Part 5
KURUSHIKI
Finding
the dam was no trouble. Leaving
the main road I was soon walking
along a road that cut its
way between fields where the
sugar cane was up to my shoulders
in height. As the warm and
gentle breeze blew down upon
me it rustled the cane stalks,
as they swayed rhythmically
all the while. But as before,
where there is beauty there
is also potential ugliness,
and I could not allow myself
to be hypnotized or distracted
by all of this as there was
still that ever-present danger
of habu – and here I
was, all alone, and with no-one
to help should I be bitten!
Nearing
the end of my short stay in
Okinawa, the gods had so far
been good to me. Walking towards
Kurushiki I was not paranoid,
but simply maintaining all-round
awareness. Zanshin.
With
no one in sight and no voices
to be heard, it was nice to
be out walking and see a side
to Nagahama that I had never
before seen. Following the
road I did not know where
I was going yet sensed that
I was headed in the general
direction of the dam, and
after thirty minutes with
no dam in sight I turned a
corner – and there it
was. Following a short but
rather steep roadway that
led to the very top, I stayed
for a while marveling at the
views and enjoying the peace
and sheer tranquility. I could
certainly appreciate why Sumako
liked it here - what a great
place to train alone!
I
was out walking for a couple
of hours. Upon my return Seizan
and Sumako were back from
their business and so, with
Seizan busy attending to karate
business, Sumako and I spent
quality-time together as,
at my request, she enlightened
me and delighted me with some
of her beautiful koto playing.
The koto is a Japanese musical
instrument – a stringed
instrument – that measures
approximately four feet in
length. It is not held upright
as you would a double bass
or a cello, but is laid horizontally
on a wood-frame support whilst
it is played.
The
next morning my one-to-one
karate training under Seizan
was to speed up one or two
notches, as today I was to
practice not only the Sanchin
form but also Kata Seisan.
Whilst
the Sanchin form is not difficult
to learn it is difficult to
master. I thought I had enough
on my plate with Sanchin,
but Seisan was very hard for
me to learn. With great enthusiasm
I applied myself to this additional
aspect of Old-Style UechiRyu,
although I did find it very
tough going. This evening
I would be seeing Toyama Sensei
for the very last time (I
was leaving Okinawa within
the next forty-eight hours)
and that was sure to mean
more Sanchin before the Master
(!) and so I feared that learning
a new form just might cloud
my vision.
KOKUSAIDORI
My
training finished late that
morning. This afternoon Seizan
and Sumako both had commitments
from which they could not
escape, and so once again
I found myself alone. (I say
‘once again’ but,
in point of fact, this was
only the second time.) Sumako
was at work, and Seizan had
committed appointments. I
decided to go to Downtown
Naha. I had not yet been downtown,
for up until now I had no
reason, and more importantly,
no real desire to go there.
My attention had clearly been
focused upon far more important
issues, but as I would soon
be leaving Okinawa I did have
a short shopping list to attend
to - presents to buy and so
forth.. As the downtown area
was on Seizan’s way
he dropped me off half-way
from where I then caught a
bus that took me right into
the heart of Naha. Boarding
the bus I asked for “Kokusai
Dori” - Naha’s
main and all-essential shopping
district. A literal translation
of “Kokusaidori”
is “International Street”,
and it is the main arterial
road in Naha where you will
find souvenir-shops, hotels,
restaurants, markets…
“Kokusaidori”
has everything you want, although
for me, not very much that
I needed.
Everything
I needed was back at Yomitan!
But
I enjoyed my time on Kokusaidori,
wandering in and out of shops,
and exploring the gigantic
and seemingly endless undercover
“Heiwa Market”.
Walking to the very end of
Kokusaidori I found, as I
knew I would, the remains
of Sogen Temple (Sogenji).
I had been there back in the
early 90s and I had seen signs
for Sogenji just a few days
earlier when I had also caught
a glimpse of the street sign
reading ‘Kokusaidori’,
so I found Sogenji with very
great ease. There is nothing
much to see there, but there
is a great deal to feel! Unless
you were told you would not
know that Sogenji was once
a temple; all that remains
there now is a large piece
of stone that was once the
front gate, and a beautiful
grand old Banyan tree that
has to be seen to be believed.
