/UCWE/ We recently finished shooting White Crane Speed & Evasion 4. This DVD has been released and is ready to ship. It’s 80 min. Has Hakutsuru version of Seisan and Sanseiryu kata, bunkai, pressure point techniques, body conditioning from Yong Chun Village, China and fighting techniques. It’s a good one. Next we are planning on shooting White Crane Speed & Evasion 5 – Chinese Sanchin, Niseishi and Unsu & More. Presently, we have DVDs with many of the white crane kata and explanations on them.

For more on this see Mastering White Crane Karate at www.yamazato-videos.com  The Seisan and Sanseiryu kata are obviously evolved from the Sanchin kata (see China & The Origins of White Crane Kenpo www.worldbudokan.com). It appears Sochin and Tensho (White Crane Speed & Evasion 3) are evolved from sanchin as well. Unsu kata certainly starts with the typical three steps but then branches off into some unique fighting techniques including kicks delivered from the ground and other techniques that feature both Speed and Evasion. The speed is reflected in the fast and rapid changes in direction that the kata emphasizes while the evasion technique is illustrated by a crescent kick and 360-degree spin to escape from and get outside of an opponent’s range.

Niseishi on the other hand does not use the three-step method in its beginning movements. All three kata Sochin, Niseishi and Unsu are reputed to have the same origin, namely Arakaki Seisho (1830-1920). He brought them back from China to Okinawa in approximately 1850. Interestingly, Unsu a kata that originated in China is no longer practiced there nor is it practiced in Okinawa [that is to say it is not practiced ubiquitously or with any great frequency there] but instead is preserved in Japanese karate, namely Shotokan and Shito Ryu. Additionally, after much searching I could only find one Okinawan Karate group that has Unsu kata listed in its syllabus. That group is Kyudokan Shorin Ryu. 
 

Another thought with regard to these kata is the fact that they aren’t part of Miyagi sensei’s goju ryu style. The reason behind questioning this is the fact that Higashionna, Miyagi’s teacher, learned them from Arakaki. Since the three kata Sochin, Niseishi and Unsu are considered Naha-Te kata it seems likely they would be included in goju’s curriculum. There are several possible explanations for why there are not. One is the idea that Miyagi simply didn’t learn them from Higashionna. It has been reported that Higashionna had weapons forms that he learned in China that Miyagi never learned. This could somewhat substantiate this lack of inclusion. Another possible reason is that Miyagi already had enough kata. Anymore kata added to the system would have declining value or as my old economics professor would say declining marginal utility. A third possible scenario especially with regard to Unsu is that this is a very athletic kata with rhythm changes and going to ground in two instances. Miyagi’s stocky biotype would not lend itself to this type of movement therefore if it was a form that he could not perform well himself he didn’t include it in his system. Additionally, this idea has been corroborated to some extend by another piece of information that says that Higa Seiko, Miyagi’s dai sempai, liked the crane forms because of his slender build, which gave him the ability to move quickly whereas Miyagi’s did not. Perhaps we’ll never know for sure. Some of this information has been “lost in the mists of time” as the literary giants like to put it. We can only make some intelligent guesses without the risk of being revisionist historians. But at least we have the kata and bunkai or combative applications preserved on White Crane Speed & Evasion and our Mastering White Crane Karate series. (See: www.yamazato-videos.com)  

Soon it was blast off time again and time to go on another martial arts adventure. I was scheduled to do a seminar in Italy at the end of October in Florence. But decided to leave a bit early and tour Tuscany and Umbria first and experience the history of the place and the cuisine first had. 

After flying into Florence our first stop was in the Tuscan town of Pistoia where we dined on wild boar (chingiali) meat in a savory tomato and wine sauce (ragu). This was served with polenta and accompanied by a red wine of the region. I expected the wine to be young and fresh. I expected something perhaps a bit saucy but not necessarily impertinent. Instead I was pleasantly surprised as it turned out to be a robust red with all the allure of a seasoned and mature vintage. Later, we visited other towns such as Lucca, Orvieto, Pienza, and yes Cortona! Actually Cortona [featured in the book Under the Tuscan Sun and the horrible Hollywood movie with the same name] is rather nice and has many Etruscan ruins and an excellent Etruscan museum. The Etrucans had a long established culture and society dating back to 900 B.C. prior to being defeated by the Romans in 396 B.C. Indeed the Etruscan pottery shows a mature culture with much Greek influence. The Etruscans originally established many of the small hilltop towns in Tuscany and in fact discovered the “Etruscan position” by establishing and holding the high ground. In this way they had the defensive advantage and could easily overlook and defend the valleys, plains and rivers of the region. The Etruscan culture was ultimately absorbed into Roman civilization.     

