Taikiken

[Guts]

I'm sorry, I was not sure which forum to post this in.

I have a few questions about a martial art called Taikiken.

From my understanding, the founder of Taikiken was Kenechi Sawai, a 4th or 5th dan in Judo, Kendo, and Iado. At one point in his life, he was defeated by the founder of I Chuan, a style based off of the Chinese martial art Hsing I. Kenechi Sawai was so impressed with this man's skill, that he became his student and returned to Japan with a new art he called Taikiken. This art used a great deal of standing practices, common in Hsing I and more so, I Chuan.

My question is, has anyone actually studied Taikiken? From what I heard, Kenechi Sawai was very tough and had an old time samurai mindset. I wondered what, if any changed he made to Hsing I and I Chuan he learned, and what exactly his art was all about? For example, he was a swordsman. Did he add swordsmanship to the art? Or the princibles of swordsmanship? Any information would be appreciated.

[Guts]

Thank you very much, that helps a great deal. What an interesting martial art.

[Guts]

That's very interesting about the relationship between Taikiken and KyoKushin. I had only heard of it referred to before in the vaguest terms. I had no idea that Kyokushin had incorporated so much of the style. Thank you for that information.

I trained Hsing I for four years, but my teacher never emphasised the standing practices much. On one occassion, I had the chance to test myself by a light challange with a I Chuan, Tai Chi, Hsing I, and Ba Gua teacher. I was no contest, and had no power against him. Despite the fact that he was smaller then I, and I was in my early twenties and he was in his mid fifties. I had good enough body mechanics to get in and enter him, but I could apply no technique. He simply brushed me aside before locking me. He was just stronger then me, and it was a different type of strength then I had encountered in much bigger, trained men. Afterwards, I asked him what my problem was and he explained I was internally weak. The encounter played such a heavy role in my mind, that it made me forget all my other training and concentrate on the standing practices that my original teacher never emphasised. Interestlingly enough, this teacher would teach Tai Chi, Hsing I, and Ba Gua to anyone who wanted to learn-but he would only teach I Chuan to advanced students.

Looking at Kenichi Sawai, I am very impressed. The man looks like a powerhouse. I'd love to read the book he wrote, the little I could read of it (thank you for that) showed such a down to earth but at the same time commanding view of martial arts.

Again, thank you.

[Guts]

I definitely will. Thank you.

[Guts]

Just in case you didn't know, Kumar Franzitz briefly described learning Taikiken with Kenichi Sawai in his book, "The power of internal martial arts".

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1556432534/qid=1035091781/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-0149668-8819947?v=glance#product-details

He said that that Sawai and his students were "fantatics when it came to standing practice", and that Sawai was very tough and powerful, that he approached the internal martial arts with the old samurai mentality. There's more of course, and the book is worth it alone for all the accounts of great masters.

[R A Sosnowski]

For the literate-minded, here are several books to consider.

For the standing meditation as a health practice:

Diepersloot, Jan, 1999. The Tao of Yiquan: The Method of Awareness in the Martial Arts, Volume II of the Trilogy Warriors of Stillness, Meditative Traditions in the Chinese Martial Arts, Center for Healing and the Arts, Walnut Creek, CA. 272 pp.

Ha, Fong, with Olsen, Eric, 1998. Yiquan and the Nature of Energy: The Fine Art of Doing Nothing and Achieving Everything (Number one in the Nature of Energy series), Summerhouse Publications, Berkeley, CA. 29 pp. [My second personal recommendation]

Lam, Kam Chuen, 1991. The Way of Energy, Simon & Schuster, New York. 191 pp. [My first personal recommendation]


For the complete system:

Yao, Cheng-Guang, and Kubo, Isato, 1999. Secret Techniques of Yi Quan and Taikiken (Japanese-English), Kohinata, Tokyo. 208 pp. [Expensive, but highly recommended; available in the USA from Sasuga Books (http://www.sasugabooks.com/store/products.html?) ]

FYI, Yao, Cheng-Guang, is the current lineage holder of Yiquan/I-Chuan in China. Kubo, Isato, is the successor to Sawai, Kenji, the founder of Taikiken, in Japan. Sawai-s. studied with the founder of Yiquan/I-Chuan, Wang, Xiangzhai, in China. Kubo-s. is currently studying with Sifu Yao.


Although these are also available, they are not really recommended:

Wang, Xuanjie, 1988. Dachengquan, Hai Feng Publishing, Hong Kong. 119 pp.

___, 1989. Dacheng Kungfu – The Truth of Chinese Martial Art, Shanghai Book Co., Hong Kong. 98 pp.

N.B., Dachengquan is another name for Yiquan/I-Chuan, which was used for a period of time.


From the founder of Yiquan/I-Chuan, Wang, Xiangzhai, we have the following available on line (for a fee):

Wang, Xiangzhai, 1928/2001. The Right Path of Yiquan (Li Jiong and Timo Heikkilä, translators), 21 pp. Available in PDF format from http://members.surfeu.fi/yiquan/s-index.htm.

___, 1940/2001. Wang Xiangzhai Discusses the Essence of Combat Science – An Interview with Mr. Wang Xiangzhai (Timo Heikkilä and Li Jiong, translators), 27 pp. Available in PDF format from http://members.surfeu.fi/yiquan/s-index.htm.

___, 1963/2001. Introduction to Yangshengzhuang (Standing Exercises for Health Preservation) (Timo Heikkilä, translator), 9 pp. Available in PDF format from http://members.surfeu.fi/yiquan/s-index.htm .


Apparently, the late Sawai-s. published a book called Taikiken with Japan Publications; it is most likely out of print.


Although there are no videotapes readily available that I know of, there are several VCD sets available in Chinese. You can try either Jarek's Chinese Martial Arts Page (http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/SpiritSt/xinyi/) or China-From-Inside Presents ... (http://www.chinafrominside.com/ma/).

HTH,
Raymond Sosnowski

[Bustillo, A.]

A little trivia...

According to Richard Kim, ir was Saiwa who gave M. Oyama the idea of calling his style Kyokushin.

[Guts]

I emailed a Taikiken school in Japan, and amazingly the teacher replied to me. He informed me that there were no Taikiken teachers in America, although he had a student in Washington. Since I am in New York City, that did not help me. He suggested I learn I Chuan (Yi Quan), and told me that Taikiken and I Chuan were quite similar. Luckily, I found a 3rd generation I Chuan teacher in Manhattan, Mr. Wang Regang. I'm interested in how this will effect my Jujitsu training.

Here is a good article I found on Yi Chuan, it's very down to earth.

http://www.yiquan.org.uk/art-pom1.html

[Guts]

Oh, and I've been reading a litle more about Kenichi Sawai. Apparently, he fought allot of stylists. Aikido, Karate, Judo, JuJitsu, AikiJuJitsu. He was said to always win with his Taikiken. I wasn't able to find the names of any of the people he fought, save for one or two who I forget. I did however find one Karate stylists recounts of fighting him and watching him. He said that looking at him train, he was not impressed at all. He said that Sawai's kick looked like that of a beginner, it was slow and weak. However, when he fought him, he couuld not stop this slow and weak kick, or anything the man did. There's so little info there, I know. But, at least it's something.

[Guts]

Thank you. I make sure to check that forum every so often and Mr.Cartmell's website for practical information.