Yoshukai Karate Nunchaku kata : YOSHU

Yoshukai Karate en Tchequie

Le 5 Mai dernier, je suis arrive a BRNO en Tchequie apres un voyage de 14 heure en voiture, train, metro, avion et bus ! 

Le but de ma visite la-bas etait d'aider au lancement d'un dojo de Karate Yoshukai. 

J'ai passe un excellent week-end dans une belle ville, en compagnie de gens charmants et tres motives par le Karate. Comme c'etait un long week end, nous avons pu nous entrainer dans une salle habituellement convoitee par d'autres groupes. 7 heures de Karate en 2 jours, Un bel effort.

Nous nous sommes concentres sur les  kihon, kata de base, Ippon Kumite, et quelques conseils de bases sur les methodes d'enseignement. Et puis, pour le plaisir, un peu de Kobudo de niveau superieur avec Sai tai Bo...

 

Charish et Jason Rainwater ont commence a enseigner le Karate Yoshukai de Katsuoh Yamamoto a Brno. Nous mettons tout en place avec la World Yoshukai Karate Kobudo Organization aux Etats Unis. et le dojo devrait ouvrir officiellement cet ete en Tchequie.

Ils se rendront au Camp d'ete Yoshukai de Eufaula en juin prochain et a leur retour nous organiserons la suite des evenements pour cette annee.

Katsuoh Yamamoto dans la Pop Culture Japonaise

Une video un peu decousue et assez amusante, en Japonais, sur certains episodes extraordinaires de la vie de Katsuoh Yamamoto, fondateur du Karate Yoshukai, qui nous a quitte il y a bientot 5 ans en Fevrier 2017. 

 

Katsuoh Yamamoto était l'un des derniers maîtres de karaté Japonais ayant etudie avec les Maitres d'Okinawa qui avaient apporte, au debut du XXeme siecle, le karaté au Japon.

J'ai eu la chance de rencontrer et de m'entrainer de nombreuses fois avec Sensei Yamamoto aux Etats Unis de 1993 a 2016 et j'etais present a certains evenements figurant dans cette video.

Tenshin Ryu Kenjutsu : one origin of Yoshukai Iai

In 2014 I spent 2 hours at Mr Culbreth's residence with Soke Yamamoto to discuss Yoshukai Iai with him.

Soke showed me some bunkai for several of the waza and we also discussed the origin of Yoshukai Iai which he had not learned Iai from Dr Chitose but from 2 different masters from Kyushu. 

Although I am not exactly sure I fully understood Soke Yamamoto, I believe he had been training in Kumamoto in the 2 styles of Tenshin Ryu and Jigen Ryu, until one of the masters he was training with quit teaching.

In this Tenshin Ryu video, you can see where some of the Yoshukai Iai moves probably come from.

Although Tenshin Ryu Nodachi is much longer than the regular Katana used in Yoshukai iai, the waza at 1:40 is very close to the Yoshukai Waza #8, and the next one at 2:00  is very similar to our #7. 

Also, Chiburi and Noto are the same. 

I teach Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Iaijutsu at the Yoshukai Karate Dojo in Dothan , Alabama. You can contact me at 334 798 1639 or by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com

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...

3 Yoshukai Kata

Here are the official counts for Yoshukai Karate Mugen, Sanchiryu and Kusanku kata, demonstrated on March 18, 2017 at a Yoshukai Karate Instructors seminar in Dothan, AL.





 Mugen - open hand, by Mr Tony Adams



 
Sanchiryu by Mr Dennis Trawick


 
 
Kusanku by Mr Josh McCullars

Practice...

RIP Katsuoh Yamamoto, 1938 - 2017

It is with much sadness that we share the  information  that Soke Katsuoh Yamamoto, founder of Yoshukai Karate passed away on February 12, 2017 in Japan.  Born on July 10, 1938, Soke was 78 years old. His long and courageous battle with cancer finally came to a peaceful end.

