Archive for the 'Karate' Category
Gankaku – Shotokan Karate Kata
[Hirokazu Kanazawa 10º Dan performing Gankaku]
Shotokan’s Gankaku is an advanced kata practiced mainly by black belts. The original name for gankaku is Chinto. Stories are told of a Chinese sailor named Chinto, who was shipwrecked off the coast of Okinawa. To survive, Chinto stole from the crops of the local Okinawan people. Sokon Matsumura, a Karate master, was sent to stop Chinto. In the fight that followed Matsumura found the Chinese sailor to be an excellent martial artist, because of this Matsumura trained with Chinto to gain an understanding of his martial techniques.
Gichin Funakoshi changed the name, Chinto to Gankaku when he took Shotokan karate to Japan. Chinto, meaning ‘fighter from the East’ was now Gankaku, meaning ‘Crane on a rock’.
Gankaku is a very advanced kata, requiring tremendous balance and strength. A beautiful kata karate, both graceful and powerful when performed well.
The majority of Shotokan Dojo practice Gankaku, which is one of the original JKA 26 kata.
[The Italian Kata team performing Shotokan Kata Gankaku with Bunkai at the 2007 WKF junior & cadet Karatedo worldchampionships final in Instanbul, Turkey]
Uraken (back fist)
[JKS Chief Instructor M. Kagawa demonstrating uraken]
The back fist is one of the most fastest hand techniques available. As it uses a snapping motion rather than a thrusting one, (like most other strikes), it can be whipped out in a flash. So why is it not used more frequently by martial artists.
Well it is a technique that relies heavily on the striking point to achieve the best results. You must use the actual back part of the knuckles to strike. Seldom people strike with the padded hammer fist or the back of the hand, which will not do much damage at all, but a strike with the knuckles to targets such as the eyebrow or upper lip can be very painful.
Also when wearing gloves, it is impossible to strike with the boney knuckles, and many fighters tend to disregard the technique because of this. Kyokushinkai fighters although, (who fight without gloves) should use the technique more often. A hard strike in between the ribs can be very painful indeed.
[From markstraining.com. Original page is here]
The Great Sensei Minoru Mochizuki
[Sensei Minoru Mochizuki's randori against many opponents]
Sensei Minoru Mochizuki was a Japanese martial artist who founded the dojo Yoseikan. He held the ranks 10th dan, aikido (International Martial Arts Federation); 9th dan, jujutsu; 8th dan, iaido; 8th dan, judo; 8th dan, kobudo; 5th dan, kendo; 5th dan, karate; 5th dan, jojutsu.
Born in 1907 (Shizuoka, Japan,) Mochizuki was one of the direct students of judo founder Jigoro Kano, aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba and Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan Karate.
Minoru Mochizuki
Believing that the martial arts have become distorted by specialization into separate disciplines and transformation into sports, Mochizuki assembled the major techniques of the Japanese martial tradition into a single coherent structure. He oversaw the development of his system from his home in Shizuoka, Japan, where his dojo, the Yoseikan, was often visited by martial arts practitioners from all over the world. His art is currently practiced in 29 countries around the world, and in such diverse places as Australia and Algeria, where a recent clinic had 240 people in attendance. The organization continues to grow and expand to more countries each year. He died in Aix-en-Provence, France in 2003.
Mochizuki, began by training in kendo at the age of five, at his grandfather’s dojo in Shizuoka. Then he began Judo and joined the Kodokan in 1925 where he became an outstanding competitor. Under the tutelage of Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, Mochizuki became the youngest member of the Kobudo Kenkyukai -- an organization for the study, preservation and development of classical martial arts -- established within the Kodokan. Here he practiced among others Katori Shinto-ryu. In 1930, he was sent by Jigoro Kano to study aikijujutsu with Morihei Ueshiba. He was the uchideschi of Morihei Ueshiba at the Kobukan dojo for one year before opening his own dojo in Shizuoka City in 1931.
He was awarded two Daito-Ryu scrolls by Ueshiba in June 1932 (“Goshinyo no te” and “Hiden ogi no koto”). Next, he spent eight years in Mongolia where he was named Second Governor. In Mongolia, he was also active as an educator and entrepreneur of projects to improve communications and irrigation. His idea of combating communism with the application of the principles of “mutual welfare and prosperity” and of “the best use of energy” of Jigoro Kano contributed to the development of his region. His irrigation project was even completed after the Second World War by the Chinese authorities. Minoru Mochizuki was the first to teach aikido in the West when he travelled in France from 1951 to 1953 as a judo teacher. He taught at his dojo of Shizuoka until nearly the end of the last millennium and spent the last years of his life in France with his son Hiroo.
Wankan – Shotokan Karate Kata
[Sensei Kanazawa demonstrating Wankan]
Wankan (Japanese: “King’s Crown” or “Emperor’s Crown”) (also called Okan) is a kata practiced in many styles of Karate. Not much is known about the history of this kata. It originates from the Tomari-te school and in modern karate is practiced in Shorin-ryu, Shotokan, Genseiryu and Matsubayashi-ryu.
It is often considered an advanced kata, despite its brevity. Karate master Shoshin Nagamine considered wankan to be his favorite kata. A quote from his book describes the kata as “Being characterized by unitary sequences of attack and defense”.
[From Wikipedia. Original page is here]