After
Sogenji I then retraced my
steps along Kokusaidori ,
taking my time seeking out
souvenirs for friends and
family back home in England.
An hour or so later I arrived
back where I started and from
there I took the two-hour
bus-ride back to Yomitan.
That
evening I would be saying
farewell to Toyama Sensei.
As it was the first time I
had met him, I was once again
asked, by Toyama Sensei, to
perform Old-Style UechiRyu
‘Kata Sanchin’.
This time, however, I was
not to be tested by Master
Toyama but by one of his senior
most Okinawan students, Akamine
Yoshinobu – a very quiet
individual but also a very
tough student who excelled
in kumite (free-sparring).
I was physically and mentally
prepared for a really intensive
beating from this man but
was amazed to find that I
received nothing of the sort!
I was not so much relieved
but confused, for though Toyama
Sensei knew I could take a
lot of punishment (that sounds
very arrogant, I know, but
it is not meant to be taken
that way) I later found that
Toyama Sensei is extremely
wary about tough ‘kitae’.
“If he administers complete
‘kitae’ then that
is fine”, Seizan told
me, “because he knows
and he understands. But if
incorrect ‘kitae’
is administered, then that
can be very harmful and very
damaging.”
My
Sanchin performance that evening
had not been as good as it
was for Toyama Sensei upon
my very first meeting with
him earlier during the week.
But you cannot have it all
ways: I was so nervous about
messing-up my “108”
performance for Toyama Sensei
the previous evening, but
fortunately I had effected
my best performance before
the Master. If the price of
a good Supraempi performance
was a lesser ‘Sanchin’
then so be it.
THE
FINAL DAY
The
next day would be my last
full day in Okinawa. The day
began with another intense,
rewarding, and highly enjoyable
training session under Seizan.
Reviewing both the Sanchin
kata and the Seisan kata,
Seizan also walked me through
Kata Sandairyu. During my
short but action-packed time
in Okinawa I had got to grips
with the Kata Sanchin, whilst
my knowledge of the Seisan
form was only superficial.
Needless to say that my understanding
of Kata Sandairyu was pretty
much non-existent, but walking
through it several times did
provide with a healthy degree
of familiarization, so much
so that when I get to meet,
exchange and train with Seizan’s
student in Scotland (my very
good friend, John E. Cairney
Sensei) then I will be able
to pick up the very thin strands
of my knowledge of this form
and hopefully take my practice
of Old-Style UechiRyu to a
respectable level of competence
and comprehension.
When
Seizan was done training with
me, he bowed himself out of
the dojo and left me there
on my own momentarily before
Sumako appeared at the door,
bowed herself in, and then
invited me to practice her
stretching routine (yoga)
one more time. “You
want to capture this on video?”
she asked me. “Of course,”
I said. “That would
be great!”
Our
yoga session lasted for at
least an hour, after which
my body was rather sore as
it had not fully recovered
(and was still aching a little)
from the previous yoga session
with Sumako at the military
base!
I
thanked Sumako profusely for
teaching me, and then it was
her turn to disappear! Seizan
reappeared very soon as he
would now be teaching his
hour-long mixed class. Here,
infants trained alongside
adults, and Okinawan's alongside‘gaijin’
(foreigners). Some of these
‘gaijin’ lived
in America and so, each year,
they would fly to Okinawa
for a few weeks just to study
under Seizan! They had no
sensei in American, preferring
to study for a few weeks each
year under Seizan in Okinawa!
These ‘gaijin’
were youngsters, all brought
to Okinawa each year by their
supportive parents who realized
the value of this very special
old-style training. Their
ages ranged from six to sixteen.
During
this lesson I videoed kata
practice and the all-essential
‘kitae’ performed
on the students as they went
through their form. I was
then invited to demonstrate
aspects of what I call the
‘Fujianese-Ryukyuanese
Martial Overlap’. At
Seizan’s invitation,
I gave a short demonstration
of Fujianese form-work (namely
the Suparimpe or “108”
form I had unearthed during
my time in Fuzhou).
