History of Lew Chew Fighting Arts PT 1.

History of Lew Chew Fighting Arts PT 1.

It has been fun conducting research into the history of Lew Chew (Ryukyu) for my own personal perspective on what I study.

There is so much romanticization of History and Founders within the Karate Community that they are placed almost on a pedestal and seen as perfect semi-God-like figures and not much is really known about these figures within the Karate Community, mainly because most do not look outside of Karate for resources.

Miyagi Chojun was very young when he ‘founded’ his Karate system yet there are some who treat him as though he had all the answers at that time and regard him as one of the ‘Old Masters.’

Perhaps he was? Maybe? But there were no ‘Old Masters’ of Karate.

In my research I came across the name of Yuchoku Higa who was a Shorin Ryu Karateka, ‘founder’ of the Kyudokan Kobayashi line, but had been a student of Chojun Miyagi as he was, if I am recalling correctly, a Nephew of Miyagi’s?

He was not a student of Goju Ryu as Miyagi taught him Ti, not Karate and he was also a student of Jinan Shinzato in Ti.

After the war Miyagi lost interest in teaching Ti, shifting solely to the focus of Kata and Karate, so Higa left to train with Choshin Chibana.

His school maintains the Miyagi Yobi Undo to this day despite being a Shorin Ryu line.

Ti being more principles based, applicable, it would make sense that Miyagi would move away from it after the war had taken almost everything from him.

I am not certain how accurate that is, but that is the picture it paints, which shows that Miyagi was a Tijigaya that stopped teaching Ti.

In addition to this there are the connections between the Jundokan, the Kyudokan, the Yakuza, and the Police along with a number of prejudices against foreigners.

I had always questioned the main history by asking why the Lew Chew people would teach their arts to those they view as occupiers and maintained that Karate was not what it appeared to be.

In a poor country where people are struggling there was opportunity in gainful employment by teaching Karate, case in point, Karate is still big business today.

It used to be much more hardcore back in the day, however, and with good reason; it’s’ association with gangsters.

The story of Naha Te, Shuri Te, and Tomari Te has ample evidence of being a fabrication as well.

An attempt to rid Toudi of its’ Chinese connections in order to make it seem more Japanese, after which it would be known as Karate with various ‘styles’ there under, though no such ‘styles’ exist as they all work on the same principles of movement to varying degrees.

Yes, Shorin based systems seem more based on weapon arts and are more pugilistic in nature while Systems in line with Goju Ryu seem more geared towards grappling and close-in tactics, a street based art of civil defense.

One could argue that this applies to both, and one could be correct.

In regards to the gangster aspect, both gangster and Policemen alike trained out of Karate Dojo and many that we hold up as Masters of Karate today were, indeed, opportunists with their hands in some very unsavory business aside from their Teaching and Karate was in the hands of some very unsavory Gangsters doing some very bad things.

Karate itself seems to be based only partially on Ti and mostly on Chinese arts meant for performance to the public.

As an aside there was also an Okinawan Independence movement, which exists today, and many Lew Chew officials and Nobles went into exile abroad.

They did not stay and submit, some were executed when they spoke out against the Japanese who enacted some very brutal policies in order to eradicate Lee Chew culture, including suppression of their language, rewriting their history, humiliating those that spoke the Lew Chew language, etc.

They even changed the name of the main island to Okinawa Prefecture in order to solidify their claim.

Today the ‘Karate’ that is taught has students wearing ‘Karate Gi’ in similar vein to Judo and the vocabulary is Japanese, not the Lew Chew language.

Not necessarily the ultimate show in subjugation of a culture, but certainly a subjugation of that Culture’s Warrior Spirit that once successfully held off Japanese incursion and gave the middle finger to the Khan by forcefully expelling Mongolian Officials.

I have traced the Art of Ti, Genten No Ti, which I study under Jan Dam of Denmark to the Nakazato Family of Nobles, Aji was their title I believe.

Related to the Lee Chew Royal Family with Ynagusuku (Nakazato) Choki once acting as regent for the King (Cho or Sho in names denotes relation to the Sho line as it could only be used by the Royal Family) and signer of the treaty with Commodore Perry on behalf of the Royal Government.

At least that is with whom the name Nakazato is associated in Lew Chew, a Palace Noble who would have known Ti by his very position as it was practiced by the Nobility and Warrior Class… Not the Farmers and Peasants as the mainstream history once posited.

They were too busy working to support the upper class people by way of taxes.

Lew Chew also had a warring period of three Kingdoms prior to all of this in which warlords, or Aji, built Castles and had skirmishes with one another until it was all brought together by King Sho Hashi at the behest of China, to whom they volunteered tribute.

History repeats itself as a few factions of Okinawan Yakuza would get into open skirmishes until the Yakuza from the mainland stepped in…. Ironically (or not) the Yamaguchi-gumi.

This may all be off base, but one can go check the resources available on their own to confirm it.

I had previously maintained that modern day Karate is purely Japanese with little to no connection to Okinawa history.

That is incorrect by way of semantics. It is Japanese with connection to the history of the Japanese created Okinawan Prefecture, but no real connection to the history of Lew Chew and very little connection to Ti.

Kata, as they are now called, were created based on the imported concept from China as everything Chinese was en vogue to the upper class.

Ti, in its’ purest form, did not have Kata, it had/has principles, mechanics, strategies, and tactics.

The modern notion of Kata in Karate, while based on a concept from China, has become solidified in a sort of Japanese static perspective… They cannot be changed because X. 

They are changed all the time, by the way, and really do not exist outside of performance to begin with.

In my view, based on my understanding, Naifuanchin is the first and only purely Lew Chewan Kata.

All others carry Chinese influence and some, like Sanchin, are completely Chinese in origin, altered for whatever reason as altering or changing was once a natural thing in Toudi… Not in Karate.

The Kata of Goju Ryu that most call ‘Kitty’ in my opinion were created by Miyagi Chojun and many are based on a combined influence of Naifuanchin Kata as well as influence of Chinese Arts (including Chinese Lion Dancing).

Naifuanchin was a Kata that Miyagi used to teach, then stopped, just as he stopped teaching Ti.

Many can even notice the blatant similarity between Naifuanchin and his Gekesai Kata, minus the Ti principles (as Naihanchi also lacks Ti principles in the mainstream today).

What of recent so-called ‘Masters’ and the myth of the wise and compassionate Karate Sensei who promotes Growth and Self Improvement?

Purely a modern creation. Toguchi Sensei himself was an alcoholic chain smoker, many were womanizers that frequented the infamous Naha Red-Light District, many of them ran those Brothels with Karateka muscle to back them up.

After the war there were very few left who knew any amount of Ti, those that did did not teach openly and certainly not to foreigners, still others ceased teaching it entirely.

Those we have today are mostly self promoted, some were students of certain well-known Karate ‘Masters’ who saw opportunity and broke off, even inventing entire lineages to further their brand for the sake of making money.

Maybe this is one origin of the Self-Help industry? 

That is not to say that genuine Teachers seeking to help others through Karate do not exist, but it is to point out that a Lotus grows from the mud.

It is to dispel the romanticism that surrounds Karate as some sort of ancient mystical art, it is not.

Battlefield tested? Maybe if you count how it was used by Gangsters in recent times, sure, that can count.

Some of the greatest things have come from the darkest of places and it is always a good idea to remember this.

To be better than those who came before has always been the stated goal, for some, they already are and they should hold their heads up because of that.

For others it is still a business racket with no real substance, which is fine, there is no crime against making money, but certainly it is a crime if some source of that income is illegal.

I am going to continue my research now. More to come.