 

One of the last masters who learned from the pioneers who brought Karate from Okinawa to mainland Japan, Soke Yamamoto acquired and honed his skills under Sensei Tsuyoshi Chitose, founder of Chito Ryu Karate, before founding Yoshukai Karate in 1963. 

He touched many lives and inspired many people with his bravery and strength of mind, keeping with this legacy through his last and most difficult battle against cancer. We will now carry on his legacy with pride, not forgetting the many teachings and lessons we all gained from him.  

Over the course of the last 23 years I had the honor to meet and train under him many times. I will miss his courage, integrity and kindness.  

Osu!

3 reasons why you should not use a shinken.

In the past 16 month I have seen in 2 occasions some high ranking Karate people cut themselves with their swords. In Public. Fortunately, their cuts were superficial, no tendon or bone were cut. But the blood spilled in front of many people. 

 

This is unfortunate. Cutting yourself with your sword is akin to shooting yourself in the foot with your own gun. Would you trust a gun instructor who'd do that ?

Sharp swords – also called Live Blade or Shinken in Japanese – were designed to kill people swiftly and effortlessly. The only reason to use them is to practice Tameshigiri – actual cutting of targets. This is done in a particular environment, with strict safely guidelines.

They should not be used for Iaido which is normally practiced with Iaito. Iaito have the same geometry and shape than regular katana, they may be slightly lighter to prevent stress injury, and they are dull to avoid accident. They are designed for this purpose of safe practice.

If Japanese masters use them, so should you. 

For the following 3 reasons :

A dangerous fallacy.

I have heard many people say “I like to practice with a sharp sword, because it forces me to be more accurate.” Invariably, those people cut themselves. And it's just a matter of time before someone cuts someone else. So this is a fallacy, and a dangerous one.

A bad image of Yoshukai

Unless you know what you are doing, you will cut yourself, as long as it happens in private, it is your problem, but if it happens in public, you are displaying a poor image of Yoshukai in front of students or parents.

A serious liability

An other aspect of this is that when you bring to a room, a dojo or a beach a sharp sword and leave it unattended on the ground, you are in effect letting a dangerous weapon in the open for anyone to mess with. Would you leave a loaded gun laying on an open table in a picnic area ?

People, and children in particular, are curious and can be sneaky. If anyone would grab your sword and accidentally cut themselves, or wound or kill someone, you would likely be liable, as would probably be whoever organized the event or own the venue where it happened.

So if you don't have a sword, please purchase a Iaito, there are some good ones available at Cheness. If you already have a sharp sword, dull it. Use a grinder and take the sharp edge out of it or ask someone to do it for you. If you want to keep your sharp sword purchase a Iaito.

If you have questions about sword purchasing, please contact me at Frederic.lecut@gmail.com

Hello everyone, 

Here is the update on the Miura Hanshi Mosaic. As per this Monday morning, April 24, 2015, the project has collected a total of $1,436.00 of a total goal of $5,500.00. Pledges have been coming mostly from United States and France.

For those of you who did not read my last post, here is what it is all about : 


I launched last week a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to realize a mosaic portrait of Sword Master Takeyuki Hidefusa Miura, Hanshi. Miura Hanshi left this world in 2012. He was the 20th Grand Master of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu, the style of Sword I practice, and I would like to realize this mosaic as a tribute to his life of dedication to the transmission of this Art. 

The mosaic model.

The portrait I want to make of Miura Hanshi will be of him practicing "Tameshigiri": the actual cutting of targets with a real katana. Miura Hanshi was well know for his almost supernatural ability to cut rolls of papers with his sword.

Without men like Miura Hanshi, invaluable arts would be lost to humanity, and I want to realize this mosaic as a tribute to his life and dedication to transmit to us the Art and Spirit of generations of Samurais before him.  When this mosaic is complete, I will donate it to the Headquarters of the KNBK – the organization that carries on Miura Hanshi's teachings.

Here is the link to the project : The Miura Hanshi Mosaic Portrait.

