Begin to learn Seisan bunkai
This evening, after working on Kanshiwa bunkai with Fumiya, he taught me Seisan bunkai. For the first time I experienced the traditional Okinawan way of teaching, learning and practicing kata bunkai. Unlike what I had been taught or had experienced in Malaysia, Uechi-Ryu Zankai being the only traditional old style Uechi-Ryu left in the world, the requirement for performing was rather unique and strict.
No one gets hurt when practicing bunkai in Zankai dojo. Safety is the utmost priority but still retain the accuracy, power and speed while performing bunkai. Every technique must be demonstrated in regular and slow speed. The bunkai practice also cultivates mutual respect amog students.
From the techniques and skills that Sensei taught me, in addition to my prior knowledge of Uechi-Ryu techniques before I came to Okinawa, I understand that all Uechi-Ryu techniques are really effective and deadly. After practicing the bunkai, I have a better understanding and realization of what degree of damage can an Uechi-Ryu technique be delivered to your attacker.
I feel lousy
When I woke up in the morning, I could feel the lousiness in me. I had 4 times of diarrhea this morning. It could be my body lacking isotonic balance after the purges or it could be lack of sleep for waking up four times at to take a leak.
Nevertheless, like use, took a quick hot shower then gulped down some breakfast and ready for the morning training. My performance was really awful. I forgot some of the steps in all the kata I learned last week, Kanshabu (Kanshuu), Seichin and Seiunchin. This should not happen but it happened. Could it be the lazying around yesterday? Too much of pastries and beautiful sceneries?
Sensei was going to the commissary so I asked him to get me some glucose tablets. I took some in the evening and I could feel better. But still, I could not perform during the evening training. What was wrong with me?
After the evening training, I took a hot shower and had fried soba Sumako cook. It was delicious. Thanks! She and Sensei were talking about how Sensei and Matoki had been through the day and Sumako also said that she did not feel right in the day. Matoki was having diarrhea too. We were having some ind of food poisoning and we guessed the source could be the tempura. We could be wrong.
I sat and thought for a while, it was not only the diarrhea which degraded my performance. It was the new training which I had been going through for more than a week. I was transforming while I was learning, absorbing the knowledge and skills Sensei was putting on me. I was in the “unlearning” phase.
To confirm my theory, I tried to perform other kata which I learned from other styles and I could not believe it myself. I had forgotten most of the moves and I could feel my uke-waza was not the same as before. I was changing. I was transition from linear into circular universe. I could feel the tension in my joints when I performed a linear techniques.
And most likely, I was in the forgetting curve where I forgot the movements which I learned last week. My learning curve was steep (quick) last week. Tomorrow, I would start to learn Seisan bunkai. I hoped I would get out of this forgetting curve soon.
Okinawan Fishing Village
After the breakfast, we went to a fishing village in Yomitan-son. Sumako wanted to buy some tempura. The fishing village was very clean. Although it was hot and sunny, it was still rewarding to see the great scenery of a local fishing village. It was low tide in the day time at this time of the month. I could see the crystal clear sea water on the shallow sea bed after the low tide.
Another great breakfast
Like last Sunday, Breyette Sensei and Sumako Sempai took me out for a great breakfast at Boulanger Patissier at a seaside. There was Renaissance Hotel nearby.
The patries were so tempting to look at and of course they were very delicious. I wanted to eat everyone of them but I got a small stomach. Here are some photos of the pastries they baked just to share with you.
They are mouth watering, ain’t they? The environment is cosy, soft classical music is playing, French atmosphere and of course the fresh pastries aroma right out from the oven!
After we had our breakfast/brunch, we went down stairs to browse the local market. Because of the typhoon Min-Yi the week before I arrived, the prices of vegetables and fruits became very expensive. I also saw some clay pots that were used to store Japanese wine. They were very expensive just for the pot itself.
The scenery outside was very attractive as well. Although it was hot and sunny, the breeze from the East China Sea was refreshing with the view of blue water.
The beautiful scenery by the blue sea reminded me of my late sister, Angie. She would love to be on Okinawa and she would jump into the sea. She loved the sea so much.
Torii Beach
The beach on Okinawa is very clean. Blue seas white sands. These are the sceneries on Torii Beach. The beach is managed by US Army’s MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation). It is off-limit for civilians and I have got a chance to go there because of the beach party.
The beautiful scenery and the party are really rewarding after a whole week of “severe” karate training. Many thanks to Sumako Sempai and Sensei for taking me to the party.
The city in the background is Naha.
I thought it was some kind of bunker but it was actually an ancient tomb.
Beach Party at Torii Station
We went to a beach party (Summer Bash) at the Torii Beach inside of US Army camp at Torii Station. I put on a red Hawaiian shirt which Sumako presented to me. There were many people when we arrived. The beach had got very beautiful scenery. The music was hot. The foods were tempting and ample. Kids were running around having big time fun.
