Training Journal 2024-06-11

In Okinawan karate, we work various ranges for self-defense, from long to medium to close to grappling. Okinawa is a "chanpuru," or mixed, culture and its fighting arts reflect this. Due to its location halfway between China and Japan, on the border of the East China and Philippine Seas, Okinawa was historically a center for East Asian trade and cultural exchange.
Merchants, castaways, and warriors from Southeast Asia, China, and Japan brought to the Ryukyu Islands elements of various striking and grappling methods which mixed into Okinawa's indigenous martial arts of Tegumi (grappling) and Te (striking and grappling). Many of these methods were encoded into the kata of karate and passed down through the generations.
Angel, one of our dojo's brown belts, and I put together this drill based on various principles and techniques of Okinawan Shorinryu karatedo. It is a two-person kata, built on the foundation of free-flow in a safe, give-and-take manner. That said, without mindfulness of proper distance, timing, and sensitivity, collisions and minor bang-ups are part of the learning curve.
It was already after sunset so the lighting wasn't so great. Since we were practicing in plain clothes, I loaned Angel a gi top so I wouldn't rip his t-shirt.