When I was learning Kobudo from Minowa sensei I could get away with asking him questions directly; something that my senpai would never be able to do. In hindsight I cringe at what I did, but when I trained with sensei it was during my first three years in Japan and I was so culturally inept and my Japanese was still developing. Read more »

Taira Shinken (R) demonstrating soto uke and ura nage on Mabuni Kenwa (L) From Nakasone G & Mabuni K (1938) Kobo Kenpo Karatedo Nyumon

I rarely talk about specific applications of techniques from kata in this blog mostly because I feel they need to be practiced in the dojo over and over again under the watchful eyes of a good teacher. That said since I’ve been translating “Kobo Kenpo Karatedo Nyumon” so I don’t think I’m giving anything away by showing this photo of the application of “soto uke, ura nage” or “outside deflection, rear throw” (外受裏投) from the same book. Read more »

Kumemura (久米村)

I sometimes get emails asking me how Tou’on-ryu differs from Goju-ryu. These questions can range from the technical and mechanical, and into the philosophical. Read more »

Today I would like to talk about a common technique found in both Goju-ryu and Tou’on-ryu known as ura uke. In Goju-ryu it is found in the kata kururunfa after performing three sukui uke, while in Tou’on-ryu it is found in bechurin after performing the tomoe uke, kake uke, shuto-uchi combinations.