The Izumikawa lineage of Goju has numerous differences from the more well known Goju-Ryu schools. Even if you compare it to the Shodokan (Seiko Higa's dojo), things aren't exactly the same. So where did these differences come from?
It turns out some of it may be from Juhatsu Kyoda's influence, who was a senior student of Kanryo Higaonna. Before Kanki Izumikawa became a student of Seiko Higa, he trained with Koyda for roughly four years.
In particular, I wanted to talk about the uke waza and how they're done. In the Senbukan, and other schools from Izumikawa's line the uke are typically done in a snapping motion, as well as other techniques too.
There was an interview with Kanzaki Shigekazu (a senior student of Kyoda) published in the Journal of Asian Martial Arts in 2000 where he said something interesting about this subject. "Changing the topic a little, the blocks used nowadays....how should I put it? Looking at karate kata today, the blocks just simply throw the arm out and stop. The block should be a sweeping action. It should sweep out and snap back. The blocks nowadays are just thrown out there".
Below is a video of Kiyoshi Yonemoto, a senior student of Sosui Ichikawa (one of Kanki Izumikawa's earliest and most senior students) performing Seienchin kata. This snapping motion in the gedan uke and other areas should be quite obvious.
