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Almost 30 years ago, when I visited Okinawa for the very first time, I used to walk past a small alleyway each day on my way to and from the Higaonna dojo where I was training. On the corner of the alleyway, fixed to a post with some wire, was a small wooden sign that simply read, in Japanese, ‘Karate Dojo'. I was already fully occupied with the training I was doing with Higaonna Sensei, and so it never occurred to me to look at another dojo; but one night, as I was making my way back home, my curiosity got the better of me and instead of walking past the corner as I always did, I turned down the little alleyway to see if I could find this ‘Karate Dojo'. I didn't have to search for very long, as it was only a short distance from the corner. A small gate opened onto a path that sloped gently down through a walled garden, revealing the training hall. Like many others on the island, the dojo was a part of the sensei's home.
Although I was curious enough to find the dojo, I wasn't game enough to go inside, so I peeked over the wall that surrounded the building and looked on from the shadows at the training going on inside. I didn't know it at the time, but I was standing outside the famous Kyudokan dojo, watching none other than Yuchoku Higa Sensei teaching his students. What I saw stayed with me for many years; the energy coming from the small but packed dojo was tangible, and echoed the feelings I had when training at the Higaonna dojo just a few streets away. It was February 1984, and back then foreigners were an uncommon sight in the dojos of Naha. As now, there were many Americans training in karate back then, but they were concentrated mainly in the middle of Okinawa, close to the US military base, around the villages of Chatan, Futenma and Ginowan. I wasn't sure what sort of reception I would have received had I made my presence known, but looking back now, I regret not having sufficient courage at the time to find out.
It's too late now, of course; Yuchoku Higa Sensei passed away a long time ago. Nevertheless, I've always wanted to return to the Kyudokan, that unassuming but impressive dojo where I once peeked over the wall. The problem is, in Okinawa, it's not a good idea to just walk into a dojo and present yourself to the sensei. If you do, you'll be treated politely, of course, for this is the Okinawan way, but you won't be treated seriously, and there's a big difference between the two. To gain entry to an Okinawan dojo you need to be introduced by someone already known to the sensei, which is not always possible without the right contacts. Thankfully, as I've been visiting Okinawa for almost 30 years I have good contacts, so if I don't know a particular sensei, then I know a man who does. These days the Kancho, or head, of the Kyudokan dojo is Yuchoku Higa Sensei's nephew, Minoru Higa, who, although in his seventies, moves around like a man more than half his age. As head of the Kyudokan and the Higa family school of karate, which has branches in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, Minoru Sensei is also referred to by his students as Kaicho, meaning ‘head of the organisation'.
Because of arrangements I'd made before leaving home, my visit to the Kyudokan was expected this time. I arrived in the early evening on the agreed day, and was met at the dojo by a student, Ms Makiko Midorikawa. We were soon joined by another student and Higa Sensei himself, and after the introductions were completed, we settled down to begin our conversation.
I already knew something of the Higa family's long and widespread involvement with karate and I wondered what, if any, influence his family ‘tradition' for karate training had on Minoru Sensei. I asked him and his answer surprised me: "None, not really. I began training in judo when I was 12 years old while I was at junior high school, but I didn't begin training in karate until I was 18 years old, and even then, I only began to train hard when I was at university. My uncle (Yuchoku Higa) did not want me to begin training in karate when I was very young, and it was him who told me to practise judo first."
I was curious to know if learning judo had helped him later on when he started training in karate. He didn't think there was ever a problem: "Judo and karate are the same in that they are both a martial art, so becoming involved with one has beneficial effects when you begin to learn the other. So, for me, I thought it was a good thing and had no problems. Later, I also began to do bodybuilding seriously. This was because I never felt like I was particularly strong, so I wanted to improve my body. When I was facing someone in kumite training I wanted to be stronger, and this was my thinking. I spent a lot of time practising my punching technique, and my kicking too. But it's not enough to just punch and kick in the air; you have to know you are strong, and so I spent a lot of time on the makiwara. Also, I studied how to eat properly and have a balanced diet, so I ate food that gave me good protein and made my body healthy." I can attest to the wisdom of Higa Sensei's thinking as a young man, for even though he is now in his seventies, he is strong and full of life and vitality.
