2015 Ryushinkan Black Belt Examinations

On Sunday, December 20, the 2015 Gojuryu Karatedo Yoyogi Ryushinkan Black Belt Grading Examinations were held. The venue this year was the Shibuya Sports Center in Hatagaya, Tokyo. Aragaki Kancho supervised the grading session, assisted by other instructors from Ryushinkan.

Takahashi-san and Yumoto-san (both pictured left, with Aragaki Kancho) passed the rigorous session and have fully earned their black belts. Congratulations! 

Mawashi Uke Applications 3

The third in this series of posts. Mawashi Uke (circle block) application as a way of releasing an opponent's hold and explained very simply and clearly.

Mawashi Uke Applications 2

This time we can some applications of mawashi uke from practitioners in Italy, showing the basic uses and some interesting variations.  This and similar videos are from so many different parts of the world, demonstrating that karate really has become a global language. There are so many times I have seen people with no common conventional language communicating through the terms and techniques of karate. It is truly a uniting force - both inner and outer
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Mawashi Uke Applications 1

I will be posting 3 videos showing different ways to practice and apply the mawashi uke shown previously. There are endless variations to the ways the technique can be used, but the principles are the same throughout. One key point is the idea of sekkinsen, or in-fighting. Like many of the techniques in Gojuryu, the application is done at very close range, stepping into, turning and pulling an opponent's attack.  

2015 Gojukai Black Belt Examinations

The children's testing on December 6th

On Sunday, December 6, the 2015 Gojukai Black Belt Examinations were held at the newly opened Nihon Karatedo Kaikan in Koto Ward, Tokyo. The testing took place from 10:00 to 12:30, with approximately 40 persons being examined. The examinations for each grade level consisted of the following designated kata plus sessions of free sparring with other participants taking the test:

1st Dan:  Sanchin, Gekisai 1 or 2, Saifa
2nd Dan: Sanchin, Tensho, Seiyunchin
3rd Dan:  Sanchin, Tensho, Sanseiru
4th Dan:  Sanchin, Tensho, Shisochin
5th Dan:  Sanchin, Tensho, Seipai

Five members of Gojuryu Karatedo Yoyogi Ryushinkan took the test and passed. Two for 1st Dan, two for 2nd Dan, and one for 3rd Dan. Congratulations!

Mawashi Uke

The mawashi uke is a core component of Gojuryu fighting technique, and is found in the kata Sanchin, Tensho, Gekisai Daini, Saifa and Suparinpei. The basic principles are of the arms blocking in a circular motion, catching and deflecting an oncoming strike while disrupting one opponent's balance, and then striking with a counter-attack having completed the circular movement.

Examples of how to practice and apply mawashi uke will appear in up-coming posts, but the technique must have both the tension and fluidity known in Okinawan as muchimi, as well as involving the entire body - legs, hips and torso - and not just the hands or arms. While the kata nearly always feature the mawashi uke performed with both hands (the exception is Saifa), it can, of course, be executed with either arm separately.