Gensei-ryū

Nihongo|Gensei-ryu|玄制流|Gensei-ryū is a karate style with roots in Shuri-te, one of the three original karate styles of Okinawa Japan. It was developed by Seiken Shukumine (1925-2001) who combined classic techniques with his own innovations thus developing the special characteristics of Genseiryu. Shukumine had two known teachers, Sadoyama and Kishimoto. The name of "Genseiryu" was first used in 1953. In Japanese the name consists of three different characters (Kanji):Lang|ja|玄制流.

The first is Nihongo|"Gen"|玄 and means 'mysterious', 'occult', and 'universe' but also 'a subtle and deep truth'.The second is Nihongo|"Sei"|制 and translates to 'control', 'system', 'law' or 'rule' but also 'creating a form.'The last is Nihongo|"Ryu"|流|ryū which simply means 'style' or 'school.'The combination of Nihongo|"Gensei"|玄制 could be translated as 'to control the universe', but reading Japanese Kanji is not that simple. In this combination the meaning becomes something like "to pursue the deep truth and making it clear through the form," which can be regarded physically as well as spiritually.

History

Genseiryu has its roots in an old karate style called Shuri-te. Some sources speak of Tomari-te being the source, but the differences were minimal since both styles were derived from Shorin-Ryu. In the 1920s and '30s there were three major karate styles in Okinawa. They were all named after the cities where they were developed: Naha, Tomari and Shuri. These three styles (Naha-Te, Tomari-Te and Shuri-Te) are sometimes called more generally Okinawan Karate.

Sokon "Bushi" Matsumura (1809-1898) was one of the masters of Shuri-te. His many students who later became legends of karate included Yasutsune (Anko) Itosu. A lesser known pupil was Bushi Takemura. He developed a version of the kata (型) "Kushanku" that is still trained in Gensei-ryu and Bugeikan today. One of Takemura's pupils was Soko Kishimoto (1862-1945, some sources speak of 1868 as birth year). He became the later teacher of Seiken Shukumine.

The young Seiken Shukumine, born 9 December 1925 in Nago-shi on the Japanese island of Okinawa, started at age 8 with karate lessons from Anko Sadoyama, a grandmaster in "Koryu Karate" ("Old style/school Chinese techniques"). He trained him for four years. When Shukumine was about 14 years old, he was accepted by Soko Kishimoto. Kishimoto was very selective: he had only nine "kōhai" (=pupils/students) throughout his life and also Seiken Shukumine had to insist many times, before Kishimoto decided to teach the young man. The last two students of Kishimoto actually were Seiken Shukumine and Seitoku Higa (born 1920). Another source states that Seiken Shukumine was tested before Kishimoto accepted him as a student. When Shukumine and Kishimoto met for the first time, Kishimoto took a poker and threw a piece of wooden coal with full force towards Shukumine, who evaded. Kishimoto accepted him as a student on one condition: to promise him to keep the techniques a secret. [cite book |last = Bishop |first = Mark |title = Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and Secret Techniques |date = 1999 |isbn =0804832056 |pages = 137 ] [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=1idfV31PXIwC&pg=PA137&vq=shukumine&dq=Okinawa+Karate+II+Mark+Bishop&sig=QKsCEH9aR2IN44o0X80cikVQt28 Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and Secret Techniques by Mark Bishop in Google Books] ] During the Second World War the 18-year-old Shukumine was drafted into the navy and had to join the "Japanese Kamikaze Corps" where he became a "kaiten" pilot, a one-man ship packed with explosives used in "kamikaze" suicide attacks against American warships. Seiken Shukumine was trained to guide this small craft through the protective maze of steel netting that was laid down in the water around the ships, to prevent them from being attacked by these "kaiten". He thought in a martial art way to man oeuvre between these steel nettings and he tried to think of techniques to avoid enemy torpedoes. He learned that he had to work hard to penetrate the enemy's defenses, and the imagination of the martial artist in him saw how such an approach could be adapted to traditional karate to make for a more supple and dynamic form of combat.

Fortunately Shukumine was never appointed for a suicide attack and he survived the war. But when he came back home he found Okinawa demolished by the bombings and his master Soko Kishomoto was killed during the "Battle of Okinawa" in 1945. Shukumine retreated in solitude for a couple of years and started to develop his karate style with in the back of his head his training as a "kaiten" pilot. He combined his new techniques with the classic techniques he had learned from his masters Sadoyama and Kishimoto, thus developing the special characteristics of Gensei-ryu.

In 1949 in the town of Itō (Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan) Seiken Shukumine demonstrated publicly his karate techniques for the first time. In October 1950 Seiken Shukumine participated in a karate exhibition arranged by "Nippon TV". In this demonstration also participated other masters like Hidetaka Nishiyama (of the Japan Karate Association, JKA), Yasuhiro Konishi ("Ryobukai") Ryusho Sakagami ("Itosukai"), H. Kenjo ("Kenshukai"), Kanki Izumikawa and Shikan (Seiichi) Akamine (both of "Goju-ryu"). Shukumine demonstrated a.o. the kata "Koshokun dai", "Tameshiwari" (breaking technique, in this case Shukumine broke 34 roof tiles with "shuto", the edge of the open hand) and "Hachidan-tobi-geri" (jumping kick with 8 kicks in one jump). In the early 1950s Shukumine creates "Sansai no kata", a masterpiece of Gensei-ryu karate.