The food was great! 100% American taste. They had roast pig, barbecue burger and hotdog, rice balls, beef spring rolls, egg rolls, pastries, cheese cake (my favorite!), snacks, beers, soft drinks and a lot more.
The kids and the adults had great times playing games.
And there were hotdog eating and “Fear Factors” competitions.
I had a stroll on the beach with Sensei and Sumako. The sunset background was over exposed otherwise this would be a great picture for them.
Dantai no Kanshiwa
Tin, Jeff, Senato, Shawn and I (of course) attended the afternoon training class. I really enjoyed doing dantai no Kanshiwa (group kata) with Tin and Jeff. We repeated a few times and refined some glitches and we had a good sweat.
While I practiced Seisan with Senato and Shawn, Sensei taught Tin and Jeff Seichin. I joined them practicing Seichin after a while.
After another fruitful day of training, I took my shower and put on a red Hawaii shirt ready to go to the beach party with Sensei. I was so excited to meet and see more people.
Yoga
I had my 2nd Yoga training in the morning today. It was really tiring and sweating because Sumako Sensei (Yoga) was putting up the practice particularly to supplement my karate training. She did a lot of exercise with heavy emphasis on toes. In Uechi-ryu, the front snap kick or Shomen Geri also can be called Sokusen which literally translated to pointed toe kick.
Compared to last week Yoga training which emphasized more on stretching, today lesson was really a hard one which required a lot of muscle power. It was good to build up muscle endurance and power. Today we did Sun, infant, dog and cat asana (posture).
I find Yoga compliment very well into karate training especially old style Uechi-ryu. I hope to share some Yoga training when I return.
Kanshiwa Bunkai
I learned Kanshiwa bunkai and practiced with Hidetoshi today. The way the bunkai is taught and practiced in Uechi-ryu is really different from my previous style.
Practicing bunkai does not only involve technical movements but involve discipline, control and respect to your partner.
This is just roughly an idea of the entire process. First, you and your partner will bow to the front before they bow to each other. After bowing to each other, you will face forward and bow to the front again while your partner remains in his position. Then you begin to show 3 sequences of movement in the kata then you get into position. Your partner will shout before he attacks. Then you will apply a block and a counter strike according to the technique in the kata. After applying the technique, you and your partner will square off. You and your partner remain eye contact through out the enitre process to make sure your partner is ok. Then you will get to the last movement where you left off in the kata and do it again before performing the following 3 sequences. Repeat again until finish performing the entire kata. Then you bow to the front and your partner take over your place and the entire process repeat again.
When all is done, both you and your partner bow to the front and bow to each other.
Seisan
Finally, I’ve knocked the entire Seisan kata into my head with the assistance of Hikaru during the morning workout. Being a fan of Seisan kata (knowing Shorin-ryu, Shito-ryu and Goju-ryu version), it is not an easy task to remember all the movement of Uechi-ryu Seisan although there are some resemblence.
Seisan contains a lot of fighting techniques. Deadly and effective. I will write about Seisan kata and bunkai later once I have completely digested.
My Little Sensei
I worked with little Kazuto during the evening class yesterday. He is 7 years old and he is my Sensei! Kazuto is really amazing at his age and he is able to perform Seiunchin.
It will be really hard for some people to learn from a little kid and whose rank is lower. But I find it intriguing and especially amazing when look at these photos. It is fun to work with kids like him. As I wrote in a post earlier, Ego Challenge, it is also important to learn from people who has knowledge and yet far younger and lower rank.
I want to achieve more
After I’ve made a retrospection about my progress for the last 8 days of my training on Okinawa, I don’t feel satisfactory about my progress although Sensei has said I am progressing rapidly. I could have done better than what I’ve achieved now.
Simply because there were too many concerns in my mind. Now I take away some of the concerns and I am putting in more effort and focus into my study. I aim to do more and progress further.
I have been learning kata for the past 8 days. I will begin to refine my kata for the next couple of weeks and learn 分解 (bunkai or application) next week and followed by 連続組み手 (renzoku kumite).
Working at the lounge
While I was not training, I worked at the lounge area. There has a great view of the ocean.
This is the lounge view from outside
Anna the Queen
Anna is one of the 22 cats the Breyett family loves. She is the only cat allowed to be in the lounge. I made some photos of Anna while she was sleeping nearby the stairway.
Oh no! Run! She is going to eat me! No… She is just yawning…
Training Progress
I have been on Okinawa for my karate sabbatical training for a week and 2 days now. According to Sensei, I have made a rapid progress which they never expected. He had expected to be difficult to work on me as I am transition from one style to another.
