Iken Tokashiki Okinawa Times July 4th 2021

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.

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.

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".

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."

 

Who Were the Senior Students of Chojun Miyagi?

When people talk about the students of Chojun Miyagi, Seiko Higa, Meitoku Yagi, Seikichi Toguchi and Eiichi Miyazato are usually the main ones that come to mind. It might come as a surprise to learn Miyagi had more than a dozen other senior students, although as most of them didn’t open schools they are much less known. Despite this, they did still influence Goju-Ryu in numerous ways.

While Goju is often split into “pre-war” and “post-war” versions, I’d say you could group the pre war into two sperate categories too. 

Earliest Students 

These would be the very first people that trained with Chojun Miyagi. This is the first group of his students and the most senior. The key individuals here would be Seiko Higa, Hohitsu Gushimiyagi, Jinsei Kamiya, Jinan Shinzato, Keiyo Madambashi, Genkai Nakaima, Nanjo Kiju and Tatsutoku Sakiyama.

Chojun Miyagi with Seiko Higa, Kenwa Mabuni,
Juhatsu Kiyoda, Jinan Shinzato, Keiyo 
Madambashi, Genkai Nakaima,
Nanjo Kiju and Tatsutoku Sakiyama. (1924)

There might be a few new names on there, or at least some you didn’t often hear about. Higa of course needs no introduction, he originally trained with Kanryo himself. After his death it was natural to continue training with his senpai Chojun Miyagi. He’s also the only one from this group that opened a school and went on to teach students of his own.

Hohitsu Gushimiyagi was another student of Kanryo Higashionna. He remained a life long friend of Chojun Miyagi. In the memorial picture for Chojun Miyagi, he can be seen sitting next to the portrait of Chojun Miyagi.

Jinsei Kamiya holds a very important role in Goju-Ryu history.  In addition to being a student of Miyagi, he was also a physician and close friend.  While Miyagi often gets the credit for developing the Junbi undo, he was greatly assisted by Jinsei Kamiya.  

Main Pre War Students 

Here we find some more familiar names like Meitoku Yagi and Seikichi Toguchi. It also includes Seiko Kina, Shunshin Furugen, Kiei Tomoyose, Jitsui Yogi and Seijin Nakamoto.

Seiko Kina was one of the first of this group to begin teaching. According to the Okinawa Karate Kobudo Jitten, he was running a dojo in Izumizaki-cho where Miyagi and Shinzato would occasionally visit as well.

Chojun Miyagi teaching to various students

Shunshin Furugen never opened a school but did teach several students of Miyagi’s other students. His specialty kata was Kururunfa, which he learned directly from Miyagi himself. He is known to have taught at least Zenshu Toyama and Masanobu Shinjo.

When Morio Higaonna founded the IOGKF in 1979, many of the names above became advisors to the organisation.

Post War Students

We now come to the final group of students. The most senior here was undoubtably Eiichi Miyazato. Others included Koshin Iha, Aniichi Miyagi, Chisen Bise, Seikichi Kinjo and Suichi Aragaki. After the passing of Chojun Miyagi almost all of the post war students remained closely associated with Eiichi Miyazato, at least for a period of time.

Miyazato continued teaching in the garden dojo, and when the location got too small due to the number of new students, the Jundokan dojo was built.

The Founding of the Goju-Ryu Shinko Kai

During Chojun Miyagi’s life time several of his students got together to form an organisation for the preservation and promotion of Goju-Ryu. The founding members were Genkai Nakaima, Seiko Higa, Jinsei Kamiya and Keiyo Madambashi. Chojun Miyagi was the first president of the organisation. After his death, Seiko Higa was the second president. The organisation would eventually evolve into the Okinawa Goju Kai.

A notice in the newspaper about the Shinkokai.
The four main members are listed.  

If you’re interested in more Goju-Ryu history, my book History and Stories of Goju-Ryu has much more detailed biographies of most of the individuals mentioned above, and many more: https://www.lulu.com/en/ca/shop/filip-konjokrad/history-and-stories-of-goju-ryu/paperback/product-1y8w9n86.html?page=1&pageSize=4

 

Kanbun Izumikawa: The Successor of Kanki Izumikawa

Kanbun Izumikawa was the oldest son of Kanki Izumikawa, born in Kawasaki city in 1942. From an early age he was absorbed in karate and learning the Senbukan Goju-Ryu from his father Kanki. It is typically the tradition for the firstborn son to succeed the father as the head of the school and he was being prepared for this role early on. Kanbun would have received a detailed instruction in the inner techniques and teachings of Goju-Ryu from his father.

