The Ryujin and the Shisa.

Dragon

In Ryukyuan legend the power of the sea is represented by dragons.



In the Irosetsuden (a series of stories from Ryukyu folklore), dragons display powers like those of gods, and live in their own undersea kingdom. The traditional Ryukyuan conception of dragon is largely similar to that of Chinese legend.

Shisa

In Ryukyu culture a Chinese emissary returned from a voyage to the court at Shuri Castle, he brought a gift for the king, a necklace decorated with a figurine of a Shisa-dog. The king found it charming and wore it underneath his clothes.

At the Naha Port bay, the village of Madanbashi was often terrorized by a sea dragon that ate the villagers and destroyed their property.

One day, the king was visiting the village, and one of these attacks happened; all the people ran and hid. The local noro (priestess) had been told in a dream to instruct the king when he visited to stand on the beach and lift up his figurine towards the dragon; she sent the boy, Chiga, to tell him the message.

He faced the monster with the figurine held high, and immediately a giant roar sounded all through the village, a roar so deep and powerful that it even shook the dragon. A massive boulder then fell from heaven and crushed the dragon's tail. He couldn't move, and eventually died.


This boulder and the dragon's body became covered with plants and surrounded by trees, and can still be seen today. It is the "Gana-mui Woods" near Naha Ohashi bridge.

The townspeople built a large stone shisa to protect it from the dragon's spirit and other threats.

Stone Shisa - Built to protect Okinawa.

Comment below to share any thoughts or opinions you might have.  :)

Thanks for reading.
Derm

Ͼ

Information Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shisa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryukyuan_religion
https://japanesemythology.wordpress.com/magical-creatures-of-okinawa/

Beyond Bushido

The 7 virtues of Bushido are only the basic framework for being a better warrior and for being the best you can be. There is much more to being a good warrior and being a good person than just these virtues, they are just a starting point. 

To begin with, the 7 virtues (Honour, Benevolence, Rectitude, Sincerity, Courage, Loyalty & Respect) are how to interact with others and the world. The below list is another 5 virtues that are for internal development.

Self-Respect

A vital part of your own image is self-respect. This is the starting point of your self-worth, confidence, honesty in thought and integrity. It is truly the deepest roots of your Honour. Self-respect is not to be confused with overconfidence or arrogance; these come from the opposite of self-respect.

Self-Control

Self-control is exactly as it sounds, control over yourself. It is arguably the most important virtue for any martial artist to have. With no self-control none of the outward virtues can be held, especially rectitude, courage or loyalty.

A Positive Mindset

This is a requirement for any substantial development and/or improvement as a martial artist. There is no greater hindrance to anything than your own negative thoughts. Also, it is much more difficult to be a benevolent person if you are negative on the inside.

Wisdom

Wisdom is something that we all should seek and can always be something to work on, no matter how wise you truly are. Wisdom only comes with much knowledge, time, continued effort, understanding and experience.

 

A Calm Disposition

This is linked to self-control (as self-control is a requirement for it) but is also separate to it. Bushi Matsumura once said:  “If you have an unconquerable calmness, you can overcome the enemy without force, with the ferocity of a tiger and the swiftness of a bird.”
Staying calm might be the most difficult virtue of all 12 virtues, but only with a calm head can you be wise, positive, in control, honest with yourself and maintain confidence.

While the original 7 virtues of Bushido are how to ‘act’ these are how to ‘be’. In order for the outward 7 virtues to be natural and second nature, these inward 5 virtues should be developed. These virtues are very personal (as no one else can see them), they are only for you and your own peace of mind. Others will see the result of the development of the inward virtues in your actions, your actions includes the outward 7 virtues.


These 5 virtues are what I came up with for myself, you may not even agree with some or all of them. The overall point still remains, the 7 virtues of Bushido are not absolute, they are only a starting point. 

The idea is that it's all about continual self-development. There is never an end point. We must always learn and grow. For me, the next logical step beyond Bushido were these 5 virtues in order to continue to work towards being the best that I can be.

What will you work towards in order to be the best you can be?

Comment below to share any thoughts or opinions you might have.  :)

Thanks for reading.
Derm

Ͼ

Elasticity over Rigidity

Over the many years of training, we aim to develop strength in our technique and stances. We want to make them strong enough to overcome any force they might encounter.

