I started training in
Matsubayashiryu Shorin Karate soon after we arrived in Okinawa at the end of August. I first started karate training about 16 years ago but even so entering a new dojo is in many ways like starting afresh so I wear a white belt and am relearning all the kata from Fukyukata Ichi and Ni through the 5 Pinan katas, the Naihanchi katas and so on. There are 19 katas in the Matsubayashi karate system in all. Lessons always follow the same format (this is the norm in traditional Okinawan karate dojos) and usually last around 90 mins. A 10 minute warm up is followed by Basics practise (hand strikes, kicks, blocks, stances) for 20 mins, followed by Kata practise, and the lesson often ends with some conditioning exercises i.e. exchanging strikes and blocks to arms and legs to build up resistance. During Kata practise 'bunkai' - the application of the kata is explained and practised between 2 or 3 people in groups.
My teacher is Arakaki Toshimitsu Hanshi, an 8th dan instructor who was a direct student of Nagamine Shoshin who founded Matsubayashiryu until he passed away. He's good humoured and 'old school' which is always a good combination in my experience. He speaks a little English but usually a rapid mix of Japanese and Okinawan dialect which is challenging to follow sometimes. Fortunately he's patient enough to explain things a bit more slowly when I ask.
As I'm not a complete beginner to karate I will be graded at 3rd Kyu brown belt level this Saturday by Arakaki sensei. I will have to demonstrate good basic techniques plus Fukyukata 1 and 2, Pinan 1-5 and Naihanchi 1. I'll post videos of these kata online at some point soon. You can find lots of videos of these kata on
youtube already of course but every ryuha (karate style) and teacher has their own flavour and intepretation of core kata and techniques so perhaps it will be useful to others to see what I am learning here.
