Genseiryu and Genwakai

[mofokuban]

Hello, I am a karate-ka of Genwakai, and I'm very interested in learning the history of Genwakai.

I know Genwakai came out of Genseiryu, but I am not completely sure of how or when. Genwakai, to my knowledge, is still a very young, very small ryu of karate-do.

I have plans of studying abroad in Japan within a few years (I am at college right now), and hopefully coming in contact with a Genwakai dojo in Japan to learn more.

The Wikipedia article on Genwakai was written by myself to the best of my knowledge. To make things easy, I'll put that article in here.

"Genwakai, or Nippon Karate-do Genwakai, is a Karate style, created around the year 1962 by sensei Yoichi Takahashi. The name translates to Ultimate (Gen) Harmony (Wa) Association (Kai). Genwakai is derived from the style Genseiryu, created by Seiken Shukumine."

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

[Shikiyanaka]

Hi,

you ought to sign your posts with complete name, it's a rule on e-budo.

I have some infos from Bugei Ryuha Daijiten. Hope it helps:

Gensei-ryū (Karate)
Sōke is Shukumine Seiken (also: Shunpan). His real name is Takeshi. He was born 1925 in Okinawa. He studied under Sadoyama Ankō and Kishimoto Sokō, the latter born in 1862 in Awa and founder of Kishimoto-ha Karate.
In 1945 Shukumine founded his new style Gensei-ryū. Dōjō is the Genseikan, the association is called Shūrenkai. He himself is Shihan of the Nihon Karate-dō Kyōkai. In August 1967 he founded Taidō Karate. Characteristic Kata of Gensei-ryū are Ten'i no Kata, Chi'i no Kata, Jin'i no Kata, Sansei no Kata, Tai'i no Kata, Tō'i no Kata and Gensei no Kata.
(added: The video Gensei- ryū Kata Zenshu (Complete Edition of Gensei-ryū Kata) lists the following:
Kihon Kata: Taikyoku no Kata, Pinan Shodan–Pinan Godan.
Tanren Kata: Naifanchi, Wankan, Shukumine no Passai, Shukumine no Passai Shō , Sansai, Rōhai, Kōshōkun Dai, Kōshōkun Shō, and Gusukuma no Chintō.)


Taidō (Karate)
Taidō Karate stems from Shukumine Seiken's Gensei-ryū Karate. The origin of it was Uchinadī, which he systematized into a Budō. In 1949 he began to make available the the techniques of Gensei-ryū Karate-jutsu to the public in the city of Itō, Shizuoka prefecture, and called it Gensei-ryū Shūrenkai. Later, on the 23. Januar 1965, he changed the name into Nihon Karate-dō Kyōkai. With the establishment of the Nihon Taidō-kai on August 15, 1967, Taidō was introduced to the public for the first time and in December of the same year the 1. National Japanese Taidō Sports Festival was held (Dai-ichikai Zen Nihon Taidō Senshu Taikai). Among his students were Yamada Seikō (Haruyasu) (Shikan-ryū), Kamei Motoharu, Ikeda Masayoshi (Seiki), Hirada Masatoshi, Taniguchi Kō'ichi, Sakai Kazushige, Fujimaru Eiyū, Nakashima Shōkō, Yokobiri Noboru (Gensei-ryū), Sakanaka Toshio, Yamashita Ichirō, Oishi Toshio, Ichiki Kenji (Shikan-ryū), Ono Kazuichi, Aoki Chisan, Tani Tetsutarō, Fujiwara Seigō, Miyachi Masataka, Kameya Gen'ichirō, Kozone Hideo, and Iida Enrō.

--------
Genwakai has only one mentioning:
Nihon Karate-dō Genwakai (Karate)
Sō-shihan: Aoki Kōshō.

