Matsubayashi-ryu

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Matsubayashi-ryū ( Japanese 松林 流 ) is a style of karate that was founded in 1947 by Grand Master Shoshin Nagamine . Today, Matsubayashi-ryū is one of the main directions within the Shōrin-ryū family of traditional Okinawa karate and is considered a comparatively original form of karate. The name Matsubayashi-Ryū (Ryū = "style") was chosen in honor of the two old grandmasters Matsumura Sōkon and Matsumora Kōsaku . Matsubayashi means "pine forest" (Matsu = "pine" and Hayashi = "forest"), which is also an allusion to the Shaolin origins (Shaolin = "small forest", which is said to have been in a pine grove) of Okinawa karate.

Features of style

In Matsubayashi-ryū, relatively high stances, natural breathing and straight movements are practiced. The training of the kata plays a central role in Matsubayashi, as in general in original karate. In traditional dōjō , kata are often practiced for half the training time or longer. In addition to basic techniques, seven so-called Yakusoku-Kumite forms - these are fixed combinations of attacks and defense - as well as the use of traditional weapons, such as B. practiced with a long stick ( Bō ). The so-called Shōrin-ryū Kishaba Juku has developed from the Matsubayashi-ryū as a kind of sub-style. Karate, also just called Kishaba Juku, is characterized by highly developed body mechanics, in which a lot of energy is generated through subtle movements of the hip area (Koshi), which can be directed into the opponent.

Kata

There are 18 kata in the style, which can be summarized in the following groups:

  • Fukyugata Ichi and Fukyugata Ni: The two introductory kata
  • Pinan I - V (Pinan Shodan, Nidan, Sandan, Yondan, Godan): These five kata were created around 1900 from old kata to teach karate in the schools of Okinawa. The Pinan Kata are the original versions of the Heian Kata IV, which is widespread in the west.
  • Naihanchi I - III (Naihanchi Shodan, Nidan, Sandan): These kata were used from ancient times to introduce beginners to karate. They convey other body principles than the Pinan Kata. These kata are the forerunners of the kata known in Japan as Tekki I-III.
  • Wankan , Ananku , Wanshu , Rohai , Passai , Chintō , Gojūshiho , Kushanku : These are eight traditional kata that have been used for centuries to learn karate.

The founder of Matsubayashi-ryu

Shoshin Nagamine was born in Okinawa on July 15, 1907 . He began his studies at the age of 17 under the guidance of Taro Shimabuku and later studied under the famous karate masters Ankichi Arakaki , Chotoku Kyan and Choki Motobu . From 1931 to 1935 he was tutored by Grand Master Chotoku Kyan, who significantly influenced his karate. During a training period at the Tokyo Police Academy in 1936, he met Choki Motubo and kept in touch with him even after they both returned to Okinawa. Motubo was considered to be one of the strongest free combat experts on Okinawa. In 1953 Shoshin Nagamine gave up his police job and opened his own dojo in Naha, Okinawa, which he called "Matsubayashi Ryu Karate Kodokan". Nagamine was the founder and president of the Okinawa Karate-Do Federation. In 1975 he wrote the highly acclaimed book "Essence of Okinawan Karate Do", in which his style is presented. In the later years of his life, Shoshin Nagamine devoted himself intensively to the interplay between karate and zen. Shortly before his death in 1997, he gave a widely acclaimed speech in Hawaii entitled "Karate Do and World Peace". The Matsubayashi style was continued until his death in 2012 by Shoshin Nagamine's son, Soke Takayoshi Nagamine, in the home dōjō in Okinawa. There are, however, especially in the USA, numerous Matsubayashi dojo that are organized independently of the home dōjō.

Matsubayashi-ryu has many followers in Okinawa and the United States. For historical reasons, there are currently relatively few schools in Europe that teach Matsubayashi-ryū or other traditional karate styles from the Shōrin-ryū family. Since around 2005 there has also been the first dōjō in Germany in which Matsubayashi-ryū is taught. There are currently some Matsubayashi-Ryu Dojos in North Rhine-Westphalia and North Germany.

literature

  • Shoshin Nagamine: The Essence of Okinawan Karate-Do. Tuttle Publishing, ISBN 0-8048-2110-0 .
  • Roland Habersetzer : Koshiki Kata - The classic Kata of Karatedô. Rosewood Verlag, 2005, ISBN 978-3-938305-01-0 . Among other things, 16 kata from the Matsubayashi-ryū are presented in full in words and pictures.

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