Isshinryu Europe: The emblem of Isshinryu karate

zondag 29 juni 2008

The emblem of Isshinryu karate

'All things start with one'
(a saying of Tatsuo Shimabuku)

The original picture of the Megami

The patch or crest worn by Isshinryu karateka often raises admiration and curiosity. The patch is based on a day dream Tatsuo Shimabuku had in the fifties while he was creating his karate style. This dream was the missing piece in the puzzle called Isshinryu. The patch is often called Mizu Gami, which means 'water goddess'. Originally the Isshinryu emblem was called 'Isshinryu No Megami', which means 'Goddess of Isshinryu'. However; most Isshinryu karateka incorrectly call it Mizu Gami, or 'Water Goddess'. Master Eiko Kaneshi, Tatsuo's right-hand-man who is a Shinto priest when asked if it was 'Mizu Gami' said it has nothing to do with water. Isshinryu no Megami or Megami for short, is correct. This is collaborated by Marien Jumelet who asked Shinsho Shimabuku and Kensho Tokumura what was the correct name. The goddes is the Goddess of Isshinryu karate and not the goddess of water.

Arcenio J, Advincula, an American student of Sensei, created the Megami-patch in 1961 with Tatsuo Shimabuku's approval. As model he used Tatsuo's picture of the goddess. The shape of the emblem is as the vertical fist of Isshinryu, the trademark of this remarkable karate style. <-- Arcenio J. Advincula with the first Megami-patch
he created in the Agena, Okinawa dojo in 1961.

This is the original and traditional Megami patch as designed by sensei Advincula. Different organizations make their own emblem designs, but in every emblem you can see the Megami.

Not just a nice looking patch for it incorporates the thoughts of our founder and the ideals of our system.

The Isshinryu Megami patch has many meanings. One could easily write a book about it for in it is found the beliefs of our founder, Master Tatsuo Shimabuku and what our style stands for. Here in short are some of the innermost meanings.

Meanings of the Megami - patch
The gold border stands for the vertical fist which is the primary trait of Isshinryu.

The megami is half woman and half dragon. Her left hand is open, the universal symbol of peace or soft. Her right hand is closed in a Isshinryu fist, symbol of hard and is ready to be used in times of need to defend.

The dragon ascends from the water into the sky or heaven, and stands for heaven. Tatsu means 'dragon' and our founders name Tatsuo, means 'dragon man'. For the dragon to many followers of Isshinryu is Master Shimabuku, who is the spirit of Isshinryu.

The tiger in the headdress of the Megami stands for earth. Both dragon and tiger stands for heaven and earth.

The dark background with the three stars shows it is night. Night symbolizes darkness which is the unknown.

The three stars stands for all of Shimabuku's teachers who lighten the night bringing knowledge.

The three stars are in one line (-), the Chinese and Japanese character for one. Sensei Shimabuku told his students on the introduction of Isshinryu that all things starts with one. The one stands for one in Isshinryu, for Isshinryu means 'One heart way'.

The three stars can also mean: mind, body and spirit or any three things. Tatsuo said that Isshinryu was composed of three elements: Shorinryu, Gojuryu and Kobudo.

The upper body / woman despicts that karate can be gentle as a woman. Symbolic of soft.

The lower body / dragon shows that karate can be fierce as a dragon if needed. Symbolic of hard.

The calm face of the goddess in a storm or in times of crises one must be calm, especially in times of danger.

The turbulent water and storm or typhoon symbolizes danger which is always present.

The kanji (Japanese characters) means : Isshinryu karate.

Copyright: AJ Advincula

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'Everything in universe changes'

Tatsuo Shimabuku - Agena Dojo 1960
'Everything in universe changes'(a saying of Tatsuo Shimabuku)
Isshinryu is a remarkable karate style which has been founded in the fifties by Shimabuku Tatsuo Sensei (1908-1975).
There isn't an official foundation date of this style, some people say it was 1954, some say the 15th of January 1956, the day Sensei told his students the name of his art should be called Isshinryu. Sensei was always vague about a date: 'Isshinryu karate has not been founded in one day'. Isshinryu means 'one - heart - way' or 'one - mind - method' (is = one, shin = heart / mind & ryu = school / style / method). Shimabuku learned and practiced for 32 years Goju Ryu, Shorin Ryu and kobudo.
Out of these styles he formed Isshinryu karate and he used what he believed was the best.
He was a rebel in his time, because he made changes in traditional forms.
However... Isshinryu was already in the fifties approved by Okinawas most important karate masters as a traditional Okinawan karate style. Tatsuo's students call him a 'karate menjin' (karate genius).
Isshinryu karate is different than other (modern) styles. Isshinryu is a martial art and no sport. Of course it is full-contact. Every movement has to be suitable to use in a real fight. Postures are high to be able to move fast.
High kicks are not in the standard program. The twist punch is not used at all. I
sshinryu uses a vertical fist with the tumb on top. A vertical not twisted fist is faster, more stable (less injuries) and anatomical logical. Punches and preventions are exchangeable without extracting the fist.
Preventions are also worked out vertical and are done with the muscle side of the arm and not with the bone. Bone to bone contact must be avoided.
Isshinryu karate is simple and direct. Every useless movement must be avoided.
The system is based on 15 upper body techniques, 15 lower body techniques, 8 empty hand kata and 7 weapon kata.
Sensei Tatsuo Shimabuku believed that there are no two people the same and that everybody has to use the techniques that suites him or her the best on that particular moment.

