The family altar of Sakugawa.
Unfortunately, there is not much historical documentation about the bujin of Sakugawa’s era, or Okinawa’s Kingdom period in general. However, two centuries later, To-te Sakugawa is still regarded as the principal figure in the history of that fighting tradition which surfaced in Shuri. Knowing this, I knelt humbly before his memorial tablet in the house of the Sakugawa family, joined my palms together, and, in the privacy of my own thoughts, honored the memory of this great warrior.
Chapter 3
BUSHI MATSUMURA SOKON OKINA:
SHURI’S BUJIN
A MASTER OF JIGEN-RYU KENJUTSU
Bushi Matsumura Sokon was born in 1809 in Shuri’s Yamakawa village. Known to the Chinese as Wu Chengda, he wrote under the pen names of Unyuu and Bucho. Who first taught Matsumura te remains the subject of some curiosity. However, it is certain that he was interested in martial arts since childhood. From a good family, by the age of seventeen or eighteen years Matsumura had already displayed the characteristics of a promising bujin. Strong, intelligent, and courteous, Matsumura learned from an early age the importance of bun bu ryo dō (balancing physical training with metaphysical study). In addition to his relentless pursuit of the combative disciplines, he deeply embraced Confucianism, and also became known as a brilliant calligrapher.
Portrait of Bushi Matsumura.
Having gained such a prominent reputation, Matsumura Sokon had no problem securing an occupation befitting his skills. With proper recommendations, by the age of thirty Matsumura had secured a position in the great palace of Shuri. He remained employed there until his death, serving no less than three kings: Shoko, Shoiku, and Shotai.
Bushi Matsumura was twice sent to Fuzhou and Satsuma as an envoy of the Ryukyu Kingdom. He made his last journey to Fuzhou in 1860 when he was fifty-one years old. Not only was Matsumura physically talented, he was also a man of honor respected in both Okinawa and Fuzhou. During Matsumura’s generation, unlike today, great emphasis was placed on balancing physical and mental learning. Fuzhou was regarded as “the place” where such things were correctly learned. It was considered quite an achievement for a foreigner to be recognized in Fuzhou.
During Matsumura’s generation, the practice of the combative disciplines, in both Fuzhou and Okinawa, took place under an ironclad ritual of secrecy. It wasn’t as if people were unaware of what was going on. Rather, the location in which martial traditions were imparted has customarily been associated with an austere sanctuary of sorts. However, an exception to the martial arts “closed-door” policy of Fuzhou was always made for a man like Matsumura Sokon. He was a man of dignity, and a man who vigorously explored the value of different schools of Chinese boxing. In addition to learning te in Okinawa, and chuan fa (kempo) in Fuzhou, Matsumura Sokon also mastered the principles of Jigen-ryu kenjutsu while stationed in Satsuma (the old name for Kagoshima in Kyushu).
I remember that it was around August of 1942 when I was researching Matsumura’s family lineage that I came across a fifth-generation descendent in the Sogenji district of Naha. There, in an area nicknamed Shimaguaa, I had an opportunity to observe a rusty old Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy) statue about fifteen centimeters in length, a Jigen-ryu makimono, and a shikishi (inscription card), which had been handed down in the Matsumura family. The makimono was so badly rotted that most of its message was unintelligible. However, I still remember one phrase clearly. It read: When holding a sword one should be in the same mood as holding a fishing pole.”
The shikishi, obviously written by a scholarly brush, read: “Matsumura Peichin dono, Omokageo Miruni Nagorino Masurunari, Kimiwa kikokuo nasuto omoeba Ishuin Yashichiro” (To Matsumura Peichin, I am extremely saddened knowing that you will soon depart, [signed] Ishuin Yashichiro). It is obvious that Ishuin was saddened by his friend’s return to Okinawa. Like my other research, I too had copied this valuable document but, like all my other belongings, it was destroyed in the holocaust of October 10, 1944.
As mentioned earlier, it may serve the reader to know that the entire populated areas of greater Naha, including Shuri and Tomari, were completely annihilated by the horrifying air and naval pounding they took during the assault on Okinawa in WW II. Anything not destroyed by direct strikes, was incinerated by the perpetual fires which ensued. Countless thousands of lives were lost in the holocaust, national treasures were destroyed, ancient landmarks obliterated, important cultural property vaporized, and records of every sort simply vanished.
The rusty old statue of Kannon was a symbol of Matsumura’s spiritual conviction and had been handed down in his family for five generations. There was an interesting story about Matsumura and this icon which has outlasted them both. On his return voyage to Ryukyu from Fuzhou, the ship, as was often the case sailing the waters of the East China Sea, encountered a fierce typhoon. The storm became so relentless that both passengers and crew got really scared. After a day and a night the unending tempest forced some to even cry out in fear for their lives. Only one man throughout the entire ordeal remained perfectly calm: Matsumura Sokon. While the frightened onlookers placed their fate in the hands of heaven, Matsumura trusted the goddess of mercy, and quietly chanted a sutra while holding his statue of Kannon.
The violent seas had blown the tiny vessel hundreds of miles north off its course, and, when the storm died down two days later, the ship had drifted to Satsuma. Accommodated by the Satsuma Ryukyukan (Okinawa’s foreign outpost), passengers and crew were able to recuperate and recount the paralyzing experience at the hands of Mother Nature. Everyone was filled with admiration for Matsumura. None had ever witnessed, or even heard of, such tranquil composure under such perilous conditions. The mind of a real bujin was indeed a powerful thing, and Matsumura Sokon was venerated.
THE PEN AND THE SWORD
After the war I discovered that Kuwae Ryokei, the first son of Kuwae Ryosei, had returned to Okinawa from Taiwan. Having gone to Taiwan before the war, Kuwae Ryosei is regarded as the last prominent disciple of Matsumura Sokon. I had heard that Ryokei possessed a makimono (scroll) in Matsumura’s original handwriting, and now that he was back in Okinawa I was anxious to examine it. Hence, I visited him at his home in Shuri’s Torihori-cho in 1951. In addition to allowing me to study the scroll, Ryokei was kind enough to allow me to document my research photographically. Learning of my genuine regard for karate-do and the moral precepts on which it rests, Kuwae Ryokei encouraged me to write about Matsumura Sokon, and the principles for which he stood.
Matsumura’s makimono is the oldest document in the annals of Okinawan karate-do. Besides its age, Matsumura’s precepts are of immense value. Masterfully brushed in his own hand, this document is a genuine treasure. It is believed that the scroll was written sometime after Matsumura was seventy years old. Upon scrutinizing the scroll in question, the late Okinawan master calligrapher, Jahana Unseki, was deeply impressed, and used the words “dignified” and “magnificent” to describe the strength and composure of Sokons brush strokes. It read:
Matsumura’s makimono
To: My Wise Young Brother Kuwae (Ryosei)
Through resolve and relentless training one will grasp the true essence of the fighting traditions. Hence, please consider my words deeply. No less interesting is the fundamental similarity between the fighting and literary traditions. By examining the literary phenomenon we discover three separate elements: 1) the study of shisho; 2) the study of kunko; and 3) the study of jukyo.
The study of shisho refers to commanding words and communicative skills. The study of kunko refers to a comparative study in the philosophy of ancient documents and teaching a sense of duty through example. Yet, in spite of their uniqueness, they are incapable of finding the Way. Capturing only a shallow understanding of the literary phenomenon, shisho and kunko cannot, therefore, be considered complete studies.
It is in the study of jukyo, or Confucianism, that we can find the Way. In finding