The recent weekly karate article from the Okinawa Times featured Iken Tokashiki sensei. He's the founder of the Gohaku Kai which combines the Tomari Te of Seiyu Nakasone and Goju-Ryu of Seiko Fukuchi. Below is a translation of the article:
Iken Tokashiki Kaicho (81) = Hanshi 10th Dan = of the
"Okinawa Goju-Ryu Tomari Te Association (Gohaku Kai)", a school that
combines Goju-Ryu and Tomari Te, received guidance from his predecessors,
karate experts. While repeating rigorous training, he is focusing on the
succession and development of the two schools.
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| Tokashiki sensei, chairman of the Gohaku Kai |
He was born in Naha City. He grew up listening to the
heroic stories of karate ka from his father, who was an actor in Okinawa plays
and was familiar with the history and culture of Okinawa. "I was told that
boys have to practice martial arts," he recalls his childhood memories.
I joined the karate club in junior high school and started
on the path of karate do. Four years later in 1957, he was allowed to begin
training with Seiyu Nakasone sensei, a karate expert with a close relationship
with his father. Mr. Nakasone was a
successor to Kosaku Matsumora (1829-98), who is known as the ancestor of Tomari
Te, but had no students for many years.
Seeing his own hand with a callus, he felt that he was
training. I was asked "Do you want to do karate?" At first, the
training was just meditation, and then severe training began. It`s said that
martial arts practitioners must pay attention to their daily behavior and words
and deeds, saying that they must respect etiquette.
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| Tomari Te master Seiyu Nakasone sensei in the middle |
Sensei would say karate do is the martial art of a person of noble character. Strengthen your body and protect yourself. I was told that the essence of karate is not to become belligerent and avoid unnecessary conflict.
Under Mr. Nakasone, I came to want to learn modern karate
teaching methods while practicing traditionally. In 1967, with the permission
of Mr. Nakasone, he joined the Senbukan Goju Ryu dojo of Seiko Fukuchi, who had
a close relationship with Nakasone.
Sensei (*Referring to Fukuchi now) always had the motto that attack and defense are one. At the Fukuchi dojo I was assigned to be a shihan dai and started teaching. After practicing at the Fukuchi Dojo, Mr. Fukuchi hoped to teach Tomari Te with the permission of Mr. Nakasone.
After Mr. Fukuchi died, Mr. Tokashiki became the second
chairman of Senbukan in 1975. In 1976, he received the signboard of Matsumora
ha seishinkan as the successor to Mr. Nakasone who was old. In this way, he inherited and developed the
two schools, and in 1982 he established a new school, "Okinawa Goju-Ryu /
Tomari Karate do Promotion Association (Gohaku Kai)", which combines Goju-Ryu
and Tomari Te. Four years later, the name was changed to "Okinawa Goju-ryu
/ Tomari Karate do Association" and the style name (ryuha) name was
changed to "Gohaku Ryu".
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| Goju-Ryu master, Seiko Fukuchi sensei. |
"The association was established to inherit and develop the world-class traditional Okinawan karate. I have inherited the teachings of Nakasone and Fukuchi sensei, and have continued with the idea that I must teach both, "he recalls.
Currently, his oldest son, Tadao (55), has taken over as
director and teaches his students, but Tokashiki continues to practice at the
dojo even now as chairman. He is also devoting himself to research, and he is
eager to acquire the skills and knowledge of traditional karate, such as
holding a workshop once a year where about 30 executives from inside and
outside the prefecture gather.
Tadao said “Kaicho
(referring to Iken) is a person above the clouds”. (*Translators Note = This means something like
“out of my league” in English. He has such a high level of skill he far above
and unreachable) I can’t easily imitate his movement (ugoki) and body timing
while teaching.
Chairman Tokashiki said, "I am reminded what my
teacher taught me as I move my body during training. I hope that I will
continue to inherit the wonders of the two schools and techniques."
Great post. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Tomari, as a fishing village, would have many men at sea for weeks and months at a time. As a goju karateka, it seems that our stances and steps would be perfect for self-defence applications on a boat, and our block/strikes would be efficient and effective as well. Are there any Tomari-te practitioners who can speak to how the art served training and defending on boats? Is it off base to wonder if tomari-te hasn't more or less disappeared, rather come out as a huge, unappreciated part of nearly all goju positions and moves?