In 1967, Kanki Izumikawa the shodai soke of the Senbukan passed away. Kanbun Izumikawa then became the second soke of the Senbukan and inherited his father’s teachings and legacy. Under his leadership the “Goju Ryu karate do Senbukan” was renamed to "Goju Ryu karate do Senbukai”.  According to his younger brother Katsuya, Kanbun was very serious about karate and practiced it strongly. He was committing to growing and expanding the Senbukai. Unfortunately, though, following the passing of their father, many of Kanki Izumikawa's senior students left and established their own organisations.

From 1963-1968 he had consecutive victories in kata competition at the All Nihon Karate-do Senshu Ken Taikai which was sponsored by the Nihon karate Do Rengokai. In 1973 he also travelled to the Senbukan branch dojo on Hawaii to teach as his father did before. In addition, each summer he would travel to Okinawa and train with Juei Tamaki who was a senior student of Seiko Higa and former dojo brother of his father Kanki Izumikawa. These annual visits went on for a period of ten years and were to further his understanding of the Seiko Higa lineage of Goju-Ryu. Kanbun also served as director of the Kawasaki Karate Association.

In 1982, sadly he succumbed to an illness and died at the young age of 39. His younger brother Katsuya Izumikawa who was his assistant instructor inherited the Senbukai as the third soke and continues to pass on the traditional Goju-Ryu teaching from his father and brother.

Kanbun Izumikawa 
Sanchin Kata

Shuichi Aragaki Okinawa Times May 2019

The following is a translation of an interview with Shuichi Aragaki which appeared in the Okinawa Times May 2019 as part of their weekly feature on karate. There's some interesting information about the time he spent training with Chojun Miyagi. 

Shuichi Arakaki (90) = Urasoe City = who is a direct pupil of Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953), the founder of Okinawa Karate Goju-ryu, inherited the teachings of Chojun's later years and handed down Goju-ryu.  The saying of Miyagi sensei was do not hit people and do not be hit by people. "The important thing about karate is humble feelings and kindness."

Mr. Arakaki was born in Taiwan in 1929 and returned to Okinawa with his family in 1947 after the end of the war.  His grandfather, Ryuko was Chojun's first karate teacher. When Mr. Arakaki became interested in karate, Mr. Ryuko said, "I will guide you to Matsu (childhood name of Mr. Chojun)."

He became a disciple of Chojun Miyagi when he was 22 years old

At that time, Mr. Chojun had no disciples other than Mr. Anichi Miyagi, but when his first teacher, Mr. Ryuko, visited him, he thanked him and immediately allowed him to become a disciple. In 1951, Mr. Arakaki was 22 years old and Mr. Chojun was 63 years old.

As soon as I finished my work, I started going to Mr. Chojun's house in Mihara, Naha City. At first, I wasn’t allowed into the house,  I just took care of the surroundings such as cleaning the garden, drawing water from the well, and chopping (chopping wood?), but in reality, this is also part of the training. It is said that Mr. Chojun was dressed up and sat upright, watching the situation.  I can't say " please tell me". If you ask a question, you will be told, "you don't have enough hardship".  He was quiet and polite, but it was tough when it came to training. Mr. Arakaki is still in awe.

During the Sanchin practice, he was allowed to enter the house. Mr. Chojun looked at the movement of his legs and how to use his muscles, and gave guidance by hitting the bad points by hand. The struck shoulder would swell, and the thighs are squeezed during training. The size of the clothes didn't fit and I was in trouble.

Life and practice

Many dojos now have a fixed date and time for training, but at that time life itself was training. When passing through the stone wall road of Tsuboya, I struck the rugged rock surface with my bare hands to train them. I still remember the teaching that "if you take a day off, it will take three days to get it back."