I wanted to learn more about the various schools of Shorin-ryu and what the differences between them are. Higa Sensei told me that he could not say what other schools (dojo) did, but at the Kyudokan the emphasis is on developing a strong and effective punching method, as this, he believes, is the basic foundation technique of karate. "Because of the influence of Chojun Miyagi Sensei's senior student Jin'an Shinzato on Yuchoku Higa Sensei, we also use many of the tools you would expect to find in a Goju-ryu dojo, chi-ishi (strength stone) and nigiri-gami (gripping jars) for example. And of course, all schools of karate in Okinawa use the makiwara [striking post]. We practise kakie [pushing-hands] too, but a little differently to how you do it in Goju-ryu. Although kicking is important in karate, of course, we concentrate more on strong and effective punching. The Kyudokan is a little different from other Shorin-ryu dojos because of the kata we practise. Of course, like other schools, Naihanchin is our basic (core) kata, like Sanchin is in Goju-ryu, but we also practise Jion, Jitte, and Sochin."
Higa Sensei's disclosure piqued my interest further - what was the point of practising more kata? If Okinawan karate is based on the study of kata, is it really necessary to learn more than the core kata of a system? "Basically, it's only really necessary to learn and practise three or four kata to understand our karate. Knowing all of the kata won't make your karate any better, but now, it is normal to teach the whole range of kata in the dojo. I would prefer it if we went back to the old way, but I don't think it's possible to go backwards. Still, we should try to understand the kata at a deep level because without kata we cannot have karate." This was a feeling I'd come across throughout Okinawa, regardless of which school of karate the sensei came from; kata lies at the very heart and soul of karate, and without it, what you're left with is nothing more than a type of kickboxing. If the aim of karate training is only to fight, then learning to kick and punch effectively might be all you need, but Okinawan karate-do has to be experienced through the cultural lens of Okinawa if it is to be understood, and to do that you have to pursue karate through more than just the fighting techniques - you also have to appreciate the culture from which it came. This approach to training is what marks the difference between a martial art and a martial sport.
So, what about the emphasis on competitions in karate these days? I asked Higa Sensei what his thoughts were on sports karate and this was his reply: "When sport karate began to emerge in Okinawa it was small and some people began to take part in tournaments, but they did this as extra to their normal training. Sport karate has spread our art (karate) around the world, so perhaps this has been helpful, but not if people think that sport karate is the same as traditional training. There are now two types of karate, the traditional kind and the sporting kind. I'm only interested in the traditional kind of karate and want to help preserve it. Even if traditional karate grows more popular, it is important to remember why we practise and to do our best to preserve the kata and not change them. Handing our kata on to the next generation intact is important; kata should not be changed to make them more appealing to a larger number of people."
Higa Sensei's view on kobudo (traditional weaponry training) was different to some of the senseis I spoke with on this trip, as he feels that kobudo is something separate from karate training. "Karate is karate and kobudo is kobudo," he told me. His view is also shared by Shimabukuro Sensei from the Seibukan dojo in Chatan. However, at the Shobukan dojo of Uema Sensei in Shuri and the Butokukan dojo of Gibu Sensei in Urasoe, I discovered kobudo was very much a part of the training and overall education of their students. The subtle differences that exist between a Shorin-ryu dojo and Goju-ryu dojo in Okinawa became more obvious to me on this trip too. Before now I had only visited two Shorin-ryu dojos in Okinawa, the Kodokan dojo of Nagamine Sensei in Kume, and the Shinbukan dojo in Tomigusuku, where I practise kobudo under the watchful eye of Akamine Sensei. A casual glance reveals little, but a more considered view reveals the different approach each tradition takes toward karate training. Shorin-ryu karate, for the most part, pays less attention to the use of the tools used in kigu-undo (apparatus training) than Goju-ryu; however, I have yet to visit a dojo on Okinawa where training tools are absent altogether. Clearly the idea of conditioning is an underlying concept in the karate of the island, even though some schools - those with a stronger link to the Chinese martial arts (Naha-te) - make more of it than others.