Don't know if it is connected to your style.

andi-goes-art

[bodhihuss]

Can anyone locate a reference to Sadoyama Ankō or Kishimoto Sokō other than the Gensei-ryu site or the Bugei Ryuha Daijiten? I've never heard of them and I could not find any other references to either teacher. Who did they learn karate from? Did Kishimoto Soko refer to his style as "Karate" in the 19th century? I only ask because most traditional teachers did not adopt this terminology until the 20th century. I also searched for "Kishimoto-ha Karate" and came up with nothing.
In reference to the Bugei Ryuha Daijiten--I find it to be somewhat questionable in places because of lines such as:
"The genealogy includes embellishments by referring to data and Kuden about literary personalities and traditions in order to appear older than it actually is." (from Wikipedia article on Togakure Ryu)
I don't think reference documents should contain disclaimers and I don't consider this a completely reliable source. Has anyone consulted the Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai (Society for the Promotion of the Japanese Classical Martial Arts) or the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai (Japanese Classical Martial Arts Association) for references to this art?
I don't mean to be accusatory or judgemental, I just find the lineage for this style questionable. An easy way to legitimize your martial art without anyone being able to prove you wrong is to create mysterious teachers who noone but you have heard of or learned from. I have encountered this before and the teacher in question was mostly full of s**t.

[Emile]

You'll find reference about Kishimoto Sokō in the following books by Hokama Tetsuhiro:

Hokama Tetsuhiro, "Karate-dō rekishi nenpyō", Okinawa Tosho Center, 2001.
外間哲弘、「空手道歴史年表」、沖縄図書センター、2001年。

Hokama Tetsuhiro, "Okinawa Karate retsuden hyakunin", 2001.
外間哲弘、「沖縄空手列伝百人」、2001年。


And also in these books:

Ishadō Hirokazu, "Shintō-ryū mugen no jutsu - Busei Higa Seitoku no shingi ", Ed.Bungei-sha, 2004.
伊舎堂博和、『神道流夢幻の術・武聖比嘉清徳の神技』、文芸社、2004年

BISHOP Mark, "Okinawa Karate - Teachers, styles and secret techniques", Ed.Black, 1989.


Other sources I know directly remain to Shukumine:

SHUKUMINE Seiken, "Taidō Gairon", Ed.Gendai Shorin, 1988.
祝嶺正献、『躰道概論』、現代書林、1988年

SHUKUMINE S., "Shin Karate-dō kyōhan ", Ed.Bungeisha, 1964.
祝嶺正献、『新空手道教範」、文芸社、1964年

SHUKUMINE S., "Karate-dō tanren sankagetsu ", Ed.Bungeisha, 1978.
祝嶺正献、『空手道鍛錬三ヵ月』、文芸社、1978年

ONO Keihan, "Kenpū shukuya", Ed.by Japan Taidō Association, 1972.
大野景範、『拳風夙夜』、日本躰道協会、1972年


However according to theses references, Kishimoto never created any style and only had a few students. Except Shukumine there was also Higa Seitoku from Bugeikan who has been the president of the All Okinawa Karate Kobudō Rengō Kai (全沖縄空手古武道連合会 ).

Concerning Sadoyama, I coulnd't found anything about him at this time.

[Katsujinken]

Kishimoto Soko's teacher according to Mark Bishop, who trained at the Bugeikan for a number of years and would have got this information from Seitoku Higa was Bushi Takemura(Tachimura) who was apparently a tax collector and friend of Bushi Matsumura (Bishop 1989 & 1999). There is a version of Kusanku that was taught at the Bugeikan which is credited to Takemura and which both Shukumine and Seitoku Higa allegedly learnt along with Naihanchi and Bassai. Which does seem to suggest that Kishomoto and Takemura existed. There are also a couple of other kata sets with Sho and Dai versions of each set which are credited to Kishimoto, but these were, as far as I am aware, only taught at the Bugiekan and are referenced by Mark Bishop. We know that the kata's do exist but its not clear whether or not they were made up by Seitoku Higa to preserve what he learnt from Kishomoto or came directly from Kishomoto (I suspect that former) or even Takemura.

Regards

[Emile]

There is a version of Kusanku that was taught at the Bugeikan which is credited to Takemura and which both Shukumine and Seitoku Higa allegedly learnt along with Naihanchi and Bassai.

A version of Kusanku, Naihanchi and Bassai are still taught in Gensei-ryu. It'll be quite interesting to compare them.