Shimabuku Tatsuo

Shimabuku Tatsuo Sensei(1908-1975)Tatsuo Shimabuku, the founder of Isshinryu karate, was born in the village of Chan (nowadays: Kinaka, a part of Gushikawa city) on Okinawa, Japan at the 19th of September 1908. His parents were farmers and Tatsuo helped them since his youth at the farm. At his birth he first received a girls name. This was a Okinawan custom, adopted by the Chinese, to fool evils spirits who would be looking for a girl instead of a boy.After the evil spirits were fooled, the baby received the Okinawan name Kana and the Japanese name Shinkichi. The Japanese name Shinkichi can be found in Shimabuku's koseki (= family register) and later on his passport. The Okinawans (since 1879 under Japanese government) gave two names to their children , because they were forced by Japan not to use any Chinese or typical Okinawan customs. One of the things they forbid is to wear the hair in a topknot, a custom used when a boy interred manhood. They were also told not to speak Okinawan hogen (dialect) but Japanese. Many Okinawans gave their children a Okinawan name, which couldn't be used on their koseki (family register).Shimabuku's family around 1940At the age of twenty-three he married his wife Uto. From this marriage four children were born, in the following sequence: two daughters, Matsuko and Yukiko and two sons: Kichiro and Shinsho. Shimabuku named his two sons after himself: Kichiro and Shinsho; his name Shinkichi split in two parts. Only about his Thirty-ninth age he took the name Tatsuo (around the time he starts giving karate lessons). Tatsuo means in English 'dragon man'. The dragon is on Okinawa a symbol of happiness and prosperity. His second daughter Yukiko married Angi Uezu, who shall be important too for Isshinryu later. His first born son Kichiro is nowadays the official heir of Tatsuo, but many people, including Arcenio J. Advincula, regard his second born son Shinsho as a better heir and only acknowleged tenth dan Isshinryu karate.At his thirteenth year Kana received his first karate training with his uncle Ganeku, who also lived in the village of Chan. Ganeku mainly learned him Chinese philosophy and literature, like the 'I'Ching' and astrology, and a little karate. According to Shinsho Shimabuku (Tatsuo's second born son) Ganeku stayed two years in Fuzhou, China, where he learned fortune telling (sumuchi) and Shorinji kempo. Because Shimabuku's uncle had to little knowledge of karate, he later introduced him to Chotoku Kyan, who lived in Kadena. This became his first teacher of three very famous karate teachers he trained with: Chotoku Kyan, Chojun Miyagi and Choki Motobu.Chotoku Kyan (1870-1945) was a student of master Yasutsune 'Ankoh' Itosu, who taught him Shuri-te, and of master Kosaku Matsumora, who taught Tomari-te. These two styles were combined to Shorin-ryu (named after the Shaolin temple tradition). Chotoku Kyan is one of the most famous Shorin-ryu teachers. Kyan was a perfectionist and Shimabuku became one of his best students. Around 1931/32, Shimabuku was about 23 or 24 years old, he walked barefoot to Kadena where Kyan lived. He trained six hours a day and after arrival home he helped his parents on the farm.Kyan was a traditional teacher and taught as first kata Seisan and not the beginner kata which his teacher Itosu since 1904 had introduced on the Okinawa schools. Karate is a martial art and not meant for children. Shimabuku trained for four years with Chotoku Kyan and learned from him the following kata: Seisan, Naihanchi, Wansu, Chinto, Kusanku, a sai kata: Kyan no Sai and the bo kata Tokumine no Kun.Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953) was the top student of Naha-te grandmaster Kanryo Higaonna. Higaonna formed Naha-te by combining Okinawa karate with Chinese kempo (Chu’an Fa / Kung Fu). Miyagi, like his teacher, went to China to study kempo. Back on Okinawa he formed his own style of karate, which he later called Goju-ryu (hard / soft style). Goju Ryu is taken out of a line of the book Bubishi (eight precepts of Chu'an Fa).Since 1936 Shimabuku received lessons from Miyagi. Miyagi lived in Naha, which was much further than Kadena. Also this much longer distance Shimabuku walked. With Miyagi he trained for three years. Miyagi was known for his powerful grips and power training. From him learned the kata Seiunchin and Sanchin.The next teacher became Choki Motobu (1871-1944). Motobu was a less formal teacher then his former teachers. This famous Shorin-ryu teacher was also known as someone who practiced his techniques in street fights. Motobu became famous in the twenties in Japan, as he picked op a bout with a price boxer who challenged the public to fight with him. Motobu, already in his fifties, took the challenge and eleminated the boxer with a knock-out. About this happening the Japanese news papers wrote articles and Motobu became instantly (with one strike!) a famous karateka in Japan.Tatsuo trained in 1938 for about a year with Choki Motobu, who lived in Naha, just like Miyagi. Motobu stressed the importance of Makiwara ( = punching board ) - training. Shimabuku's most important lessons