For defensive techniques we need to be strong enough to withstand or redirect any attack. Offensive techniques need to be strong enough to break, damage, control or subdue any part of the opponent. Our stances need to be strong enough keep us standing, stances also help us use and execute the other techniques.

We train for years with the goal to make our body strong, and for it to be strong enough to overcome any force it needs be solid like a rock… right?

Wrong!

Lets look at one stance as an example 'Sanchin Dachi'.


Chojun Miyagi testing a student's Sanchin Dachi...
or maybe starting a conga line... either one is good.

You're at training, standing in Sanchin Dachi and Sensei is testing everyone's stances (we've all been there).
As you stand there, you hear Sensei getting closer you tense every muscle as hard as you can, in effect trying to be like a rock - making the muscles as hard as diamonds. The hope being that when Sensei pushes you; you are the complete embodiment of the concept of the 'immovable object'!
What ends up happening is Sensei pushes you from behind and in spite of how tight your muscles are, you feel your toes digging into the floor but it's not enough, you fall forward.
The conclusion you come to is that you didn't do it strong enough, your stance must need more work, you need to make your legs and core stronger.... 
But is that what went wrong?
For many people (especially in the early years of training) this might be true, you might need to work on leg and core strength, but it's not always what went wrong.

Some Budoka have perfectly adequate strength, but it's something else that they doing that fails to provide the stability.
The mistake is in trying to be completely solid. Being totally solid and rigid means there's no give.

A diamond is crazy solid and rigid, it has no give. So what happens when enough force is applied?

That poor diamond  :(

The same is what happened to your Sanchin Dachi when Sensei pushed you, everything is crazy rigid and strong until a certain point as there's no give. Your whole body is already so tense that the only place that tried to absorb the energy was in your toes, just your toes, when you have your whole body to use you try to absorb all the force right at the end in the very tips of your feet.

The trick is to make your muscles tight and strong but pliable, so that you're able to distribute the force all over, so the bigger muscles can help absorb the energy too.

The easiest way to test this is to stand on a Bus or Train without holding onto anything, you will soon be able to tell that being completely rigid doesn't really help you stay stable. It's more about being mostly tense but still pliable, strong but with a little bit of movement.

I like to think of it being less like rock and more like the rubber they make car tyres with... or hockey pucks ;)

That rubber is quite stiff but absorbs impacts really well.

This doesn't just apply to Sanchin Dachi or even stances. This attitude can be applied to all techniques.

When thinking about the use of muscles and strength, always remember the concept of Elasticity over Rigidity.
Being completely solid will, at best fail as a technique, and at worst lead to your serious injury.

Be more like a hockey puck and less like a diamond.



Comment below to share any thoughts or opinions you might have.  :)

Thanks for reading.
Derm

Ͼ

Kata Focus - Sanchin

Sanchin is an older Kata originally from Chinese Kung fu. Its exact origins are unclear (as are the origins of many Kata), but it can be found in Fujian White Crane, Five Ancestors and Tiger-Crane styles of Chinese Kung fu. 

A large majority of Karate styles today have adopted Sanchin, including: Goju-Ryu, Shito-Ryu, Isshin-Ryu, Kyokushin and Uechi-Ryu. 

It is a core Kata in many martial systems (irrespective of the system being Chinese, Japanese or Okinawan) due to its simplicity but important lessons including: core strength, power generation, correct posture, stability, correct breathing, timing with breathing and technique, correct use of basic Kihon techniques.

Sanchin is an excellent Kata for beginners, intermediate and advanced Karateka. 

The Meaning of the Kata’s name, Three Battles, has a couple of interpretations. The most obvious is that most techniques are done in groups of three and most versions of the Kata are in three sections, to the front, to the back and to the front again. Another interpretation is that the ‘three battles’ refers to the battles of mind, skill and body, the idea being that all three are worked on at once during this Kata. While it is technically true to say that the mind, skill and body should all be factors in any Kata and all Budo training, the theory is that the concept of developing all three at once originated with Sanchin.

Kanryo Higashionna is thought to have introduced Sanchin to Okinawa after returning from the Fujian province of China where he learned from Ru Ru Ko among others.

Sanchin Comparison 

Two Chinese versions, Uechi-Ryu & Goju-Ryu.

Kyokushin Sanchin

Shito-Ryu Sanchin

Isshin-Ryu Sanchin

Comment below to share any thoughts or opinions you might have.  :)

Thanks for reading.
Derm

Ͼ