In 1953 Sensei Shukumine started to give lessons on the Tachikawa military base to the Self-Defense Forces and for the next 10 years he gave lessons at many dojos (like at universities and corporate groups) around the Tokyo area. It was in 1953 that Shukumine officially announced his techniques were "Gensei-ryu", but the year 1950 is often mentioned as the year of the beginning of Gensei-ryu. In January 2005 a joint celebration was held for 55 years of Gensei-ryu and 40 years of Taido in Tokyo, Japan, where also the wife, son and daughters of Shukumine were present [http://www.xs4all.nl/~mroering/gensei-ryu/galleries/gallery05.html] .

In 1962 Shukumine introduced a new martial art. This martial art is a further development of Gensei-ryu which he named "Taido". Taido is not to be regarded as karate, but as a new martial art. From that point on, Shukumine was mainly involved with Taido and many of his pupils started to train Taido as well. However, some Taido people kept a friendly relationship with some Gensei-ryu people and Shukumine was still occasionally involved in Gensei-ryu karate. For example, he wrote books about karate (1964 and mid 1970s) and occasionally gave lessons to his former students of Gensei-ryu karate. Some say he wanted to convince them to join him in Taido. [http://www.xs4all.nl/~mroering/gensei-ryu/galleries/gallery01.html Pictures] show he taught several Gensei-ryu karate kata during these unique lessons. He even held examinations under the name of Gensei-ryu. The organization "Genseiryu-Butokukai" claims that Shukumine never held any examinations in Gensei-ryu after October 1961. However, several certificates signed and stamped show this claim is incorrect. After he started to focus mainly on Taido he appointed his successor, Yamada, one of Shukumine's first students. Yamada started the organization called the "Nippon Karatedo Budo Kyokai" (translation: Japanese Karatedo and Martial Arts Association) of which he became the first president. At the moment there are disputes about who is the official successor and the current head instructor of Gensei-ryu. Some mention Yamada as the official successor. Others claim that Tosa, another early student of Shukumine, was announced to be successor.

In 1964 Shukumine published his book "Shin Karatedo Kyohan" in which he describes the techniques and kata, which among others are being used in the "World Genseiryu Karatedo Federation". Some of the kata in the book are explained thoroughly, with pictures.

* "Ten-i no Kata"
* "Chi-i no Kata"
* "Jin-i no Kata"
* "Sansai"
* "(Koryu) Naifanchi"
* "(Koryu) Bassai"
* "(Koryu) Kusanku or Koshokun (dai)"

There are many more kata mentioned in this book, without pictures, a total of about 44 kata, including "Taikyoku-Shodan, Tensho-no-Kata, Wankan", etc. In the book he mentions the name "Genseiryu" a few times. He refer to the contents of the book as being "Koryu" (古流), which is considered as 'old tradition' or 'old school' karate. In the book he added some kata that he created himself: "Ten-i no Kata" "Chi-i no Kata" "Jin-i no Kata" and "Sansai". In the book "Shin Karatedo Kyohan" many kata and techniques and training materials are described. The book shows that Genseiryu is based on a combination of this 'old school' or classic karate (with the kata "Naifanchi, Bassai" and "Kusanku" (or "Koshokun (Dai)") with new techniques and the typical Genseiryu kata "Ten-i no Kata", "Chi-i no Kata", "Jin-i no Kata" and "Sansai".

From the 1960s Gensei-ryu started to spread also outside Japan, to countries like the USA, Spain, Finland, Holland, Denmark, Australia, Brazil, India, etc.

In the mid 1970s, Shukumine wrote another book which is much lesser known in the karate world than his first one. The title of this book is (translated into English) "The Karate training by complete drawing" and has about 200 pages where he describes karate techniques but also the differences between karate and judo, karate and aikido, karate and Taido, etc.

In 1988 Shukumine published another book, this time about Taido. In this book "Taido gairo, he describes the basic principles and techniques of Taido. In the book he also states that people interested in Gensei-ryu would find important information in his first book "Shin Karatedo Kyohan".

On 26 November 2001 Seiken Shukumine died of cardiac arrest, after a long sickness. He was 75 years old and left a wife, a son and two daughters behind.

Characteristics of Genseiryu

Shukumine was also known as a philosopher and during the war he learned that to do something unanticipated or unexpected is the secret to victory, whether in a war between two nations or in a mere personal conflict. In other words: the basic philosophy of Genseiryu pursues this idea of doing the unexpected.