 

On our way south to explore other small towns we passed Lake Trasimeno the site of the battlefield where Hannibal defeated a Roman legion. During this battle 15,000 Roman soldiers were killed. Their bodies were dumped into the lake by their Carthaginian foes.  Hannibal had fifty elephants that he crossed the Alps with. He traveled from North Africa to Spain across France and then into Italy. He only lost two elephants during the journey. The Romans had never seen elephants before or such an audacious enemy. The Carthaginians used their elephants as tanks to scatter the Roman infantry formations. During Alexander’s time in India the elephants had a turret-like howdah from which archers fired arrows into the opposing Greek forces. But more than a century later the Carthaginians made good use of their war elephants against the Romans by simply trampling the opposing infantry forces. It must have been a terrifying site for a Roman soldier to face a huge elephant with only a short sword and a shield. The Romans no doubt engaged the Carthaginians using the gladius (short sword) and the pilum (spear). Typically the Romans would fling their pili into the enemy formation first and then clash with their foes and tie the opponent’s weapons up with their shields and stab them from underneath thrusting deeply into the bellies of their adversaries. This is quite similar to a tactic used in the weapons system of Okinawa kobudo known as tenbei. This system uses a shield and knife to accomplish the same thing. The shield was oftentimes a turtle shell but a straw hat was also adapted as a shield. The straw shield was known as a kuba kasa, named after the indigenous Okinawan plant the straw was derived from. The Carthaginians used primarily the shield and spear (pike).

 

We then spent three days in Spoleto. This is the town where Hannibal was ultimately stopped from conquering Rome itself. The valley at the point where it borders the town of Spoleto narrows from a broad plain into a narrow pass. The Romans were able to block Hannibal’s continued invasion of Italy at this point. Additionally, they launched a counterattack on Carthage itself. Hannibal was recalled to defend the city. If Hannibal hadn’t been stopped here [Western] history might have been very different. 

 

Interestingly, marital culture has all but disappeared from western society with the exception of marital sports such as boxing and wrestling. The only remnants of martial culture I could find left in this region of Italy in fact manifested itself in sport. In the town of Gubbio, reproduction crossbows, swords and armor are sold in the gift shops. Although, there is an archery competition with crossbows held once a year. There’s hope though. I heard that there is a scuola di spada (school of the sword) in Perugia, which is in the region of Umbria. This would be western style fencing. Didn’t get to go there though--maybe next year.   

 

After our tour of Tuscany and Umbria we held our seminar (stage) in Florence. We worked on karate kata and bunkai, along with white crane kata and techniques. During the seminar we pounded each other’s arms to perform body-conditioning drills and also practiced pressure point applications and jujitsu techniques. It was a good training session and was thoroughly enjoyed by the Italians.

 

The following day we trained in the hillside town of Panzano, which is halfway in between Siena and Florence. The location was the farm (It. fattoria) known as Fattoria di Cecione. www.agricecione.it The farm has a vineyard that produces excellent wines, olive oil, grain and pasta. The public relations director of the farm Katia Mori was kind enough to accommodate us. She conducted a wine tasting and a tour of the facility. She was most kind and showed us great hospitality as the Italian people are known for. This was an outdoor training session (Jp. embukai) on a grassy knoll at the winery overlooking the beautiful Tuscan countryside. The setting couldn’t have been more tranquil or serene. Later a black belt examination was held and Mirko Mori was promoted to sandan and Alberto Doni was promoted to nidan. I must say I’ve always been impressed with the proficiency, seriousness of purpose and dedication the Italians have for their martial arts training. They have always demonstrated a high degree of skill and have a real enthusiasm for their training. It was refreshing and a real pleasure to train with this group. 

 

Mirko Mori, Alberto Doni along with Claudio Lastrucci have taken over the leadership of the ISKKF (International Shorin Ryu Karate Kobudo Federation www.worldbudokan.com) in Italy. Alberto has a dojo in Florence while Mirko teaches in Perugia and Claudio has a dojo in Prato, which is near Florence. We hope to grow and expand our martial arts group in Italy and add new members. Anyone in Italy interested please contact them at

 

Thus another great trip to Italy was concluded. I hope to return to Italy again soon and visit great friends, have some great food and wine and train in martial arts. 

 
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