Kojo-ryu

[emattson]

Kojo-ryu (or Kogusuku-ryu in dialect) is a school of karate that was passed down by the Kojo family, a samurai family in Kume Village, Naha, on the main island of Okinawa. is not allowed outside the school. It is characterized by techniques such as consecutive, relentless attacks using striking techniques, followed by throwing or holding the opponent by his joint.

History

According to the Kojo-ryu history, the founder of the school is Cai Zhaogong (Chinese name), the master of Kocheng (there is also a theory that the second generation Cai Chang-wei is the founder of the school). The Hojo family of the Cai clan is a tributary of the Gushi family of the Cai clan, whose ancestors were the Tang Dynasty Cai Zheng and Yara Chikaunjo, and Cai Zhaogong is the fourth generation of the Cai clan. His distant relative is the famous Cai Wen. Around 1665, Master Hucheng studied Chinese military techniques in China, and was awarded a certificate of all military techniques by Emperor Kangxi (1655-1722) before returning to Japan. After his return to Japan, Master Kojo is said to have taught his family the martial arts and grappling techniques included in military tactics.

After that, the Kocheng family was divided into three generations: the first Kocheng Chiyunshang, the second Tsai Changwei, the third Kocheng Moshimasa (1832-1891), the third Kocheng Dasei (1837-1917, also known as Goken Tanme), and the fourth Kocheng Kaho (1849). 1925 - 1925 (also known as Scholar Tanme), 4th generation Kojo Houmei (1861-1919, alias Red Beard), 5th generation Kojo Saikyo (1873 - 1941, alias Kumejima King), 5th generation Kojo Shuren (1883 - 1945) It was inherited by the sixth generation Kojo Yoshitomi (1909-1996), the seventh generation Kojo Shigeru (1934-1970s), the eighth generation Kojo Tatsumi (1951-), and the ninth generation Kojo Hideaki (1956-). The third generation, Ishimasa, is said to have studied under Iwaa, a military officer in China, and served as his deputy instructor. In addition, Ikumasa's cousin, Otada, studied under Waishinzan.

The name of Kojo-ryu was Kasatomi Kojo, and it was originally called (Kobayashi-ryu/Tatsuyama-ryu), and later became (Tatsuyama-ryu) and then (Koshiro-ryu). Kojo Yoshitomi was given such a name due to his relationship with Chibana Chonobu for a time.

Features

Mold

There are said to be six types of Kojo-ryu.

1. White crane
2. White Dragon
3. White tiger
4. Amamaki
5. Empty volume
6. Jimaki

In addition, the forms of the ancient Shuri handprint, cane technique, stick technique, and sai technique have been passed down.

12 postures

These kata are said to include twelve postures associated with the twelve signs of the zodiac as shown below.

1. Authentic type (child)
2. Immovable type (ox)
3. Chen Feng type (tiger)
4. Cross shape (rabbit)
5. Cloud dragon type (dragon)
6. Aiki type (snake)
7. Orthogonal type (horse)
8. Dynamic rock type (not yet)
9. Heaven and earth type (monkey)
10. Fukishita type (rooster)
11. Earth eye type (dog)
12. Single character type (pig)

Amamaki

1. Authentic type (child)
2. Immovable type (ox)
3. Chen Feng type (tiger)
4. Cross shape (rabbit)

Empty volume

1. Cloud dragon type (dragon)
2. Aiki type (snake)
3. Orthogonal type (horse)
4. Dynamic rock type (not yet)

Jimaki

1. Heaven and earth type (monkey)
2. Fukishita type (rooster)
3. Earth eye type (dog)
4. Single character type (pig)

Hakuryu

1. Unryu type (Tatsu)
2. Aiki type (Snake)
3. Shoshin type (Child)
4. Seigan type (Horse)
5. Jumonji type (Rabbit)

Byakko

1. Fudo type (Ox)
2. Jinpu type (Tiger)
3. Fukishita type (Rooster)
4. Jisegan type (Dog)

The zodiac is divided into three shapes: Tenmaki, Skymaki, and Jimaki, and each posture is divided into three shapes. In the end, the three shapes become one zodiac shape, and it becomes a very long shape. It is a valuable cultural heritage that cannot be seen in the current karate world. The white dragon and the white tiger also contain a good balance of the stances of the zodiac. The white crane does not have the posture of the zodiac, but instead has a crane shape unique to Kojo-ryu.

Others

Another characteristic of Kojo-ryu is that it does not make extensive use of Seiken-tsuki (fore fist strike), which are often used in general karate. Attacks using one fist (kosa), elbow strike (sarubu), the sole of the palm, and the sides of the palm. Furthermore, instead of ending with striking techniques such as thrusting and kicking like in karate, the basic technique is to hold down the opponent and deliver the finishing blow. “After removing all the branches and leaves, cut the trunk into pieces'' (Yoshitomi Kojo). According to Yoshitomi Koshiro, Koshiro-ryu uses thrusts and kicks (karate techniques) and joints and throws (toride techniques) in a 5:5 ratio. There is a mysterious technique that is soft and reduces the force to zero (Tsuru method).

Since Kasatomi Koshiro closed his Koshiro-ryu dojo in 1975, the Koshiro family has remained a hidden samurai and no one has appeared on stage. Kasatomi's disciple, Shingo Hayashi, runs the Okinawa Denkojo-ryu dojo, and Michio Yamada runs the Kojo-ryu dojo in Tottori Prefecture. Currently, only Michio Yamada (8th Dan), who is approved by Katomi as his last disciple, is connected to the Kojo clan (hidden samurai). If the Kojo-ryu tradition is correct, the martial art of empty-handed empty fist (Kumi-uchi-ho) has existed since the time of King Shoshi (reigned from 1648 to 1668) in the 17th century. It is unclear what kind of relationship this grappling method had with today's karate or with Okinawan martial arts, which is said to have existed before karate. Also, at this time, Master Kojo brought back Chinese weapon techniques in addition to grappling techniques.

References

Supervised by Kan'ei Uechi "Seisetsu Okinawa Karate" Uechi-ryu Karate Association
"Monthly Karate" April 2003 issue Fukushodo
Related item
Hand (Okinawa martial arts)
Karate
Naha hand

[emattson]

The original article was written in Japanese. I used Google translate to translate it to English. Right now AI is poor in translating and probably created errors or unclear sentences.

[emattson]

"Twelve postures associated with the twelve signs of the zodiac..."

China also uses the 12 animals representing the zodiac. Legend said that long ago, they competed against each other in a race to the gate. The 12 animals are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. The rat came in first, mostly because he rode on the ox and jump off near the end, well rested enough to speed past the finish line. The lazy pig came in last. Today (2023) is the year of the Rabbit. Next year, February 10, 2024, is when the year of the dragon will start. Ironically, soon after the year of the rat, 2020 celebration was concluded, the world shut down from the dreadful COVID-19. Chinese view the rat's personality traits as quick-witted, resourceful, versatile, and kind. The westerners view rats as disease carriers.

The Chinese zodiac also uses five elements: metal, water, wood, fire, and earth. 2023 is a water rabbit year. Two Chinese Harvest Moon festivals were canceled and another shortened due to rain.

[emattson]

A YouTube video nicely describes the Kojo-ryu kata.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1ARPgRtweI

Web page describing its history:
https://koshinkan.org/history/