PORT ORCHARD BUTOKUKAN:
BUTOKUKAN HISTORY
(Thanks to Steven Martinsen for submitting this file.)
Butokukan History (Detailed):
Kusanku and Sakagawa:
During the 1700s, an officer called Sakugawa, who was in the Okinawan Palace Guard, learned Chinese fighting from a Chinese military officer, Kusanku, who arrived in Okinawa in 1761 (at this time of Japanese occupation, it was still permitted for some Chinese attaches to come and go in Okinawa, for envoy purposes. It was also allowed for the nobles or royal classes to practice To-te, and it was definitely a requirement for the Royal Guard ). Sakugawa traveled many times to China with Kusanku, and learned to combine chuan fa (called "Chinese fist," by the Chinese) with te to form Okinawan-te. In fact, Sakugawa's nick-name was "karate" or To-te" Sakugawa ( sometimes spelled ' Tode ' ), which literally meant, "Chinese fist Sakugawa." The name karate, in those days, meant, "Chinese hand". Later on in Japan, the character for "Chinese," was changed to one meaning "empty," so the new translation meant "empty hand." ( From Kusanku we have the name of two of our high level katas, Kusanku Sho and Kusanku Dai, which is interesting because Kusanku supposively did not teach kata! The katas may have been formed from the techniques )
"Bushi" Matsumura:
Matsumura was a karate teacher to some of the more noble clans in Okinawa. Stories of him recall him as a man of over 6 feet in height, very imposing, with a great fighting spirit. The one thing he was very famous for was his eyes, like those of an eagle. He was able to stop an opponent dead in his tracks by making them appear to be generating some great force or ki. In fact, there is a very famous story about him and an engraver who challenged him to a fight. Matsumura won the fight, without ever laying a finger on him. Twice he stopped him with his eyes, a third time with his kiai, and the opponent crumpled down on the ground, unable to attack him. Matsumura came from a line of Bushido warriors, which is how he got his nickname "Bushi." Matsumura trained Yatasune "Anko" Itosu, from where our style originated.
Yatasune "Anko" Itosu:
Yatasune "Anko" Itosu ( "Anko," means 'horse,' and referred to the horse stance at which Itosu was superb in demonstrating ) was an educator in Shuri, a south city in Okinawa. Itosu was born in 1830 into a shizoku, or noble family. He became an educator, but was also a learned master of karate. From Itosu came the Pinon katas, which are our first five Butokukan katas. These katas were stated by one source as coming from the Kusanku kata, before it was broken down into Sho ( lesser ) and Dai ( greater ). However, another source says that Itosu learned a form from a Chinese man, and the form was called "Chiang Nan" or ( Channan in Okinawan pronunciation ) from which he produced the Pinon katas.
Itosu taught anyone who wanted to learn, in contrast to some of the other masters, who would not permit a student to learn from more than one teacher. According to Gichin Funakoshi, student of Itosu and founder of Shotokan karate, Itosu was of average height, with a great round chest like a beer barrel. Despite his long moustache, he rather had the look of a well-behaved child. Itosu was so well trained that his entire body seemed to be invulnerable. Once, as he was about to enter a restaurant in Naha ( near Shuri), a sturdy young man attacked him from the rear, aiming a blow at his side. But Itosu, without even turning, hardened the muscles of his stomach so that the blow glanced off his body, and at the very same instant his right hand grasped the right wrist of his assailant. Still without turning his head, he calmly dragged the man inside the restaurant.
There, he ordered the frightened waitresses to bring food and wine. Still holding the man's wrist with his right hand, he took a sip of the wine from the cup that he held in his left hand, then pulled his assailant around in front of him and for the first time had a look at him. After a moment, he smiled and said, "I don't know what your grudge against me could be, but let's have a drink together!" The young man's astonishment at this behavior can easily be imagined.
Itosu had another famous encounter with a rash young man, this one the karate instructor of a certain Okinawan school. Belligerent by nature and full of pride at his strength, the youth had the rather unpleasant habit of lurking in dark lanes, and when a lonely walker happened to come strolling by, he would lash out at the poor soul. So self-confident did he finally become that he decided to take on Itosu himself, believing that, no matter how powerful the master was, he could be beaten if set upon unawares.
One night, he followed Itosu down the street and, after a stealthy approach, aimed his strongest punch at the master's back. Bewildered by the quite evident fact that he had made no impression whatsoever, the young bully lost his balance and at that same instant felt his right wrist caught in a viselike grip. Now Itosu had very strong hands, able to crush a thick bamboo stem in his bare hand, as attested by Funakoshi himself. The youth now tried to free himself with his other hand, but of course he did not succeed. Itosu now walked on, hauling the other behind him without even bothering to look back. Realizing that he had failed completely, the young man begged the master's forgiveness. "But who are you?" Itosu asked softly.