Seizan
then brought the lesson to
a close, and as I would not
be seeing these students again
during this trip I asked if
I might say a few parting
words. Before an excited audience,
I gave a very short ‘sayonara’
speech.
TAKAMIYAGI SENSEI
After
a brief rest and recuperation
period (my body was still
in ‘shock’ from
Sumako’s yoga session!)
I was ready to address the
next item on today’s
agenda - my meeting and interview
with Takamiyagi Hiroshi Sensei.
This
proved to be another enlightening
experience for me as I cross-referenced
and cross-checked lots of
my ideas, suspicions, and
conclusions with this unique
individual. Unique because
what he is practicing, teaching,
and seriously researching
is pre-Shorinryu karate (what
he quite rightly calls Shurite)
whilst at the same time he
is equally committed to his
practice and research of Fujianese
Five Ancestor Fist.
Actively
engaged in both these studies,
he comprehends his Ryukyu
karate practice on a far deeper
level, and so I found it most
refreshing that he could see
through and way beyond the
smokescreen that has smarted
so many eyes. Beside Takamiyagi
Sensei, an English friend
of mine has not been given
the recognition he so truly
deserves because firstly he
is not Oriental, secondly
because others did not ‘discover’
his information first, and
thirdly because it would turn
the beliefs of others in his
system totally upside down!
Takamiyagi
Sensei has traveled to Singapore
and to the Philippines on
his personal quest for the
truth. In the Philippines
he visited my good friend
Alex Co, a Master of the ‘Five
Ancestor Fist’ system.
Indeed, it was Master Co who
alerted me to the fact that
there was a ‘Five Ancestor
Fist’ practitioner living
and teaching in Okinawa (Takamiyagi
Sensei) and so it was with
thanks to him that I was able
to research this particular
aspect of Okinawa-based Martial
Arts.
Like
most of us who have long-since
let go of the hand that has
guided us and have continued
our quest by walking our own
path, Takamiyagi Sensei is
content to be left quietly
alone. However when someone
approaches him with a similar
viewpoint, he is then only
too happy to talk and compare
notes. I do not speak Japanese
and Takamiyagi Sensei does
not speak English, yet today
it was evident that we were
both speaking the same language!
From
Takamiyagi Sensei’s
dojo, Sumako and I then drove
back to Yomitan where we rendezvoused
with Seizan for a ‘Sayonara
meal’. The seafood restaurant
we visited was a particular
favorite with Sumako, and
with many Okinawan people!
Back home in England I am
not a great lover of fish
– fried, steamed, or
grilled – but I do like
sushi and sashimi. The food
at this restaurant was great,
and was a superb way to round-off
my flying visit to Okinawa.
The
next morning I was up at 3:30
AM and straight in the shower.
Grabbing my case which I had
packed several hours earlier
I said farewell to the dojo
and made my way to the house.
By 5 o’clock I was I
on my way to the airport together
with Seizan and Sumako. The
journey by car took an hour,
and upon my arrival at the
domestic terminal Seizan and
Sumako ensured that I got
checked in without incident
before returning to their
homes and their lives.
My
flight back to England via
Tokyo was very pleasant. As
you might well expect, it
was not so enjoyable as my
outbound flight to Okinawa,
but on the plus side I was
returning to my wife, my parents,
and my students. By way of
the customary ‘omiage’,
Seizan had piled me up with
a great deal of data to read
(most of which I addressed
during the flight from Tokyo
to London) whilst he also
presented me with a whole
wallet full of video CDs –
“That should keep you
busy,” said Seizan,
“for the next two years,
at least!”
Philosophically
I always say that the good
thing about going home (from
a trip) is that you are then
free, able, and inspired to
plan your next trip right
away! I would love to return
to Okinawa - and to Seizan,
Sumako, and Master Toyama
- within the next twelve-months,
although I am not too sure
if that is a wholly realistic
vision. We will see. But Seizan
and myself are seriously contemplating
a visit, together, to Fuzhou
sometime between now and 2010.