About Sadoyama, he was born in 1890 and was still alive in 1973, according to an article with a photo in the "Taido Shinpo" (Number 42, 1973), edited by Japanese Taido Association.

[Katsujinken]

It would indeed be very interesting to compare the Bugeikan and Gensei Ryu versions of Naihanchi, Kusanku and Bassai.

What else is known about Sadoyama Ankō if anything?, Does this article shed any light on when Shukumine met Sadoyama? how long he trained with him? and where? and who Sadoyama's teacher was?

Regards

[Emile]

Ok, I sent you a PM.

Concerning Sadoyama, nothing else in the article. But in Ono Keihan's book "Kenpu Shukuya", mentioned by Mark Bishop, it is said that Sadoyama was a farmer from a place called Mihara (? 三原） near the village of Kushison (久志村, today in the east part of Nago city) where Shukumine's father was the director of a primary school. Shukumine meet Sadoyama around 1930 and train with him for may be a year. Although he saw him training "karate", Sadoyama didn't teach him Karate (or Te) but he made him train jumping above Hibiscus hedge every day. This kind of training made him able to jump over 1 meter 80 cm at an adult age.
After a year Shukumine's father was transfered to another school and all the family moved. May be they meet afterward (in the 1973's article it is said that the had'nt meet for thirty years, if that's exact, thant's meet that they could have meet around 1942-44）.

[Emile]

Here is the article I mentioned above concerning Anko Sadoyama.
He has be taken from the "Taido Shinpo ( 躰道新報 )" a paper published by the Japanese Taido Association (number 42, april 1973).

Reunion with Saikoshihan and the old master Anko Sadoyama to talk about budo

The 3rd of April 1973, Shukumine Saiko-shihan returned to his Homeland, Okinawa, and met the old master Anko Sadoyama (83 years old) who taught him karate when he was 8. They had not met in 30 years and thus could talk about their lives and budo.
The old master usually lives at Atsuda in Onnason village, but now is in hospital, ill. Particularly strong in his young age, his strength still remains, and Saikoshihan just had time to introduce himself before the old master started talking about budo and the different ranges of techniques, showing that his passion for martial arts was still burning. According to Saikoshihan, the old master, reputed in martial arts, was able to make all of his 100-square-meter house shake just by punching the main pillar. He was also the one who taught Saikoshihan how to develop his jumping abilities by jumping every day over a Hibiscus hedge. This way, Mitsuo Kondo, Kazuhiko Ikeuchi and Hiroshi Tada, who where travelling with Saikoshihan, got to know the master that led their companion to budo. A strong moment for them was when the old man’s eyes lit up, reading Saikoshihan’s visiting card and seeing the face of the man standing in front of him.

[Gibukai]

Hello,

thanks for the article/picture. There is reference to Takuma in an article published by the Ryūkyū News (Ryūkyū Shinpō) on January 17, 1914. It reads:

“In Okinawa Jūdō started with Takemura from Momohara (...) who at public expense trained in Kagoshima. His father, it is said, had been a disciple of Karate Sakugawa.”

So, I think, this verifies the existence of Takemura.

Regards,

Henning Wittwer

[Emile]

Thanks for this precious information.
Do you have the original article in japanese ?
If so I would be very glad if you could scan it.
Do you have other informations about Takemura ?

According To Tetushiro Hokama in his book "Okinawa Karate retsuden hyakunin, 100 famous masters of Okinawan Karate", Bushi Takemura was born in the early ninteenth century in the Toharu ( 桃原 ) village in Shuri. He has been a disciple of Tode Sakugawa. The Takemura family was reputed for martial arts in Shuri and Bushi Takemura taught "Karate" at his home in Kamizato in Shuri. He was also the first student to be sent by the Okinawan Government to Kagoshima prefecture to Study Judo.

[Katsujinken]

This new information on Takemura is indeed precious, very few seem to be aware of Takemura's study of Judo, I most certainly was not until it was raised on this thread.
So does anybody have any more information on Takemura's study of Judo, for example do we know the date when he was sent to Kagoshima to learn Judo?
The Dojo he studied at and how long he was there for? What grade if any he was awarded? His teacher? Whether he taught Judo when he returned to Okinawa and to whom?