"I'm Goro," replied the youth. Now Itosu looked at him for the first time. "Ah," he murmured, "you really shouldn't try to play such tricks on an old man like me," With that, he let go and strolled away.
Another time was from a well-known incident when Itosu was set upon by a group of young thugs, but before long the hoodlums were all lying unconscious in the street. An eyewitness, seeing that Itosu was in no danger, rushed off to tell Itosu's friend Azato what had transpired. Interrupting his account, Azato said, "And the ruffians, of course, were all lying unconscious, with their faces to the ground, were they not?" Much surprised, the witness admitted that that was true, but he wondered how Azato could have known. "Very simple," replied the master. "No karate adept would be so cowardly as to attack from the rear. And should someone unfamiliar with karate attack from the front, he would end up flat on his back. But I know Itosu; his punches would knock his assailants down on their faces. I would be quite astonished if any of them survive.
Japanese Karate:
The Japanese had always been aware of karate in Okinawa, or "Okinawa-te," as it was known there. In fact, the Japanese banned the practice of it because of the power that its practioners ( "karatemen", as they called them ), wielded. After Okinawa had been granted autonomy ( but still under the dominion of Japan ), there was a keen interest in the style, in hopes of adding it to the other Japanese martial arts, such as judo, jujitsu, and kendo. In the early 1900s, there was a demonstration of karate skills at Shuri castle in Shuri, Okinawa, in which the Japanese officials were greatly impressed. They invited the Okinawan masters to come to Tokyo to demonstrate their talents, and to stay on to teach the Japanese initiates. At the beginning of the Taiso era ( 1920 ), many masters traveled to large Japanese cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto, as well as others, to plant the seeds for Japanese Karate. In Kyoto, Japan, many of the masters and their prize pupils came to the Dai Nippon Butokukai ( Greater Japan Martial Virtues School ).
At the Butokukai, there were many other different martial arts, among them some dealing with the sword and bo.
Kenwa Mabuni:
Here, one of Itosu's students, Kenwa Mabuni, would go on to create Shito-ryu, which was a combination of Itosu's teaching and Higaonna, another master, who influenced him deeply.
In 1936 the translation of "empty hand" for karate was brought in, replacing the Kanji character for "Chinese hand." This was thought to reflect the idea that Japanese karate was now indeed Japanese, an entity in its own. Gichin Funakoshi, a student of Itosu's, is considered to be the father of Japanese karate, although it has many fathers.
In 1945, the military government under General Douglas McArthur outlawed all Japanese martial arts. This was thought to also lessen the militaristic attitudes of the warrior class. As in Okinawa, karate was practiced in secret, until 1948, when the ban was lifted ( there was a source in one book stating that since karate was a relatively new discipline, it wasn't included in the banned Japanese martial arts, and that it actually had been allowed during the post-war period ).
The Japanese added the color system of belt ranks, as well as renaming some of the katas, to reflect a more Japanese flavor. The color system was based on swimming team ribbons, indicating the level of the swimmer. Now some people believe that the color system didn't come into effect until after karate found it's way to North America, so it's possible the Japanese adapted the system to help out Westerners not used to the discipline of having to work out for 3 to 5 years before going from white belt to black belt. Now there is a belief that the white belt was supposed to turn dark from repeated workouts, eventually getting to the point that it looked black. But some people in the martial art community believe this to be a fallacy.
There are now hundreds of different schools, some very similar to each other. When we hear the word karate, we think Japanese. In reality, it is actually derived from Chinese Gung Fu and Okinawa-te. But today, it has evolved into a totally different style, most revolving around linear punches and blocks, centering on hip action. Many styles have actually incorporated some of the older Chinese techniques, to add fluidity and smoothness to the art. Butokukan has done this by incorporating some of these in their style.
Shinpu-ren:
The name Shinpu-ren had thought to be associated with an assassination group back during the war years, but this is now thought to be incorrect. The meaning goes back further in history, about 700 years ago.
