Master Gichin Funakoshi Taught Tenryū no Kon

While there are, of course, others who have read this magazine article before, or who were training in karate at the time, it still isn’t information that is popularly known. Instead, the general consensus is that Master Gichin Funakoshi did not know any kobujutsu kata. However, the evidence otherwise is found in an interview with Master Shinkin (Makoto) Gima, published in Fighting Arts Magazine in the 1980s, and written in 1977, with the interviewers being Liam Keeley and Morio Higaonna. During the interview, Gima states that he learnt Tenryū no Kon, a bōjutsu kata, directly from Gichin Funakoshi. That is absolute proof that can perhaps go along with the photo of Gichin Funakoshi performing a bō technique on his own, which must have been from a bōjutsu kata. 

Additionally, during the interview there is other interesting information such as Gima practising koryū gojūshiho as his favourite karate kata. He didn’t state that it was from Funakoshi, but he did also learn from Kanken Tōyama and, more so, Yabu Kentsū, who both practised koryū gojūshiho as their favourite kata.

Here is a link to the interview:

https://www.gimahaamericas.com/uploads/4/5/8/8/45887721/interview-with-gima-sensei.pdf

S. R. Marshall

Tangshouquan 唐手拳 : Tang-hand Boxing – An ancient Chinese boxing system

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/funakoshikaratestudygroup/permalink/3261845780797792/

Tangshouquan (Tang-hand Boxing) is a kind of Chinese boxing that must date back to the Tang dynasty. They use the same ideograms as those used in Okinawa (Ryūkyū) for karate kenpō before they changed to mean “Empty-hand”. Whether or not there is a direct relationship, I’m not yet sure. Based on Master Sakugawa being called Tōdi or Karati (Karate) Sakugawa, the use of the term “karati” or “tōdi” dates back around 200 / 250 years or so, at least. However, does it date back to the time of the Tang dynasty? I don’t know, but perhaps further examination of Tang-hand boxing will reveal something. Or maybe not. … See the film footage below.

S. R. Marshall

Southern Shaolin Boxing: What Authentic Okinawan Karate Actually Is

Matsuyoshi karate kenpō is a lineage of Funakoshi karate. It is focused on the Okinawan style that Gichin Funakoshi learnt, and taught in the early 1920s in Japan. But it also, importantly, includes the later teachings of Gichin Funakoshi, as well as Gigō Funakoshi’s further developments of his father’s ever-evolving way of practising karate. They each practised a bit differently yet also similarly to one another. Ultimately, they both influenced the various lineages that originate from Gichin Funakoshi’s line. These days, some schools are more complete than others. But if you learn from one or more good teachers, you will learn whatever martial art it is, effectively &, therefore, authentically. 

Matsuyoshi is Shō and Gi / Yoshi, as in Shōtō and Gi-chin / Gi-gō / Yoshi-taka / Yoshi-nobu etc. It is after Gichin Funakoshi and the entire relevant Funakoshi family, out of respect and to reflect how the teachings strive to follow authentic Funakoshi karate. But I use the characters for Chinese-hands and include kenpō in the name as what is studied in authentic karate is Chinese boxing, with influences from Japanese and Chinese martial arts (directly), as that is what karate is; a mixture of martial arts, with a focus on Chinese boxing over everything else. It’s just an altered style of practising southern Shaolin boxing. Yet, it isn’t particularly different to actual southern Shaolin style. For the most part, it’s basically identical. That is, “genuine” karate is just the same. Sport karate and half-baked versions of karate are not like the authentic Chinese systems. There are many clubs that give a bad name to real martial arts of all kinds. The purpose of Matsuyoshi karate kenpō is to strive to study authentic Funakoshi karate, or in other words, authentic Funakoshi Okinawan-Chinese boxing. 

Karate: Okinawan-Chinese Boxing

The Chinese and Okinawan versions of minghequan 28-steps (nepai kata)

Karate, like jūjutsu and quanfa / kenpō, etc., has had various names in its history. We call it karate, as if karate is the name of a martial art. But if you were to take techniques from a jūjutsu school and turn them into an intricate kata (or potentially more than one), that would be the same as a karate kata. It or they would still be jūjutsu, but it or they could hold its or their own name/s as the karate kata do. That or those kata would be a kind of jūjutsu. The same is true for Chinese boxing, or quanfa / kenpō. Some systems have just one form, while others have multiple, and even many, forms. In each case, it is a kind of quanfa. Karate developed by learning various methods and combining them. So there are a range of systems that are all different kinds of karate. You could learn one, or a few, for example, and have learnt karate, or Ryūkyū kenpō, or te / tī, just the same as someone learning a few other kata. That would be equal to two people each learning a different kind of jūjutsu, or learning a different kind of Chinese boxing. Karate is like the term gongfu – when applied to the fighting arts – or like quanfa. After all, the old version of the name “karate” meant “Chinese-hands”. Karate is either just Chinese boxing, or it is the Okinawan style of Chinese boxing, with Okinawan and Japanese influence (Japanese not just being in more recent times, but from ancient times). 

Matsuyoshi Karate Kenpo: A Funakoshi karate lineage

Some examples of training in Matsuyoshi-den Shōtō-ha Shōrin-ryū Karate Kenpō to Kobujutsu.

Including:

Hojo Undō

• Striking finger-tips into sand / gravel

• Finger-tip press-ups

• Gripping Jars (Nigiri Game / Niji’in Gāmi)

• Iron-body + Recovery Methods (Dit Da Jow use was not shown, although I don’t believe it is entirely necessary as a practice. However, the principle of using treatments to help the healing process is useful for martial arts and health. But care must be taken with ingredients used.)

• Striking Heavy Bag

• Striking Wall

• Stamina

• Suburi Bokken

Kata

• Naihanchi (I, II, III)

• Sēsan

• Passai

• Ōkan

• Kūsankū

• Gojūshiho

• Passai nu Bō

• Kūsankū nu Bō

Kumiti (Kumite)

• Kata no Bunkai

*Note: Not all applications are shown. My training partner, a practitioner of Wudang Taiji Boxing, with about 13 years of experience at the time of filming, has bad knees, so certain application were omitted, and some she was more resistant to, such as the hip throw. In some cases, she was less resistant, which enabled cleaner illustrations of such techniques, especially considering showing techniques without applying maximum force, so as to demonstrate using softness in defence in karate, with counter-attacks being very controlled.

S. Marshall

Godan, Shōrin-ryū Karate

五段, 少林流 唐手