Miura Hanshi cutting rolled paper

If you are not familiar with Kickstarter, this is how it works : 

There is a period of 30 days to raise the money (5,500.00). If you think the project is worthy and want to back it, please pledge some money. This is very easily done on the front page of project's Kickstarter website. You get rewards depending on the amount you pledge. This is also well described on the project's Kickstarter website.

 

When you pledge, the money is kept by Kickstarter in a special account. 

At the end of the 30 days (September 15, 2015) if the total amount has been pledged Kickstarter sends me the money and I get to work. If the total amount is not raised, you get fully reimbursed. 

I hope you find this project a valuable one and that you will participate to the cause. 

An other way to help would be to share this post to your facebook page and/or Twitter account, or any other social network you use. 

If you have any questions, please ask them, preferably through the Kickstarter site, so everybody can read them, and my answers.

Thank you

When I do not practice Karate, Iaijutsu or other Martial Arts, I am also a modern mosaic artist with a deep admiration for ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine Arts. You can see my own mosaics on my site at mosaicblues. 

If you are interested by my mosaic work or would like to drop me a line 

please contact me by email at frederic.lecut@gmail.com  

or by phone at (334) 798 1639. 

 

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NEWSLETTER

Natural Selection

A classical story about the birth of a Traditional Martial Art goes this way :

A young lad's father or family are killed by people from another clan. The young lad wants revenge, but he is not strong enough. So he gets into a sort of mystical training quest - in Japanese "Shugyo". Gets alone in the mountains, trains hard during the day. Prays or meditates at night. Finally one day, a supernatural creature (God, Demon, Tesshu...) appears to him and grants him his wish : he teaches him a wonderful technique, or a set of them, that will allow him to overcome all his opponents.

We have multiple examples of these  : Hayashizuki Jinsuke, Founder of Hayashizaki Ryu and Eishin Ryu Iaijutsu, secluded himself in a Shito shrine to train and pray.

Ittosai Kagehisa. Founder of Ono Ha Itto Ryu. secluded himself in a temple to train.

Closer to us, Katsuoh Yamamoto, Founder of Yoshukai Karate, travelled to some mountains and woods to practice by himself...

We could go on for a long time. It is a common story , many people founded their own victorious way by secluding themselves, getting a fantastic idea, coming back to the world and winning everything.

But... We do not hear about the other ones, those who also secluded themselves, had (what they thought was) a fantastic idea, came back to the world, and died when they tried their (not so fantastic) idea. 

This is Natural Selection. Bad techniques, and those who invented them, do not survive the battlefields.

It does not matter what kind of great idea you have. You need to test it, against an opponent. If you win, good, find a mightier opponent to test it further. If you lose, well, it was not such a good idea. 

You can also train with a master, someone much more advanced than you, who will tell you how he feels about your ideas, in a non-lethal way. This is why we get teachers and masters. To help us on the road. I recommend this way...

And THIS is true for everything. It is true for Martial Arts, for Cuisine, for Ballroom Dancing and for Zen. The other day, this brilliant guy was explaining on Facebook how just Buddha had found enlightenment by himself so would he do the same and not rely on any master. Just that ! Arrogant prick ! Even Buddha trained under several Yogis before he went on his own.

Today, there is no shortage of Self appointed Martial Arts Masters, 9th degree black belt in numerous styles - some of these styles do not even grant Dan levels... There are also quite a few Roshi's - Zen Masters, with very questionable lineage... And this is regrettable.

Whatever you want to learn, find a good master, someone with credentials from an established, reputable lineage. Short of this, you might get hurt... 

French Budo

As I was travelling to France from December 17 to January 6, I had the great pleasure to meet and train with my old Budo buddies from a long time ago...

I got to train twice with the Kendo club of Friville Escarbotin . 

My friend and instructor Francis Hollier, originally a Judoka, founded the Kendo club 30 years ago. I started to train with him in 1989 just back from Korea. Since then, I have tried to go train with him at least once a year...

From Left to Right : Pascal Barraud, Frederic Lecut, Abel Brunet, Francis Hollier. 

The four of us were training together 25 years ago in Kendo, Tai Jitsu and Tai Chi... After 22 years in the USA, I can go back to France and meet these guys, it is just as if I had left them last week !