In the 1260's the armies of Kublai Khan, the great Mongol conqueror, had overrun all of central Asia and were at the gates of Moscow and Vienna. In 1268 the Khan sent envoys to Japan ordering "the king of your little country" to submit to Mongol suzerainty or face invasion. The Shogun of the day finally decided not to reply at all. The Khan soon ordered preparations for an invasion. It took more than six years to construct the ships and arrange for the provision. In 1274 approximately 15,000 Mongol and 8,000 Korean vassal troops sailed for southern Japan. The Japanese samurai, who were used to fighting against Japanese, sought to fight with some warrior with whom they could prove worthy. Needless to say, the Mongols with their bows and arrows ( their primary weapon ), mowed them down in droves. The small islands of Tsushima and Iki were captured first, but only after a terrible struggle in which the Japanese defenders died to the last man. The fleet then landed at Kikata on the island of Kyushu. The coastal garrisons fought valiantly while waiting for the reinforcements dispatched from central Kyushu. Before the reinforcements arrived, a severe storm hit. The Korean ship captains urged withdrawal and the Mongol generals agreed. Of the 23,000 troops who embarked, 13,000 had been killed. In 1275 and 1279, the Khan dispatched ambassadors to seek Japanese concessions. The Shogun responded by beheading the ambassadors. Wars in southern China preoccupied the Khan for the next several years but he resolved to settle accounts with the Japanese. In 1281, the Khan commandeered all the junks of Canton and Korea. An army of 140,000 troops ( 40,000 of them Mongol ) was prepared. They faced an alert and determined enemy. In the preceding years, the Shogun had been busy constructing an armada of 'firefly boats' ( boats with about 15 warriors in each, who would come out to the ships of the Mongols, then lower their masts and climb aboard, thus allowing them to use their primary weapon, the samurai sword ) with which to harass the invasion force, and an immense stone wall more than one hundred miles long in an effort to help contain the most probable beachheads. "Every man, woman and child contributed money or labor towards the national armory." In June, the Mongol fleet set sail. The attempt to seize Tsushima failed. The fleet sailed on and made landings all along the coast of Kyushu; primarily where the wall had been located. Fifty-three days of desperate hand-to-hand combat ensued, especially at both ends of the wall. At this point, the divine wind came. On the 15th and 16th of August, 1281, a massive storm ravaged the Mongol fleet for 48 hours. The invaders, cut off from their ships and supplies, were slaughtered. Less than half of the 140,000 troops who had set out returned to the mainland. From that time on, the Emperor and his court, who had prayed for deliverance from the Mongol fleet, spoke of the divine wind which had saved Japan. Needless to say, the superb conditioning of the Japanese soldiers was also a decisive factor. This was the inception of Bushido ("The way of the warrior"). The defeat of the Mongol armies convinced the Japanese, up to their defeat in 1945, that their intense martial spirit was superior to that of all other peoples. In 1281, Japan's militaristic feudalism was less than a century old ( as a footnote, the Japanese celebrate September 1st as the first day of typhoons that arrive on the coast, and this is supposively the date of the storm, so there seems to be a minor conflict on the date of when the Mongols were ravaged by the weather ).
The word Shinpuren can be divided up into three Kanji characters, Chinese pictographs which have found their way into the Japanese language. "Shin" is also called "kame". It means "Divine," or "God." "Pu" or "Fu", or as it is sometimes called on its own in the Kanji texts, is also called "kaze," which means "wind." "Ren," means "train or exercise, drill, practice, refine."
Shihan Yoichi Nakachi
Grandmaster of Butokukan: ( deceased 1998 )
In 1944, Yoichi Nakachi at the age of 12, started studying karate under Yon Pon Gun. In 1948, when the ban on martial arts was lifted, the open practice of Shinpu-ren resumed. By this time, at the age of 16, Nakachi had his 2nd degree black belt . Because of business, Gun often visited the small fishing village of Kushimoto, Nakachi's hometown. This was during the ban on Japanese budo (martial arts), enacted by the American military government under General MacArthur (1945 - 1948). In spite of this ban, Nakachi and his schoolmates continued to study martial arts in secret under the instruction of Yon Pon Gun and several other Koreans in the Kushimoto area. Due to the economic hardships of the post-war period, the practice of the martial arts took place outdoors, either in the surrounding mountains, in open fields, or on the beaches near the Kushimoto area, since a "dojo" was a luxury that people could not afford. This meant that training was often interrupted by rain or darkness. The small group of students with which Nakachi trained, and in 1950 came to lead, was made up of a small group of high school students. These seven or eight students would get together after school to practice what Yon Pon Gun had shown them on his last visit to Kushimoto. The outdoor classes were usually done in their school uniforms and consisted of kumite and kicking drills, as well as some weapons training. In 1950, Yon Pon Gun and the other Koreans stopped going to Kushimoto, and since Yon Pon Gun had left for Korea, Nakachi took over the group, as he was "sempai" (senior student).
In 1959, Sensei Nakachi came to the United States (age 27), to study at the University of Washington, under a college scholarship in philosophy, supported by the Tenri-ko religion. He started to teach karate in the University District, when he found there was more of a desire to learn it than judo ( which he also knew ).