Until today, I have learned 6 kata (Sanchin, Kanshiwa, Kanshabu or Kanshuu, Seichin, Seiunchin and Seisan) in one week! Unbelievable. Yes, I could not believe myself. Am I in the dreamland? I was expecting the Uechi-ryu kata to be difficult to learn and I never said it was easy either. I guess it is my interest in kata and the understanding of human skeletal structure and mechanical movement help in my studies of Uechi-ryu kata.
Sensei’s sense of humor and his unique teaching style is the major contributor of my rapid progress. And of course his patient. Doumo arigato gozaimashita.
“Severe” Sanchin kitae
This morning I received a “severe” Sanchin kitae from Sensei. This is not the severity Sensei means. It is just the severity I expected. He applied Sanchin kitae first time to my chest at Hokute no kamae. Sensei says there may be only 3 persons in the world are trained to perform Sanchin kitae to the chest (heart). They are Toyama Sensei (of course), Akamine Sempai and him.
Like usual, I felt great after the Sanchin kitae.
Great morning workout
Had a great workout this morning. The training was more “severe” every each day. I worked with Hikaru on Seichin and Seiunchin. Jessica came with her friend, Grace. This was Grace’s first day at the dojo. Jessica helped Grace with Sanchin while Hikaru and I took turn doing Sanchin and Sensei gave me a more “severe” Sanchin kiate. Like the other Sanchin kitae, I felt very good after that.
Jessica helping Grace with Sanchin
Hikaru receiving Sanchin kitae
Me receiving Sanchin kitae
Sunrise on Okinawa
I had always wanted to wake up early in the morning to make a nice sunrise photo on Okinawa. The sun rises on Okinawa about 0430. By 0500 it will be as bright as mid morning. Being a sleepy head, of course I did not manage to do it. Today Sensei took a photo. Doumo arigatou gozaimashita.
Okinawan Brown Spider
Sensei showed me his big Okinawan Brown Spider. This one is about 6-7 cm in size. It is not poisonous. It is nocturnal hunter. It eats insects.
Evening training
This evening, Fumiya came. Sensei has talked a lot about Fumiya. Fumiya has just passed his nidan this May. I really had gotten a chance to see his Sanchin. I could see his muscles was well developed.
Sensei giving Fumiya san Sanchin kitae with Jessica working in the background
Jeff (USAF pilot) helping his friends on their first day of their training
Sensei giving Jeff Sanchin kitae
Fumiya-san doing Sanchin game
Jeff performing Sanchin game
龍の構え
龍の構え (ryū no kamae), dragon ready stance/position is a posture which both hands are equal shape and can be on top/bottom of each other (e.g. double shoken in Kanshiwa), tiger hand (虎の歯 tora no ha) on upper right and lower left of the body, and etc.
龍の構え requires softness as if flexibility and fluid movement of the dragon but powerful. The kata 十戦 (Seichin) has many 龍の構え and I’ve learned Seichin on Monday. Today I’ve got a better understanding of 龍の構え from Sensei. After more practice in the afternoon, my movements are getting smoother and fluid.
清運戦 - Seiunchin
Today learned another new kata. Seiunchin is created by Toyama Sensei based on Hojo Undo. It is not actually a kata because it does not have the characteristic of a kata. Rather, Seiunchin is a sequence of movements based on the drills (Hojo Undo). Toyama Sensei was bored doing the Hojo Undo so he took up his challenge to create Seiunchin. Sei as in his name Seiko. Un as in Hojo Undo. And Chin is challenge.
Sensei taught Jessica and I half of the kata this morning and Fumiya Sempai (17 year-old, nidan) taught us the complete kata.
I really did not remember much of the kata as I am still digesting and trying very hard to memorize Kanshuu and Seichin.
I will work harder tomorrow to knock these kata into my head and improve them. As I begin to memorize Kanshuu and Seichin, my movements in Kanshuu and Seichin have become fluid and smoother.
As expected, I can feel my body having some changes as my muscles are aching more each day. I really love the training and the “severity” I am going through.
Okinawa Karate Myth
I had been listening to many people, including my former Sensei, speaking about Okinawa and they actually exaggerated the karate on Okinawa. You can’t find karate dojo everywhere on Okinawa. As I have observed, most of the dojo are well hidden into villages or residential areas.
The fictitious myth about foreigners seeking for karate master on Okinawa without a written permission from a dojo or a grand master will be forbidden to enter Okinawa is also not true. The immigration is very friendly and of course you must have a valid visa to enter Japan/Okinawa.
All the wonderful mystical and fictitious stories about Okinawa karate are not true. It is like fictitious wuxia (”martial arts and chivalry”) novels. The Okinawans are living a normal life here!