IN
CLOSING…
The
success, fluidity, and continuity
of this all-essential research
trip would not have happened
without the undying energy,
hospitality, and sheer hard
word on the part of Seizan
and Sumako.
In
turn…
I
would like to thank Sumako-san
(I call her that with very
great affection and the utmost
of respect whilst technically
I acknowledge her as Sumako
Senpai for that is what she
is – my senior) for
her hours and hours of translation
skills (she actually holds
a “Level 4 Translation
Skill” qualification
issued from the Government
of Japan!) not forgetting
that for the most part she
was my metreless taxi.
Sumako-san
did not just help me, but
put her entire life on hold
as she dedicated herself to
my stay, and for that I bow
to her very deeply and from
the waist.
I
would also like to thank Gordi
‘Seizan’ Breyette
for his total and absolute
commitment to me and my cause.
I did not spend so much time
with him as I did with Sumako
Sensei, but then Seizan is
a teacher and so he acknowledges
the need to teach and not
neglect his students. If he
was not with me, and if he
was not teaching his karate
class, he would be burning
the midnight oil so that upon
my departure he would be giving
me everything he had intended
to pass on to me.
Together,
Sumako Sensei and Seizan facilitated
my visits to the various Masters
I had met during my brief
time on Okinawa as well as
being the key-players in the
skillfully engineering my
quality-time spent with Master
Toyama Seiko. Indeed, the
ground I managed to cover
by meeting with their teacher
- their Master and their Sensei
- represented a milestone
in terms of historic value,
lineage, and physical technique.
As a result, I was sincerely
welcomed into the “Zankai
Family” and am formally
registered as Seizan’s
student in the “Nagahama
Dojo” (Master Toyama’s
sole branch dojo on Okinawa).
As
happy and willing to meet
with me as I was to meet with
Master Toyama, our meetings
represented an exchange of
essential and sometimes surprising
information for both parties.
As a result I was encouraged
and, indeed, privileged to
be taught old-style Okinawan
karate in an unchanged and
undiluted format which is
a million miles away from
some forms of commercialized
karate (which one of Seizan’s
students amusingly and accurately
calls ‘conveyor-belt’
karate!) sometimes seen today.
It is very hard to form a
deep, sincere, and ‘knowing’
friendship when seas and continents
separate you, yet far ahead
of our first face-to-face
meeting I knew this man (Seizan)
to be of the very highest
caliber. Very soon after my
arrival I considered Gordi
‘Seizan’ Breyette
to be one of my ‘gongfu
brothers’. The bonding
was instant. I could feel
it, and Sumako-san could see
it.
I
would like to thank Toyama
Sensei for his time, openness,
and his teachings - not just
the physical lessons but lessons
in every other capacity. Upon
my departure he asked me not
to disappoint him, and I promised
that I would not.
I
would also like to thank Hokama
Tetsuhiro Sensei, Yagi Meitatsu
Sensei, Nakamoto Masahiro
Sensei, and Takamiyagi Hiroshi
Sensei for their time, openness,
and their teachings.
To
all those mentioned above
(all true Sensei and all true
Masters of their specific
crafts and their own individual
lives), I would like to say:
Doomo arigato gaizaimashita!
And,
as we say in Chinese,
“Xie-xie
ni de gouli!”
(Thank
you very much for all your
encouragement!)
Simon
Lailey
Isle Of Wight, England
CONCLUSION
This
particular visit to Okinawa
had been so important for
me for I was able to confirm
lots of my ideas about Classical
Martial Arts and my own personal
practice. When you live in
the West and practice something
totally Eastern it is so easy
to lose one’s way. This
trip proved to me how I had
simply not done that! My thoughts,
conclusions, beliefs, and
suspicions were confirmed
in Okinawa by the Masters
that know! This knowledge
I will now pass on to my students.
Anyone wishing to join me
in this ongoing journey is
very welcome to do so, but
keep in mind that I am not
an entertainer! I established
my Academy for the purpose
of informing, educating, and
developing a better class
of person by way of the training.
Interested
parties may contact me by
calling (01983) 882550 or
by emailing me:
sanshangong@onetel.com
Please
feel free to visit my web
site:www.sanshangong.com
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