In 1961, Nakachi switched studies to Olympic College in Bremerton, and started to teach at the "Y" in downtown Seattle (5 nights a week). He taught at a health club in the downtown area as well. Olympic College asked him to teach classes for 4 days a week. Master Nakachi studied during the day, taught at Olympic College 4 times a week, and taught at night at the YMCA 5 times a week. Master Nakachi quit school and did this whole routine for 2 years, before teaching at night only. It was during this time Master Nakachi met Bruce Lee (1962), and they shared and exchanged many ideas about the martial arts. It was Master Nakachi that suggested to Lee that he try the nunchaku, since it was less cumbersome than the three-sectional staff.
In 1963, Shihan Yoichi Nakachi changed the name, crest and katas from Shinpu-ren to Butokukan. The new crest shows the white fist coming head-on, with the red master ring around it. For more information on the crest, The older Shinpu-ren crest originally showed an upright fist, similiar to a Goju-ryu crest.
From 1963-64, the school was still small. In April of 1965, Shihan Nakachi staged the first open Butokukan tournament, which also encompassed Armstrong's Isshin-ryu, and Bill Ruter's Goju-Ryu.
In May of 1965, Shihan Nakachi had to leave to return to Japan. Before he left, he made Sensei Robert Hill Nidan ( 2nd degree Black Belt ), and gave over the reins for Butokukan in North America. In 1967, Shihan Hill re-established the classes at Olympic College, and they are still being taught there by his students.
Shihan Nakachi , on his return to Japan in 1965 found that his Shinpu-ren black belts from before he left Japan had dispersed and were inactive. He began to teach and ascended some students to shodan, but after he moved to Tokyo, they too, went inactive. Master Nakachi was working six days a week, eight hours a day teaching swimming, and was working on adapting karate techniques to accommodate older people.
Shihan Nakachi passed away in 1998, almost a year after his dear beloved wife died from a prolonged illness. It was well known by Shihan Hill and other high ranking Butokukan blackbelts that he would not venture over to North America to visit the fruits of Butokukan, simply because he needed to go each day to the Japanese cemetery where his wife's grave lay, to visit her. This was just a reflection of the dedication that our master had, and had exhibited in the study of karate.
Shihan Robert Hill
Grandmaster of Butokukan:
Shihan Robert Hill started taking karate from Master Nakachi in September 1961, after two years of learning some Tae Kwon Do from his brother who was in the army. He also learned from books. He started 2 days a week, but quickly changed to 4, with lots of outdoor practice. He worked out with the Seattle class every other week. Shihan Hill has learned much from reading and doing, and as Shihan ( master ) he still today encourages his students and senseis to "learn by doing."
In June 1963, Sensei Robert Hill received his Shodan (1st degree Black Belt) from Master Nakachi. Shihan Hill then went back east with a brown belt (Ed Mehus) to Boston, Massachusetts. Upon returning after a period of 9 months, Shihan Hill found that Shihan Nakachi had changed the katas, changed the crest, and changed the name of the Okinawan-style Shinpu-ren to Butokukan, reflecting the softer, faster style of Kenpo karate. In 1965 Shihan Nakachi had to return back to Japan, leaving the reins of the style in the hands of Sensei Hill (at this time a Nidan, 2nd degree black belt). After Shihan Nakachi had left, other schools in the area, like Goju-ryu and others, tried to take over the school. Shihan Hill had a meeting with the other schools, and told them who we are, and that we would not be leaving or changing our school. From that point on, the other schools respected his wish. Shihan Hill has continued teaching, and has also supplemented the basic karate core of techniques he has learned with some Wing Chun Kung Fu, Aikido, and other styles, to enrich the abilities of Butokukan.
Shihan Hill, at the beginning of 1997, was elevated to Kyudan, or 9th degree black belt, and has also been given the title of Grandmaster of Butokukan, the only living Master of Butokukan now that Master Nakachi has passed on. Being a master of a style doesn't mean you're above any other people; it only means you have studied the style sufficiently to be able to master the style.
Butokukan Karate:
As mentioned before in Shihan Hill's history, Butokukan started officially in 1963 when Shihan Nakachi changed the style from Shinpu-ren to Butokukan, to reflect the more fluid moves of Kempo. We now had a new crest ( our present one ) and new katas to go along with it. Butokukan, by it's name, means training hall of the virtue of the martial arts, and this means that we take the good parts of other styles and add them to our own, so we are always a changing style, being flexible enough to see that there are good things in other styles, and that we should take advantage of them. Butokukan has at it's core karate, but we also add such things as Wing Chung gung fu, Tae Kwon Do, Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, and various other influences. In this way, we try to go by Shihan Hill's creed, to "learn by doing".
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