— SAIJUTSU —
TRADITIONAL OKINAWAN WEAPON ART
SAIJUTSU
TRADITIONAL OKINAWAN WEAPON ART
Katsumi Murakami
Tuttle Publishing
Boston — Rutland, Vermont — Tokyo
This edition published in 2000 by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd., with editorial offices at 364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, VT 05759 U.S.A.
Copyright © 2000 Katsumi Murakami
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from Tuttle Publishing.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data in Process
ISBN: 0-8048-3244-7
ISBN 978-1-4629-1695-5 (ebook)
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— CONTENTS —
INTRODUCTION:
About Saijutsu
The Relationship Between Sai and Karate, and Its Value
ONE:
TWO:
THREE:
FOUR:
FIVE:
SIX:
SEVEN:
EIGHT:
— FOREWORD —
Karatedo originated in Okinawa, but has become a cosmopolitan sport that has spread to all areas of the world. Nevertheless, Ryukyu kobudo, karatedoís sister martial art from the same Okinawa, is still only known by a small number of people. Even within Japan, it has not become widespread. Of course, it is almost unknown outside of Japan. From old times in Okinawa, the masters of karatedo were also masters of Ryukyu kobudo. Karatedo and Ryukyu kobudo are like two wheels that belong to the same cart. If you study Ryukyu kobudo, you can understand karatedo, too. Karate is not just for sports. I hope that you look for the way of karate, which is essentially budo. At the same time, followers of karatedo should also study Ryukyu kobudo. In this book, I am going to focus upon Ryukyu kobudoís Saijutsu and its basic kata, the practice forms. I hope that this book can help those who love karatedo, as well as those who follow other martial arts. Finally, I want to express my deepest thanks to my student Mr. Bruce Vail and his colleague Mr. Kifuji Hiroyuki, for good-heartedly translating this book into English; to Mr. Joe Swift for his assistance in the publication of this book; and to Mr. George Donahue of Tuttle Publishing for agreeing to publish my work.
Saijutsu, the art of the sai, is one of the martial arts that make up Ryukyu Kobudo. Ryukyu Kobudo is the collective term for the ancient martial arts of Okinawa that make use of old-style weapons. The roots and time of origin of saijutsu are about the same as those of karatedo and the other martial arts among Ryukyu Kobudo, including bojutsu (the art of the staff), tonfajutsu (the art of utilizing the wooden handles of a rice-grinding tool), nichogamajutsu (the art of using two farming sickles), and so forth.
In brief, the civil measures of Okinawan King Sho Hashi, and later the policies of the Satsuma rulers included a hasty confiscation of swords and spears and other weapons. These actions caused Okinawan people to earnestly study and train in the various martial arts left to them.
Past and present, great masters of saijutsu included Bushi Matsumura, Tsuken Shitahaku, Hama Higa, Chatan Yara, Tawada, lshikawa-Guwa no Kekere-Ou, and Kaneko Ufuchiku, among others.
Saijutsu uses a weapon similar to the jitte used by the torigata of the Japanese mainland. The torigata were the equivalent of today’s police. In Ryukyu, however, it seems that the torigata used the sai. The jitte had a fork on one side and could be used to deal with a sword or staff by stopping it with a scissoring action of the fork. The sai was different in that each had two forks. Saijutsu uses a pair of sai which are handled with both hands. They can be handled with perfect freedom for both offense and defense.
At the present time, Ryukyu kobudo principally revolves around bojutsu (the art of the staff) and saijutsu. While karatedo is a martial art that uses the empty hands to defend against an enemy, the martial arts of Ryukyu kobudo defend