Sanchin game
During the evening class, I met Hidetoshi Chinen, a 17 year-old nikyu. He was friendly and easy to mix with although he spoke very little English. His Sanchin was excellent. Together in the class, I also met a few “Little Dragons” and a Sempai (forgot his name though).
I also practiced kata with Jessica and practiced kote kitae (conditioning) with Hidetoshi. I was practicing it with Dave last evening.
I performed Kanshuu and Seichin badly this evening. I think I was quite confused with the steps and movements. Perhaps I did not practice enough. More hard works tomorrow to improve these two kata.
At the end of the class, after al the kids and parents had left, Hidetoshi suggested to do Sanchin game. I felt good. Whew! Great! Looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.
Ego challenge
Last night, I had another good chat with Sensei after the evening training. He told me about some people trying to learn and to get dan promotion and teaching license from Toyama Sensei with ill intention and without sincerity to learn and train.
Sensei told me one of the severity I would experience while I am here on Okinawa is the ego challenge. The training is not so much of learning new kata and techniques. It is about letting one’s ego down and be open minded to accept new changes. He is happy with my performance so far. This morning training has really challenged my ego. To tell you the real facts, I had no egoistic feeling when I practiced and learned from kyu students far younger than me. They are teenagers in their 15-16 years of age.
I believe it is hard for many karate-ka to let down their ego to pursuit new knowledge. I hope my students back home will never have ego and will practice and learn from anyone who has knowledge to share regardless of age, rank and seniority. And I really hope they will read this post and understand the message I am trying to pass on.
Sensei also told me the story about Elangovan Sempai from India. He told me how he strived in his training and also the story of his close friend who was killed in an accident. I was touched and I hope I can strive like him during my one month training on Okinawa.
Learned Seichin
I woke up earlier this morning, took a quick shower and had a big breakfast. As usual, I checked my email boxes and worked while waiting for the training session. The morning training is from 1000 to 1130.
Sensei had to bring two of his cats to the vet. He could not train us so he told me to practice and learn from Hikaru and Jessica.
Jessica came followed by Hikaru not longer after that. Sensei gave Hikaru some instructions and left. We began our practice with Sanchin, Kanshiwa and Kanshuu. Later, I asked them to teach me Seichin. I was confused by the movements at first. I asked them to repeat the kata again and again until I remembered the movements. I hoped they were not bored by me. 
Anyway, if they are reading this post, thank you, Arigato Gozaimashita to both Hikaru and Jessica. I enjoyed practicing and learning with them.
Real training begins
In the morning, I was introduced to Jessica Hoffman. She is a sankyu student returning from US for summer holidays. She will be here for a month. We started our training with Hikaru Tamashiro (15 year-old) and Senato. Both are Ikkyu.
Learned Kanshabu (or Kanshuu) in the morning. The workout was great and made my stomach very hungry. After the training, Sensei and I went to a local shopping mall to get some stuff. Then Sensei gave me a treat at Mister Donuts. The store sells Okinawan style donuts. The donuts were delicious. We had a coffee and some donuts as lunch and we chatted for a while about karate.
We went home and prepared for the evening class.
In the evening, I was introduced to Jeff and Dave. They were kyu students and pilots at Kadena AB. They brought a long two friends. A man and a woman. Both Americans.
Not after the introductory, Jessica and Senato came. We began training with Sanchin and Sanchin Kitae. I received more Sanchin Kitae tonight with additional pounding to my shoulder blades. Again, the feeling was good! I could feel my body had built up every each time Sensei gave me Sanchin kitae.
I learned Seichin tonight too. I learned two kata, Kanshuu and Seichin in one day. Honestly speaking, I only did Seichin once tonight and I had completely forgotten all the sequences soon after finishing the kata. I will learn Seichin (hopefully) tomorrow morning and Hikaru and Jessica come.
Protected: 完周 - Kanshuu
Shopping at Kadena AB
We went to the Kadena AB (where Sumako works) to buy some groceries at the commissary. The air base was really scenic. Will return sometime later to make some pictures.
Delicious lunch
After today’s exhaustive workouts (Yoga and karate), Sensei and his wife Sumako brought me to a nearby Okinawan restaurant for lunch. There was a dish, an appetizer, really taste good. There was a kind of fresh sea weed in it. It is called by the locals, 海葡萄 (umi budō) or Sea Grapes. It has a crunchy texture and really feel fresh.
I ordered some kind of udon with tako rice. Taste delicious and the portion was huge. It was so filling. After the lunch, we went to a confectionery next to the restaurant for some dessert. The red potatoes (another Okinawa agriculture product) mousse was great.
Again, I did not bring my camera along so no pictures. Will go again to the restaurant and will surely bring my camera.
We returned home and I had a great siesta then. The huge lunch made me really sleepy. As I am really a sleepy head, you know… 
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