On the other hand, when the training was over, he also showed a gentle side, saying, "Eat dinner." Mr. and Mrs. Chojun, Mr. Anichi, and Mr. Arakaki surrounded the table on a daily basis. I was told about karate, and before I got home late at night, I was told, "Walk in a bright place even if you take a detour at night."

Three years after the introduction, Mr. Arakaki moved to Tokyo to go on to higher education. It was a month later that Mr. Chojun's news arrived.

Mr. Arakaki says, "I've been taught not to tell people that I'm doing karate" because people started fights to test my skills and the number of enemies increased. In any situation, I faced it with karate, which was placed in the center of my mind and body, saying, "This is karate."

Guidance around the dojo

In Tokyo, he taught karate to fellow students and children in the neighborhood, and later served as a teacher at the dojo of Mr. Chojun's eldest son, Kei.  When he returned to Okinawa in 1972, he taught Mr. Anichi and his juniors. “I started to go around the dojo and teach because I thought that it was one of my responsibilities to spread what I learned from Mr. Chojun”.

Based on Mr. Chojun's teaching, "The important thing in doing karate is socializing. Don't contend with people. The important thing is humble feelings and kindness. "

Karate became an official event at the Tokyo Olympics to be held next year, but Mr. Arakaki said, "Karate is a way to protect yourself. You have to go back to the starting point. It looks like karate is from Japan, but it's Okinawa." He also said that there are many anecdotes left in Okinawa Karate, and he said with a gentle expression, "That's interesting."

Shuichi Aragaki at Kei Miyagi's 
dojo. 

The many faces of Sanseiru

 Sanseiru kata of Goju-Ryu is interesting for many reasons. One of them is that there seems to be more versions and variations of sanseiru than any other kata. The other interesting aspect is the story that only Kyoda learned sanseiru from Kanryo Higashionna because Chojun Miyagi was away on military service during the time the kata was taught.

Today I wanted to go over some of the different versions of the kata that exist, centring mostly on the Seiko Higa lineage. It might be surprising to hear that even just within Higa's lineage, there are multiple variations.  Let's start with the first one.

1.) Juei Tamaki's Sanseiru

Juei Tamaki was a senior student of Seiko Higa, and the oldest one having been born in 1905. The version below is performed by his senior student Zensei Gushiken. 

The key differences from the usual Goju sanseiru is the knee strike at the beginning, and also the absence of the two chudan uke near the end. The final turn is also in a different direction.

2.) Kanki Izumikawa lineage Sanseiru 

This version of sanseiru is performed by Tsubamoto sensei, a senior student of Sosui Ichikawa. Ichikawa was one of the senior students of Kanki Izumikawa. This is a bit closer to the standard sanseiru, with the kensetsu geri at the beginning a major difference. As a side note, when I visited the Komeikan dojo of Toru Miyagi, they had this same kick at the beginning of their sanseiru.  

3.) Seikichi Toguchi's Sanseiru

The Shoreikan sanseiru is a fairly standard version overall. Toguchi was initially a student of Seiko Higa, then later became a senior student of Chojun Miyagi as well. The kata is performed by Hirakawa sensei who was one of his senior students in Japan. 

4.) Chosin Ishimine's Sanseiru

Chosin Ishimine was another long term senior student of Seiko Higa. Here we see one of his students performing Sanseiru. This version is vastly different not just from the usual Goju-Ryu sanseiru, but any other version shown so far. One interesting thing to note is the use of the open hand block in place of the usual chudan uke. This is similar to what is seen in to'on-ryu. 

5.) Seiko Fukuchi's Sanseiru

Seiko Fukuchi was another senior student of Seiko Higa. He assisted Higa teaching karate at the prison as well as at the Shodokan dojo. The kata below is performed by Tetsuhiro Hokama who was one of his most senior students. For the most part this follows a fairly standard pattern. 

So, there it is, five different versions from five different lineages of Seiko Higa. When it comes to the other kata, they are much more similar. The question then is, why is sanseiru so different? Was there in fact more than one version that was taught? I have a feeling it may never be definitively solved but it is interesting to think about. 