Shukumine ruminated on how to apply this idea not only to life but also to Genseiryu Karate and its kata. Eventually he created the basic theory of "Sen, Un, Hen, Nen" and "Ten"." These are the basic principles that make of Genseiryu a three-dimensional karate style:

* "Sen" (whirlwind): vertical circular movement of the body axis (rotating, turning);
* "Un" (waves): elegant up and down movement in the directions of front and back;
* "Hen" (clouds): falling movement in front and back, right and left by your own will;
* "Nen" (maelstrom, whirlpool): twisted hand and arm techniques, mainly executed on the spot;
* "Ten" (luminous): a technique in an unexpected situation created by front turn, back turn and side turn.

It is "Sansai no Kata" that is known widely as a typical kata of Genseiryu with lots of these techniques. Other genuine techniques of Genseiryu are for example the kicks "Ebi-geri" (back kick with both hands on the ground and the face close to the ground) and "Manji-geri" (side kick ("mawashi-geri") with head close to the ground and both hands on the ground). Both kicks belong to the so called "Shajo-geri" group (leaning body) and are also trained in Taido. Besides kata, Genseiryu also practises "Shihō" and "Happō" (some other styles do too, but not all of them). "Shihō" (四方) translates into 'four directions' and comprises exercises in which a combination of techniques is repeated several times in four different directions (front, back, right and left). This is almost the same with Happō, but it translates into 'eight directions', thus it comprises exercises in eight different directions.

Genseiryu masters continued in various directions

Throughout the years, some masters that learned Genseiryu started to make changes to the style, after Shukumine in 1962 stopped training Genseiryu (apart from rare, occasional lessons). Some changed it a little more than others, thus creating new schools with names like "Butokukai, Genwakai, Ryounkai, Keneikai" and "Seidokai". These are all schools that in fact used to train Genseiryu karate. One of Shukumine's students, Yamada, started the "Nippon Karatedo Budo Kyokai" (English: 'Japanese Karatedo and Martial Arts Association'), of which Yamada became the first president. Besides that he was appointed by Shukumine as the head instructor for Genseiryu karate. In the beginning, these schools were not yet big organizations, but merely a couple of schools that trained Genseiryu and they used the name of their school as additional term, so you would get: "Genseiryu Ryounkai, Genseiryu Seidokai, Genseiryu Butokukai", etc. Some have even grown to quite big organizations and some of these have adapted the old school name for their style and organization, like "Ryounkai", and "Genwakai". To a certain extent they have changed the techniques and/or kata. The style of "Genwakai" has done this to a further extent then the other organizations. But with the exception of "Butokukai" all these organizations train the kata "Ten-I", "Chi-I" and "Jin-I-no-kata" as the basic kata.

There are different organizations that claim the name "Genseiryu", both with their own story and reasons why they should have the right to carry the name. Some of them are organized in the World Genseiryu Karatedo Federation whom jointly agreed to follow the first book of Shukumine, "Shin Karatedo Kyohan". Another is Genseiryu Karate-do International Federation, which is the oldest existing organisation of Genseiryu in the world dating back to its fist dojo being established in 1959 outside the Tachikawa military base. The headmaster of this organisation is Kunihiko Tosa, 9th dan, who was a direct student of Shukumine. The oldest living and still active master of Genseiryu in the world today.

Genseiryu Karate according to "Genseiryu Karate-do Kyohan 2" (Kunihiko Tosa)

The Genseiryu Karate-do International Federation was established in 1962. The Honbu Dojo (headquarters) is run by Kunihiko Tosa shihan who founded his first dojo in 1959 called "Nippon Karate-do Genseiryu Butokukai". Kunihiko Tosa is still the president and Saiko-Shihan of this organization, which is the only official member and representative of Genseiryu under the All Japan Karate-do Federation JKF. On request of the JKF, this organization expanded their curriculum with "shitei" kata originally from Shōtōkan-ryū and Shitō-ryū but performed in the versions announced officially by the JKF. Kunihiko Tosa shihan also added kobudo-kata within the organization's curriculum, adding bo- and nunchaku-kata.

Genseiryu karate according to "Shin Karate-do Kyohan" (Shukumine)

When Genseiryu started to spread over Japan and soon also over the world, a Genseiryu headquarters (Honbu) was established in Itō, hometown of Shukumine. Since Shukumine was occupied mainly with Taido, he could not run this Genseiryu organization himself. So he appointed a head instructor to do this for him. The first one was Yamada. When he died, Shukumine appointed Saito as the new head instructor. After his death Yasunori Kanai took over his job. This Japanese Genseiryu organization is indirectly (via "Nippon Karatedo Rengoukai") a member of the Japan Karatedo Federation (JKF). Today all the Genseiryu clubs in the world that follow Shukumine's style and the first book of Genseiryu "Shin Karate-do Kyohan", are combined in a federation called the "World Genseiryu Karatedo Federation" (W.G.K.F.). This organization was established on 16 November 2003, during a meeting held in Oviedo, Spain. The Japanese branche also takes a part of this federation. Members of this federation signed an agreement that a.o. states that they will always follow the first book of Shukumine "Shin Karate-do Kyohan" and therefore they also still train the basic kata "Ten-i, Chi-i" and "Jin-i no kata".

Reference(s)