Читать книгу Taekwondo Black Belt Poomsae. Original Koryo and Koryo онлайн

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During the latter part of the fifteenth century, an event occurred that would have a pronounced effect on the practice of empty hand self-defense. King Sho Shin of Okinawa forbid the ownership of weapons by civilians and required that all nobles relocate to within the shadow of Shuri Castle. This prohibition on arms caused the citizens to find alternative methods of self-protection and since combat skill garnered favor with the king, many in the nobility practiced empty hand martial arts.

Following the successful invasion of Okinawa by Japan in 1609, formal exercises took on additional importance. Driven by a continued ban on arms, the citizenry had learned to employ farm and household items as weapons. Oars, pitchforks, and scythes, which would later evolve into specialized martial arts weapons such as the Japanese bo and sai, found their way into the secretive practice of kata.

In 1868, under the Meiji Restoration, Japan to the north of the Ryukyu archipelago began to radically alter its society and transitioned from feudalism to a system of democracy, affecting all under its imperialistic umbrella. In the process, much in the way of tradition was obfuscated, revolutionized with the inclusion of martial arts training that was soon to be transformed from a secretive, necessary component of military combat to a vehicle for promoting health and morality in schoolchildren.⁹ Suddenly the native defensive arts, devoid of their battlefield tactics, took on the complexion of a therapeutic pursuit wrapped in sportive overtones. Much of this was in response to a defining visit by Shintaro Ogawa, then commissioner of schools for Kagoshima Prefecture, who observed a martial arts demonstration during his stay. Upon his return from Okinawa, he extolled the virtues of karate in a written report to his superiors at the Japanese Ministry of Education. Subsequently, in 1901, Yasutsune “Anko” Itosu (1830–1915) in conjunction with Yasutsune Azato (1828–1906), who also taught martial arts locally, introduced karate into the mainstream curriculum of the Shuri Jinjo Elementary School. Later, it was introduced throughout the Okinawan educational system as a whole with the long-range goal of cultivating physical fitness and character enrichment in adolescents. This worthy objective was partially accomplished by practicing sanitized versions of the Pinan (Peaceful Mind) kata created by Itosu. It is widely accepted that the composition of the five Pinan kata was influenced by Chaing-Nan, a formal exercise taught to Itosu by a Chinese martial artist living in the Tomari region. However, practitioners of Kobayashi Shorin ryu claim that the Pinan set is derived from Bassai, Kusanku, or Kosokun. Since, at least for schoolchildren, self-defense was not the prime focus of training, the practical applications of techniques within the forms were intentionally masked in ambiguity or eliminated altogether. This method of instruction represented a major shift in formal exercise training that would have ramifications far into the future. Criticized for diluting the fundamental purpose of kata, and thus karate in general since forms remained the essence of the art, Itosu later wrote, “You must decide whether your kata is for cultivation of health or for its practical use.” He further advised adult students to “Always practice kata with its practical use in mind.”