Choshin Ishimine's Suparinpei

 Choshin Ishimine was a senior student of Seiko Higa sensei. While not quite as well known as some of Higa's other students it seems he was very well regarded. In Akio Kinjo's karate denshin roku there was an interesting entry on Ishimine: "Sensei Choshin Ishimine was the best among disciples of Sensei Seiko Higa. When he was young, he was devoting all his time and energy to karate training with Sensei Higa. His performance of Suparinpe is so excellent that no one could do better than him. I think that in 1953 there were only five or six karateka who could perform Suparinpe well." 

Below we can see Suparinpei performed by one of his senior students: 

There are a few interesting things going on here. In particular, the crane stepping in the middle of the kata instead of the usual sanchin step. Even within Seiko Higa's lineage there is a fair bit of variety in terms of how the kata are done. 

Notable Books On Goju-Ryu

Taking a little break from translations and history I thought today I would share my thoughts on some of the major books that have been written on Goju-Ryu Karate. For this list I considered books of historical importance, as well as books that made really good technical manuals. I only included books by Okinawan/Japanese authors. The list is not presented in any particular order. 

1.) Okinawa Den Goju Ryu Karate Do - Eiichi Miyazato

The original Japanese edition

It should be no surprise the first book on the list would be by a direct senior student of the founder. This book also represented the first of it's kind written by a student of Chojun Miyagi. Here you will find much of the Goju-Ryu curriculum including: junbi undo, hojo undo, kihon, all the kata and basic applications for the forms. According to Miyazato himself (from the Okinawa Karate Kobudo Jitten) the book was written at a time when the sports karate was beginning to take more of a hold and it represented an attempt to create a clear guide on the traditional Okinawan Goju-Ryu. It's also worth mentioning the book was translated to English by the members of the Jundokan honbu. The pictures however were all replaced by new photos taken at the time of the publication. It's a bit unfortunate, as the original photos certainly had great historical value. The Japanese version is of course long out of print and an extremely rare item. 

2.) Goju Kensha Kyohan - Tadahiko Ohtsuka

2008 Reprint Edition

The Goju Kensha Kyohan was written by Tadahiko Ohtsuka, a notable teacher of Goju-Ryu on mainland Japan. Ohtsuka was a senior student of Sosui Ichikawa, who was himself a senior student of Kanki Izumikawa. The book was originally published in 1977 as a set of 13 individual booklets.  It was reprinted again in 2008 as a single large book. To date, it might be the most comprehensive and detailed book ever written on Goju-Ryu Karate. The book contains essentially everything, from the stretches, warmups, detailed explanations of all kihon waza, applications of the kihon, all the kata, kata applications and a detailed section on vital points and vital point striking. Also included are descriptions on numerous more advanced teachings in Goju-Ryu. The book was intended to act as a teaching manual for the senior instructors, which is one reason it contains more advanced materials.  Sadly the book was never translated to English in it's entirety and even the reprint is hard to come by now. 

3.) Traditional Karate Do 4 Volumes - Morio Higaonna 

Vol 1

These four books are likely not new to anyone and neither is the author. The books were the first of their kind in the English language and revolutionary at the time of release. Today they are still highly sought after. Across the four volumes Morio Higaonna covers essentially the whole Goju-Ryu curriculum. You will find detailed explanations of all aspects of the style including the junbi undo, hojo undo, all kihon (stances, uke, strikes etc..) all the kata (with in between motions) and applications for all the techniques. Included are also detailed descriptions of Sanchin kata, history and numerous other topics.  These four books contain a solid base of knowledge for any practitioner. 

4.) Okinawan Goju-Ryu 1 & 2 - Seikichi Toguchi 

The second book

Rather than writing about the books separately I will include them both together.  These represent another publication by a direct senior student of Chojun Miyagi and as such are highly valuable.  The first one includes history, kihon and a detailed overview of Gekisai Dai Ichi and Sanchin. Both kata are performed by Toguchi himself. Included as well are some of the kumite and bunkai sets Toguchi  devised himself. The second book includes much more history and personal stories about Chojun Miyagi, Seiko Higa and other individuals which are highly interesting. Technically, it continues from where the first book left off with Gekiha kata (created by Toguchi) and Saifa kata. Both books are full of very valuable information, but like the others mentioned above they are also out of print. 