were the practical applications from karate (street fighting techniques) and Motobu's version of Naihanchi kata.In 1939 Shimabuku traveled to the Philippines, he stayed there for two years. According to Shinsho Shimabuku (Tatsuo's second born son) his father gave on the Philippines karate lessons to a theater group. Prior before Japan gets involved in world war 2, in 1941, he went to Osaka where he worked as a general supervisor until 1944. At that time Shimabuku went back to Okinawa to get his family and take them to Kyushu, Japan, to protect them against the war. Since than he earned his living as a farmer.One year after the 'Battle for Okinawa' (1945), he brings his family back to Okinawa. From age 39 Tatsuo starts giving karate lessons. According to Shinsho in the following dojo: Konbu Dojo in Tengan (1946), Tairagawa Dojo (1947) and Chan Dojo (1948). At that time he called his style Chan Migwa karate, after Chotoku Kyan's nickname (Chan Migwa = small-eyed Kyan in Okinawa hogen; Kyan wore glasses).After 1951 he called his karate style Sun nu su karate after the nickname he received from the mayor of Chan. In Tatsuo's family there was a dance called Sun nu su, which means 'son of old man'. Later Shimabuku shortened Sun nu su to Sunsu, also the name of the kata he created: Sunsu kata.At a special gathering with his students held at January 15, 1956 he declared that his style of karate should be called: Isshinryu karate. Isshinryu means: one-heart or one-mind method. Eiko Kaneshi, Tatsuo's right hand man said: "Why Isshinryu, why such a funny name?", and Shimabuku replied: "Because all things begin with one".Isshinryu stems from three different martial arts. One of the interpretations of the three stars in the Isshinryu emblem, the Megami / Mizu Gami (which has been designed with Tatsuo Shimabuku's approval in 1961 by Arcenio J. Advincula), is that they stand for Shorin-ryu, Goju-ryu and Kobudo. Tatsuo Shimabuku once said that Shorin-ryu's naihanchi the mother, Goju-ryu's sanchin the father and the result Isshinryu was. Shimabuku analyzed and perfectioned all kata, techniques and applications he learned from his diverse teachers. He took what he regarded the best and most effective out of Shorin-ryu, Goju-ryu and Kobudo and together formed that into a new system.Shimabuku had developed a karate system with fast, direct and powerful punches and kicks, without every superfluous movement. He replaced the traditional twisted punch with the trademark of Isshinryu karate: the vertical punch. A punch with a vertical fist is faster and has more impact. In a real fight the - in many other styles learned - horizontal fist is most of the times replaced with the more effective and faster vertical fist (as you also can see in a boxing match).Tatsuo instructed the people of Okinawa and also many American soldiers, who were stationed on Okinawa after the war. In 1956 he starts to use the Agena dojo, giving him the opportunity to be nearer to the American bases. From the American marines he got a contract for $250 a month (which was much money that time) to train the Americans. Because of that Shimabuku became one of the first professional karate teachers.Tatsuo Shimabuku learned in the years 1951 to 1961 Kobudo (old wapen arts) from Shinken Taira (1898-1970) to deepen his knowledge in this fighting art. He already learned diverse kobudo-kata from his first important teacher Chotoku Kyan (Kyan no Sai en Tokumine no Kun). From Taira's kobudo he added the following kata to Isshinryu: Chatan Yara no Sai, Urashi Kun, Shishi no Kun and a tuifa (tonfa) kata Hamahiga no Tuifa. Beside these wapen kata Isshinryu karate has Kusanku Sai kata, which was developed by Shimabuku himself.Many American marines, who had trained with Shimabuku, brought Isshinryu karate over the ocean and were important for Isshinryu karate's growth and popularity worldwide. In 1960 the first international Isshinryu association was founded; first called Okinawan American Isshinryu Association (OAKA) and later changed to American Okinawan Karate Association (AOKA). The founders of the AOKA were: Tatsuo Shimabuku, Harold Mitchum, Kinjo Chinsaku, Ralph Bove, William Blond and Steve Armstrong. Later also Don Nagle and Harold Long shared the AOKA.It's a pity that in the following years many international organizations were founded. This happened because of disagreement or contradictionary interests. Some of these organizations are: IWKA, OIKKA, IIKA, UIKA en UIC. Anyway: their shared interest is promoting Isshinryu karate! The official Dutch organization is the NIKA, which was founded in 1986 by Steve Armstrong and Fred van de Vijver.Tatsuo Shimabuku twice visited the U.S.A.: 1964 and 1966. In 1966 a film was made of Shimabuku's executions of the Isshinryu kata. At this visit he promoted Steve Armstrong, Don Nagle and Harold Long to 8th dan. Harold Mitchum already was promoted to 8th dan before.In 1971 Shimabuku stopped teaching karate and kobudo, but still promoted students and did some dojo functions.On the 30th of May 1975 Tatsuo Shimabuku died of stroke. Let us remember him and honour him with good Isshinryu karate!