Regards

[Emile]

According To Tetushiro Hokama in his book "Okinawa Karate retsuden hyakunin, 100 famous masters of Okinawan Karate", Bushi Takemura was born in the early ninteenth century in the Toharu ( 桃原 ) village in Shuri. He has been a disciple of Tode Sakugawa. The Takemura family was reputed for martial arts in Shuri and Bushi Takemura taught "Karate" at his home in Kamizato in Shuri. He was also the first student to be sent by the Okinawan Government to Kagoshima prefecture to Study Judo.

Regarding to Bushi Takemura's assumed birth date (early 19th century and may be 1814), he was definitly not abble to study judo in Kagoshima, for the reason that judo was created in 1882. He would have been to old (around 80 or 90 years old...).
In fact, we don't know Bushi Takemura's personal name, and Hokama's text is also quite evasive and mention only "The Takemura's family son".

首里桃原の出身。唐手佐久川の弟子と伝えられているところからして１８００年代の初頭の生まれと推測される。弟子に岸本親祖孝（１８６２年～１９４５年）その弟子に比嘉清徳（1921～）がいる。首里桃原の神里小 の元屋敷に住居し空手を指導、武村家は武術家として首里に知られる。子息の武村は沖縄で始めて官費でもって柔道で鹿児島県に派遣され、修業を積んでいる家柄である。

So the mentionned Takemura sent to Kagoshima for judo, could have possibly been Bushi Takemura's grand (?) son.
Could we have more informations about this article Gibukai ?

[Katsujinken]

Let us assume that it was Bushi Takemura, disciple of Sakugawa who taught Soko Kishomoto.

So if Takemura was born in 1800 or 1814 then Kishomoto (1862-1945) was born when Takemura was already 62 or 48 years old respectively.

Now let us assume that Kishomoto became a pupil to this same Takemura in 1877, when Kishomoto was aged 15 (this is only speculation), Takemura would already be 77 or 63 years of age respectively.

So I was wondering if it is at all possible that it was the Takemura family son, that Tetushiro Hokama refers to, that taught Kishomoto?

As for the article Ryūkyū News (Ryūkyū Shinpō) on January 17, 1914 quoted above by Gibokai: 'In Okinawa Jūdō started with Takemura from Momohara (...) who at public expense trained in Kagoshima. His father, it is said, had been a disciple of Karate Sakugawa'.

What we have translated of the article simply seems to suggest that 'Takemura who had been a disciple of Karate Sakugawa, had a son who was sent to Kagoshima by the authorities to learn Judo and introduced it into Okinawa' and that this happened before 1914 when the article was written.

So does anybody have any dates as to when Kishomoto supposedly trained with Takemura?

Regards

[Emile]

As for the article Ryūkyū News (Ryūkyū Shinpō) on January 17, 1914 quoted above by Gibokai: 'In Okinawa Jūdō started with Takemura from Momohara (...) who at public expense trained in Kagoshima. His father, it is said, had been a disciple of Karate Sakugawa'.

What we have translated of the article simply seems to suggest that 'Takemura who had been a disciple of Karate Sakugawa, had a son who was sent to Kagoshima by the authorities to learn Judo and introduced it into Okinawa' and that this happened before 1914 when the article was written.

So does anybody have any dates as to when Kishomoto supposedly trained with Takemura?

Regards

Ok, I think I misread Hokama's text and the article mentionned by Gibukai, wich, in fact fits with each other. So it should be Bushi Takemura's son who was sent to Kagoshima.

Concerning Kishimoto and Takemura, I just found this in Tosa Kunihiko's (Gensei-ryu Butokukai) book, "Gensei-ryu Karate-do Kyohan" (p18):

"Bushi Takemura who was Matsumura's 5 years younger kohai, lived in seclusion in the actual Nago-shi, but by chance, Kishimoto soko's father who was a bo master and a friend of Takemura, asked him to teach his son Soko. Kishimoto Soko was then 15 years old."

Regarding to the assumed date of birth of Kishimoto (1862), that should be in 1877. Then,Takemura was at least over 60 years old.