While I was training in Kendo under Francis, he asked me if I would like to open a Tai Jitsu class. Which I did, under supervision of Jean Luc Lemoine, who was teaching in Rouen, 90 km South of Friville. I was not a black belt at the time and could only teach under supervision of a licensed black belt instructor.

On January 3, at Jean Luc's request, I had the pleasure and honour to teach a Yoshukai Karate Class for the Tai Jitsu club of Normandie...

Everyone had a great time...

Once you have practised Budo for years and years, there should be a realization that maybe this is not at all about fighting, but rather about making peace. 

Unless you are able and ready to fight, it is going to be difficult to live in peace. 

Faithfull friends are part of this...

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)

Stances

At our last Yoshukai Karate Tournament of Panama City FL, I was asked to judge the Grand Champion Black Belt kata competition. The winners of 5 divisions - open hand or kobudo were competing against each other for the Big Trophy...

Among them was a talented young man who performed a remarkable open hand kata. I do not remember whether he won the price or not. All I know is that he should not have, and that I had know this from the first 2 seconds of his kata. 

How can I decide such thing so early in the kata ? Very simple, when this competitor bowed before beginning his otherwise brilliant kata, his toes went up from the mat. 

This is enough, if your toes go up, your weight is on your heels, a 5 years old child can push you backwards, and you will either fall down or have to step back. 

From the moment you begin your kata, you should be totally focussed, and not let any opening for a potential opponent. When your toes go up, you are totally vulnerable. This demonstrates your lack of awareness and fighting spirit. No Zanshin. Poor Budo. 

For your information and pleasure, look a this picture of Choki Motobu, performing a block found in our Yoshukai and Chito Ryu Nijusichi no kata.

 

Notice the Kibadachi stance, and how the joints of his toes are white. He is very strongly gripping the floor with his toes. Choki Motobu's idea of a good training session was to go down to Naha's entertainment district and pick fights. He was a born fighter and his karate was based on actual fighting. If anyone knew the importance of proper stance and posture, he was this one...

It does not matter how good you are with your arms. If your balance is poor, you won't have any power and you are only generating wind. Weak stances do weak Karate. Grab the ground.

Oh, and while I am at it, I believe this also applies to Zazen. Stay Grounded.

Handcrafted Kobudo Weapons

Just a word to inform you of a new source for quality kobudo Weapons. 

Mr Sean O'Toole - who is teaching Kaicho Toyama's class while he is recovering from his illness - is now offering remarkably well done BO and NUNCHAKU.

Mr O'Toole's weapons are available in different kinds of woods : Oak, Mahogany, Cypress, Hickory.

These weapons are extremely well done. They are very beautiful and have a very nice feeling.  his BO have different sections : Round, Octagonal, Hexagonal, Octagonal to Square... 

The NUNCHAKU are corded with parachute cord and he can also make them to your specifications.

In a near future, he is going to make TONFA and BOKEN.

Mr O'Toole can be reached at otoole@edmisten.com

Choun no Kun kata

Kaicho Mike Culbreth is teaching the first part of the Choun no Kun Bo kata to a group of Black Belts. 

Taped at the World Yoshukai Karate Kobudo Karate Headquarters in Dothan, Alabama on January 15, 2014. 

The BO (KUN in Okinawan language) is a 6 foot wooden staff.

The Bo kata taught in Yoshukai Kobudo are 

• Bo kata shodan, 
• Bo kata Nidan, 
• Bo kata Sandan, 
• Choun no Kun, and 
• Choun no Kun Dai.

Bo kata Shodan, Nidan and Sandan were created by the late Sensei Koda to teach the basics of Bo to beginner students (before black belt). They essentially are selected parts of Choun no Kun . 

I completed yesterday (December 21st) one of my goals for this year. I practiced each one of the MJER Shoden waza and Batto Ho waza 150 times - that is home practice and dos not include class practice. I also practiced Yoshukai Iai - the whole set - 120 times. The long term goal is to practice each waza 1000 times.