5.) Karate Do Kyohan (I) & (II) - Seikichi Toguchi

Karate Do Kyohan I & II

Unlike the two previous books by Toguchi, these are far less known. In fact, I don't know if these were ever a public release. Rather I think they were largely disturbed among Shoreikan members. They continue to be extremely rare. These books do contain all of the Goju-Ryu kata, as well as the kata created by Seikichi Toguchi such as Gekiha and Kakuha. Included are also demonstrations of the Kiso Kumite sets and Bunkai Kumite for select kata. The 10 main Goju-Ryu kata are all demonstrated step by step by Toguchi himself. As such it presents an invaluable record of kata by a direct student of the founder. The rest of the kata and techniques in the book are demonstrated by his senior students at the Shoreikan

6.) Seito Karate Do Nyumon - Kei Miyagi

 

Seito Karate Do Nyumon

Kei Miyagi was not only the oldest son of Chojun Miyagi, but also one of his senior students. Overall he wrote three books on Goju-Ryu Karate, with this one being the last. It's interesting that a lot of  people don't know that he opened a dojo and taught Goju-Ryu, which is now run by his son Toru (Chojun Miyagi's grandson).  The book covers much of the fundamental areas of the style. You'll find the junbi undo, hojo undo, kihon and the kata Gekisai 1-2, Sanchin, Tensho, Saifa and Seiunchin. Included are also some kumite drills from Goju-Ryu.  This book (and his other two) represent a very valuable addition to any Goju-Ryu library. 

7.) Karate Do no Shinzui - Gogen Yamaguchi

Karate Do no Shinzui

Whether you love him or hate him, there is no denying Yamaguchi was hugely influential in popularising Goju-Ryu karate around the world. For much of the 60s, 70s and even into the 80s he was perhaps the most well known teacher of Goju-Ryu. This book is certainly an interesting one, and packed full of photographs. It contains an autobiography of Yamaguchi, demonstrations of various techniques, certain kata, and select applications for each of the kata. The book has been translated into English, but both versions are very rare. This was one of the very first books to be written on Goju-Ryu. 

8.) The History of Karate Goju-Ryu - Morio Higaonna 

The History of Karate

This represents the most detailed book on Goju Ryu history written by any Okinawan or Japanese master. It is full of information on the history of Goju-Ryu as well as numerous direct students of Chojun Miyagi. Included are also interviews the author has conducted with different students of the founder. While the book has been highly successful and sought after, it hasn't been without controversy. The history is undoubtedly slanted to instructors that were relevant to the IOGKF and as such certain people received very little attention. For example Seikichi Toguchi seemed to receive no mention at all and Meitoku Yagi was spoken about very little. Additionally the book had disparaging remarks about several notable individuals including Chojun Miyagi's son and Seiko Higa. Despite some shortcomings it is still a rich source of information, but it is important to read it critically. 

9.) Okinawa Goju-Ryu Karate Do no Kata - Tetsuhiro Hokama

The cover of the book

While the text itself was written by one of Hokama's senior students (Sakugawa) the work was supervised by Hokama himself. It includes step by step photos of all 12 Goju Ryu kata from Gekisai to Suparinpei.  The book is notable for detailed descriptions and explanations of each part of the kata. Additionally you will also find the applications of the kata techniques explained, with pictures showing the applications in certain sections. Tetsuhiro Hokama was originally a student of Seiko Higa at the Shodokan dojo and then continued his training with Seiko Fukuchi after his death in 1966. This book contains a lot of useful information on the kata, but again there is no translation in English available. 

10.) Koden Goju-Ryu Kenpo vol 1,2,3 - Yoshio Kuba 

The first vol

The final set of books on this list comes from Yoshio Kuba. Kuba is currently one of the most senior and renowned students of Seikichi Toguchi. He is well known for his mastery of the kata applications and showing advanced teachings openly. Across the three volumes you will find all the kata (including the Toguchi created ones), junbi undo, kihon, and of course the applications he is so known for. As a bonus the books also come with a DVD showing the contents of the book. Currently this is another hard to come by set, but very informative and valuable. 

So, those are ten of the most notable books on Goju-Ryu that have been released over time. Certainly there are many other books but I wanted to limit this list to only ten. Did you know about them already? Are there any on the list you just found out about? Did I maybe miss something important? Let me know your thoughts.