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Volume 1. Issue 5
Article 1

Part One

We are told that Traditional Okinawan Gojuryu Karatedo (TOGK) is a reflection of old style Chinese martial arts from Fuzhou (the provincial capital of Fujian Province).

In a friendly exchange/conversation between Miyagi Chojun and a student of the late Ruruko, the student said:

“Your katas are of the old martial arts” (1915, Fuzhou City).

This comment was made after Miyagi Chojun had performed the Chinese forms (kata) taught to Higaonna Kanryo by the late Ruruko.

We are further told that the specific date 1828 is of great significance to the Fuzhou style from which TOGK would later stem.

All the TOGK kata (with the exception of the Gekisai and Tensho forms) were taught to Higaonna Kanryo whose sole (soul) purpose in relocating to Fuzhou was to study local martial arts. His teacher was (as stated earlier) the forever-elusive Master, Ruruko.

Higaonna Kanryo returned to Okinawa with these forms and taught them to Miyagi Chojun who, in turn, taught them in later years. Miyagi passed them on unchanged - with the exception of the Sanchin form – a form he did see fit to alter somewhat.

During my two years on-location in Fuzhou I took it upon myself to learn, study, and research local and indigenous martial arts in my efforts to trace the history of TOGK. During that time I studied a number of different kata (xing)* from several teachers each of whom were Masters of one essential (Fujianese) style or another.

Meeting with local Masters and interviewing them in-depth I soon came to learn a great deal about Fuzhou martial arts. One interesting point (one within an Ocean of countless!) is that the Fuzhou styles of old seem to have possessed four or, perhaps, five essential kata.

Given that Higaonna Kanryo was taught nine kata this might well indicate that Higaonna was taught two Fuzhou styles although it would seem that the style taught by Ruruko actually contained nine individual and distinct kata. This, again, we learn from Ruruko’s student.

If we venture south from Fuzhou we will find a martial arts system (within Fujian Province) called Wuzuquan (Five Ancestor Fist). This system contains more than forty kata and so now I am now wondering if, perhaps, what was to later become TOGK was actually a non-Fuzhou system that was brought into Fuzhou prior to its passage across to Higaonna Kanryo via Ruruko.

If this concept of ‘four or five forms per system’ was, indeed, an idea unique to Fuzhou it may well be the case that perhaps energies attempting to trace the Goju roots in Fuzhou may have been somewhat misplaced.

This notion may well be supported when we consider the origins of Uechiryu - another karate style that has its roots in Fuzhou martial arts.

It is said that a local Fuzhou martial arts Master (or teacher, at least) by the name of Zhou Zi He** taught his Art to a young Okinawan named Uechi Kanbun. Zhou Zi He’s system appears to have consisted of four essential forms (in-keeping with apparent Fuzhou tradition) whilst Ruruko’s system (if, indeed, it was one system) actually possessed nine separate forms. Nine or more (!) for we should not forget that Higaonna was actually sent home (back to Okinawa prematurely perhaps?) and so may not have actually learnt Ruruko’s complete system. Or perhaps he had, and that is why he was sent home when he was.

Piecing together this Chinese puzzle is difficult enough even with all the pieces at one’s disposal…but with so many pieces missing (as is the case here) then the task becomes even more difficult.

We are told that for approximately thirteen years (from 1868 until 1881) Higaonna Kanryo studied nine different open hand forms under the local martial arts Master, Ruruko. Some years later (1897) an Okinawan man named Uechi Kanbun also relocated to Fuzhou in order to study local martial arts. Like Higaonna Kanryo, Uechi Kanbun remained in Fuzhou for thirteen years, making his way back to Okinawa in 1910.

Yet during his stay in Fuzhou, Uechi Kanbun was taught only three local forms, a fourth form (possibly the forth form of a style, in-keeping with the current Fuzhou trend) being off-limits to him owing to the fact that he had not been training long enough. Apparently, Uechi Kanbun was told that if he wanted to learn the fourth and final form of this particular style he would have to remain in Fuzhou for another fifteen years!

This suggests to me that the style or system studied by Uechi Kanbun was, indeed, the product of a very ancient China (as were its teachers), moreso, quite possibly, than the teachings of Ruruko for the simple reason that Ruruko was more free with his knowledge than Uechi Kanbun’s teacher(s) and did not maintain the then traditional and old-fashioned ways as are suggested by Zhou’s attitude and mentality.

It must not be forgotten that whilst Higaonna Kanryo was, effectively, a Closed Door student of Ruruko, so was Uechi Kanbun (or so it seems) in relation to his principal teacher.

It does seem that Higaonna Kanryo was somewhat fast-tracked in his training yet as close as Uechi Kanbun was to his Fuzhou teacher he was not awarded the same (fast-track) privilege. This was because…

a) Uechi Kanbun’s teacher just did not believe in fast-tracking anyone

b) The forms studied by Uechiu Kanbun were far more ancient Chinese old style martial arts than what Ruruko was teaching

or

c) Ruruko was not teaching one particular style (or two particular styles) but was simply teaching a collection of forms.

Part Two

During my studies in Fuzhou I observed that each form I was taught has its own “quanli” – a respectful and ceremonious salutation that opens and closes the form. Yet more than simply denoting respect, each “quanli” also translates to effective self-defence.

Whilst the “quanli” concept is evident within Uechiryu Karatedo (and not so dissimilar to what I was taught in Fuzhou) I find it rather difficult to find this concept within the TOGK kata (forms). Perhaps this is because I am missing it, or perhaps it is because the Goju kata is so old that it predates the entire respect and courtesy aspect, yet personally I dismiss this idea because it is my belief that the courtesy angle has always been there.

We are always being told (reminded!) that ‘karate begins and ends with courtesy’ (”karate ni sente nashi”), yet whilst this may often be considered merely ‘a concept based upon ethics and morality’ it does seem to me that this concept/precept was also based upon a physical illustration that is clearly evident within the classical Fuzhou martial art styles. Somewhere along the way, though, both the Shorinryu and the Gojuryu styles have lost or abandoned such opening and closing statements - assuming that they were there in the first place. And I assume this because of the ever-so-strong martial and cultural connection/relationship between Fuzhou (Fujian) and Okinawa.

So, again, why should an ancient Art-form not contain an essential ingredient that other more modern-day Art-forms (more modern-day by comparison) continue to maintain? Is it because Higaonna Kanryo removed the “quanli”, or is it because Miyagi Chojun removed it? Surely not!

Although Uechiryu does acknowledge the conceptual “quanli”, it is not emphasized anywhere near as strongly as it is within the Fuzhou styles that I have studied. This, again, is unusual for Fuzhou forms (in my experience) so I am also wondering if the Uechiryu kata (unchanged by Uechi Kanbun upon his return to Okinawa) was a product of Fuzhou or beyond.

In conclusion…it is my opinion that both the Goju and the Uechi styles of karate do have their roots within Fujian Province, but not solely within Fuzhou City. Answers to questions currently being asked should therefore be directed outside the city limits – high up in the mountains and way out onto the horizon. Thus research into the roots of Ryukyu karate is not coming to an end but, instead, is only just beginning…

Footnotes:

* The term ‘kata’ is an Okinawan/Japanese one whilst ‘xing’ (pronounced: sing) is the Mandarin (Pinyin) equivalent. “Form” (or “forms”) is an American term meaning ‘kata’ or ‘xing’ which has also caught-on in England. Within this article, each term has identical meaning.

** Whilst Zhou Zi He was a local born-and-bred Fuzhou man there seems to be no actual proof that Ruruko was (also) a Fuzhou native - only that he was living and teaching martial arts in Fuzhou.