Training at the Kyudokan consists of junbi-undo (warm-up exercises), followed by plenty of kihon waza (basic technique training) with emphasis on the delivery of a strong punch. The sparring there is conducted at close range and is nothing like the sporting exchange where two people bounce around each other in a game of tag. Interestingly, students only spar with Higa Sensei, not each other. This way, he told me, he can judge how effective the student is and if they are generating power in their technique, or just speed. This reminded me of stories I'd heard of how the martial arts were once passed on from teacher to student. Only when the teacher could ‘feel' the technique of the student would they deem them to have made progress. It's a far cry from today's method of achieving advancement in many of the commercial karate outlets, where students pass grading tests for nothing more than turning up for the required number of lessons.
As well as sparring with Higa Sensei, students also engage each other in kakie (pushing-hands) training. Although practised a little differently from the way this exercise is done in Goju-ryu, I was surprised to learn that this type of training was being done at all in a Shorin-ryu dojo. But then, with the strong link back to Goju-ryu through the dojo's founder, Yuchoku Higa Sensei, I guess I shouldn't have been. Higa Sensei told me: "I use sparring and kakie to judge the level of power a student can generate, so this means we do kakie differently to the way you would in Goju-ryu. If a technique has no power then it will be ineffective. You can have a technique that looks powerful, but the best way is to ‘feel' it, then you know for sure!"
The Kyudokan dojo housed many of the training tools I am familiar with from Goju-ryu; the ever-present makiwara, of course, but also a number of tan (traditional barbells), chi-ishi, and nigiri-gami, all of which looked like they had seen plenty of use. I knew Higa Sensei had been a bodybuilder in his younger days and wondered whether this was the reason so many tools were in his dojo. But they looked old and, as I said, well used, so perhaps they weren't just there for Higa Sensei.
"Yuchoku Higa Sensei first practised Goju-ryu karate with Chojun Miyagi Sensei's senior student Jin'an Shinzato, and so this is where the use of these tools comes from in the Kyudokan. Generally speaking, Shorin-ryu does not depend on this kind of training as much as Goju-ryu; for one thing, the breathing method in each kind of karate is different. In Shuri-te (Shorin-ryu), we sometimes do kokyu-undo [breathing training]."
I spotted an opportunity to take our conversation in a whole new direction, but time was against me; I had another appointment that evening and so I began to wind things up. But before I did, I wanted to ask Higa Sensei about his philosophy relating to karate.
The name of the dojo, Kyudokan, reflected the philosophy of its founder: Kyu do mu gen - ‘To research the way is endless'. Higa Sensei considered my final question for a moment before responding: "Do you know chisin chitai? It means ‘knowing when to make the right move'. This is important in karate and in life too. It has many meanings, not just about physical movement, but also knowing about your past so you can move forward into a better future.
"You can find this idea in sumo wrestling too, when wrestlers are thinking about the strategy for dealing with their next opponent. For both karateka and rikishi (sumo wrestler) it is important to experience losing or failing so that you can fully appreciate winning or being successful. If you know and appreciate both (success and failure) it is better than knowing only one."
With so many foreigners now able to travel to Okinawa, I wondered how Higa Sensei saw the future development of karate. "Having more and more people coming to Okinawa for training is a very nice development; Okinawa is, after all, the home of karate."
Unfortunately I was on a very tight schedule the day I visited the Kyudokan, due to a meeting originally planned for the following day being brought forward at the last minute. This meant I had only 20 minutes or so after the interview to take photographs before having to rush off to my next appointment; but this is often the way in Okinawa. Those who go there more than once soon encounter what the locals refer to as ‘Okinawa time', a phenomenon that can see time either slow down or speed up, depending on the sensei involved and the demands of their life. Still, I won't forget my (return) visit to the Kyudokan dojo, and hope to visit Higa Sensei again in the future. Next time I'll make sure I'll have more time by being better attuned to the rhythm of life on karate's island home.
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