed last Saturday September 8. 

Masayuki Hidenobu Shimabukuro Hanshi was born in March 1948 in Osaka, Japan and began his sword training in 1975 under the direct supervision of Miura Takeyuki Hidefusa, Hanshi, 20th generation Grand'Master of Muso Jikiden Eishin-Ryu.

As International Chairman of the Nippon Kobudo Jikishin-kai under Miura Hanshi, and for the Iai-do and Batto-do divisions of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai,Shimabukuro Sensei was in charge of the dissemination of authentic Eishin-ryu Samurai swordsmanship outside of Japan.

Masayuki Shimabukuro Hanshi was ranked 8th dan in Muso Jikiden Eishin-Ryu Iaijutsu, 8th dan Shito-ryu Karate-do, 7th dan in Shindo Muso-Ryu Jojutsu and he held the title of Hanshi - the highest title one can achieve in the Traditional Japanese Martial Arts - in both Iaido and Karate-do.

Demonstration Venezuela 2007

Not all Masters are nice. Shimabukuro Hanshi was a wonderful person. I only met him in 3 occasions, and - beside his technical expertise - I was deeply impressed by his human qualities : kindness, humility and patience. He was also a good cook !

All of us his students will deeply miss him. 

The best way to now honor his memory is to train hard, improve our practice and polish our spirits to continue the transmission of the Art he was teaching us. 

With deepest bows...

 

Kata Practice

Kenwa Mabuni (摩文仁 賢和,, 1889 - 1952) was one of the first to teach Karate on mainland Japan and is credited as founding the Shito Ryu Style (糸東流), also taught by Masayaki Shimabukuro Sensei.

Here is what he has to say about the practice of Kata and other training methods (Kumite, Makiwara...) It is my belief that this applies to every Martial Arts.

Practice Karate Correctly
 by Mabuni Kenwa (1889 - 1952)

 
In karate, the most important thing is kata.

Into the kata of Karate are woven every manner of attack and defense technique. Therefore, kata must be practiced properly, with a good understanding of their bunkai meaning.

There may be those who neglect the practice of kata, thinking that it is sufficient to just practice [pre-arranged] kumite that has been created based on their understanding of the kata, but that will never lead to true advancement. The reason why is that the ways of thrusting and blocking – that is to say, the techniques of attack and defense – have innumerable variations. To create kumite containing all of the techniques in each and every one of their variations is impossible.
If one sufficiently and regularly practices kata correctly, it will serve as a foundation for performing – when a crucial time comes – any of the innumerable variations.

However, even if you practice the kata of karate – if that is all that you do – and if your [other] training is lacking, then you will not develop sufficient ability. If you do not [also] utilize various training methods to strengthen and quicken the functioning of your hands and feet, as well as to sufficiently study things like body-shifting and engagement distancing, you will be inadequately prepared when the need arises to call on your skills.

If practiced properly, two or three kata will suffice as “your” kata; all of the others can just be studied as sources of additional knowledge.
 
Breadth, no matter how great, means little without depth.

In other words, no matter how many kata you know, they will be useless to you if you don’t practice them enough.

If you sufficiently study two or three kata as your own and strive to perform them correctly, when the need arises, that training will spontaneously take over and will be shown to be surprisingly effective. If your kata training is incorrect, you will develop bad habits which, no matter how much kumite and makiwara practice you do, will lead to unexpected failure when the time comes to utilize your skills.

You should be heedful of this point.

However, the karate-ka must by no means neglect kumite and makiwara practice, either. Accordingly, if one seriously trains – and studies – with the intent of approximately fifty percent kata and fifty percent other things, one will get satisfactory results.