Katachi cannot be practiced solo, so far we are up to 350 times Ukenagashi Sono Ni, both parts. I certainly cannot say our execution is perfect, but it has improved a lot. When we first started, we would, maybe, get one acceptable waza each 20 or 30 repetition. Now there are times when I can perform properly 3 or 4 times in a row. 

How do I know they are good ? That's a good question. It feels good, it seems that the timing is good, the distance is good, the opponent's boken slides effortlessly on mine. Notice that I did not say it was perfect ! I am sure there will be things to improve, which I am not able to figure out by myself, and this is what seminars are about.

One thing I know is that our practice has improved, and that this is the only way to progress.

I practice 4 or 5 mornings per week - MJER Iai, Yoshukai Iai, then Zen, the whole thing takes about 1 1/2 hours. Some days I have to shorten it. 

We practice Katachi in class, usually Tuesday night for we have a 3 hours class. We only account for sets of 10. If you practice 3 times a waza, you don't really have the opportunity to improve it, so it does not count. We do 2 to 5 sets, each opponent does both Uchidachi and Shidachi part. It takes a while, but it is worth it. 

Practicing each waza 1000 times will take years, but we have time ! In 2014 I want to complete 150 of each Chuden and Okuden waza; for katachi: 1000 Ukenagashi Sono Ni - then we will switch to an other one, possibly Shinmyoken. 

What are your goals ? 

Visit Mokurai Dojo

Short home-made video of Mokurai Dojo where we train and practice in Tai Chi, Yoshukai Karate, MJER Iaijutsu and Soto Zen Buddhism.

Come train, practice or visit with us !

You can reach me at frederic.lecut@gmail.com or by phone at (334) 798 1639.

Mokurai Dojo - 610 Mitchell St, Headland, AL 36345, USA

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

Kenjutsu, Iajututsu, Kendo & Iaido

When I taught a Kenjutsu class at our Yoshukai Summer camp 4 students out of 15 showed up without any kind of sword...

Turns out a most students had no clue what Kenjutsu is about.

Let us try to clarify what Kendo, Kenjutsu, Iaido and Iaijutsu are.

Iaijutsu : Basically, Iaijutsu is about drawing your sword and cutting your opponent in one move. This is the intent. Ideally, your opponent is out on your draw (nukitsuke). As it is unlikely that he is fully dead, but more than likely wounded, you put an end to his misery with an additional move. It is also possible that you missed him on your first draw, or that this first draw was a purely defensive move needed to evade his attack. In that case, you proceed to other moves in order to get rid of your opponent. 

In a way Iaijutsu is more about duelling and street fighting.

The student of Iaijutsu generally performs moves by himself. It is somehow similar to Karate kata. It is important to supplement this training by actual practice with a partner, but at the beginning it is not necessary. 

Generally Iaijutsu is practiced with a Iaito : a blunt sword that allows safe practice by numerous students in a dojo.

Kenjutsu : In Kenjutsu you draw your sword and use it. This is more about battlefield combat.

The student of Kenjutsu immediately starts training with a partner.

Kenjutsu is usually practiced with a wooden boken. 

Iaido and Kendo are similar to Iaijutsu and Kenjutsu in their technical aspects. The techniques of Iaido are the techniques of Iaijutsu. The spirit of their practice is different. Whoever practices Jutsu is seeking technical mastery of the Art. Whoever studies Do is seeking self improvement through practice. However, this is not clear cut. The practice of Iaijutsu or Kenjutsu can also be a spiritual journey, and some senseless idiots practice Kendo.

	Kenjutsu / Kendo	Iaijutsu / Iaido
Practice	With partner	Solo
Type of fighting	Battle field	Street fighting
Training weapon	Wooden Boken / Bamboo Shinai	Blunt Iaito

Sometimes the term Batto-do or Batto-Jutsu is used to regroup the 2 disciplines under the same term.

There would be much more to say on this subject, but the point is simplicity. I apologize for the approximations. 

The next time you come to a Kenjutsu class, please bring a boken