The Koryu Bridge
Anna Hayes Yondan Essay November 2024
What is Koryu Kata and describe it’s value in the pursuit of deep knowledge of Chitokai Karate
This writing exercise has produced both a research article and a reflective narrative on my understanding of Koryu kata and it’s value in the pursuit of deep knowledge of Chitokai Karate. It is a synthesis of my readings of both Hanshi Sakamoto Sensei’s and Kyoshi Hayes’s essays, as well as their verbal lectures and physical lessons on Koryu Kata that I have experienced. I reflect upon Koryu training experiences and my own meta cognitive process to uncovering some kind of understanding of the Koryu course. The study of Koryu Kata comes after the student has learnt ‘go’ (hard power technique) and is ready to learn ‘ju’ (soft power technique). There is a process to developing the higher order ‘ju’ technique that combines practice of particular kata in order and their application in partner work. This process acts as a bridge to the Koryu course that develops true kaishu and elevates consciousness. If this bridge is not practiced then the student will not grasp the higher concepts of the Koryu kata and will not be able apply them physically or theoretically, for the Martial Artist cannot understand one without the other. I embark upon this next step in my Chitokai journey with a heavy weight of responsibility after the loss of Shihan Ashley McKellar. My training priority has shifted to developing a deeper understanding of our style and to help the group to take up our lost Shihan’s torch and assist Kyoshi to continue adding to the river of Chitokai. The irony is that Shihan Ash would have encouraged me to be more light-hearted in my training and to play, as he often did. Perhaps the key to uncovering a deeper understanding of Koryu Kata is by consciously taking on a more playful attitude when training. I have enjoyed this writing exercise, as it has added more intentional thought to my physical training process, and perhaps a more explorative and playful mindset, that I hope is communicated in the writing.
What is Koryu Kata
After the basic and training courses in Ryusei Karatte, the final stage is the koryu course.
The koryu course is composed of four stages: Koryu san-kei (3 kata), Jyunishi, Kon (Bo)
and Kai (eiku), and Okuden-I (full mastership).
–Koryo Program, essay by Sakamoto Sensei
The term ‘Koryu kata’ refers to a group of Chitokai kata practiced after the completion of the Chitokai syllabus, otherwise known as the old kata. This further course of study was practiced by O’ Sensei and is said to have ceased being practiced after his death by all representatives except Sakamoto Sensei (Koryu program by Sakamoto Ken). The Koryu course practices three open hand kata known as the Koryu san-kei (Koryu program by Sakamoto Ken). The Koryu san-kei include Unsu, Seichin and Hoen. My experience learning and training these kata with Kyoshi Hayes and Hanshi Sakamoto Sensei have contributed to my current understanding that they reveal true kaishu and elevate consciousness or ishiki. Kaishu pattern- open hand technique- can be limiting when structure is too closely prescribed, while the possibilities become limitless when the techniques are broken down into their core concepts and further explored in this way. This practice embodies the concept of shu-ha-ri, the process of mastery. In this instance, the concept of shu-ha-ri implies an initial guided learning of the kata’s embu, followed by an individuals breaking down of each kata’s techniques to the core concepts to then extrapolate their own understandings and physical manifestations of the kata. This level of practice engages the body and mind in an all-encompassing focus that hones the individuals creative abilities, otherwise known as a state of flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1988). It can be at all levels of shu-ha-ri that a flow state is experienced, but particularly in the ri stage that re-creation of the koryu kata to suit the individuals understandings and physical manifestations occurs. However, the flow state is an internalised level of consciousness that is only half the story for the elevated consciousness experienced by the practitioner of the Koryu san-kei. The Japanese term ‘ishiki’ refers to consciousness and awareness. Kyoshi Hayes wrote; “the martial artist elevates their sense of acuity, or environmental awareness, peripheral vision and acute body awareness and balance… Ishiki requires, then, a balance and intense awareness of the physical and mental self in its environment.” The koryu san-kei explore multi-purposeful and lethal kaishu and emotional states affected by vast external imagery, connecting internal sources of power to external sources of power. The cloud and wind kata, Unsu, utilises spiralling, fluid motion extrapolated from the circular movements learned in Tensho. Unsu encompasses more dramatic visualisations than Tensho, Sakamoto Sensei alluded to a storm that ebbs and flows, expressed by changes in tempo and kaishu shapes such as circles, spirals, swirls and double helix shapes. Sakamoto Sensei also told me that it can tell the Japanese folk lore of the Tenyo, the celestial lady in the sky who lost her flying cape and had to perform a dance in order to get it back and be able to return to her home in the sky. This imagery adds elements of traditional dance and poise to my practice of the kata. Performing the kata, for me, evokes feelings of a slowly growing storm, until you become the storm itself, and then slowly calm down again to a state that emanates the calm after the storm. While Unsu showcases elegant and flowing movement, Seichin explores the complex movements and thought processes of the monkey. The monkey can be reactive, curious, thieving, conniving, cheeky, flippant, aggressive, among other characteristics, which the kata manifests in jumpiness, sporadic direction and height changes, snap kicks, ukemi, and kaishu that involves snatching, pinching, slapping, grabbing, hooking, and other monkey-like movements. The physical manifestations of the monkey affect the mental space, determining visualisations for kaishu, strategy and emotion. The effects on the mental space are best communicated through the eyes which are both intense and multi-focal throughout the kata. Lastly, Hoen communicates the evolution of the smallest hatchling to the fire bird. The story allows the physical exploration of various bird kaishu, manifesting various pecking, scratching, clawing and wing techniques, as well as the birds tendency to proudly display themselves through poses and dance. I have not yet performed this kata, but it is enrapturing to watch, and I feel that it evokes the feelings of pride that come from a person rising from the depths of the ashes to embody their full potential.
What is Koryu Kata’s value in the pursuit of deep knowledge of Chitokai Karate
“…the practice of kata promotes an awareness of nature, and the interaction between one’s own energy and that of the natural world.”
–Facing up to Koryu Kata, essay by Kyoshi Hayes.
The Koryu course leads to mastery of Chitokai Karate, but the way to achieve this is not made explicit as our only living guide is Sakamoto Sensei. Sakamoto Sensei explains in his essay on the Koryu program that he had to rediscover the Koryu course through his own research, training, and repeated process of trial and error. We know from Sakamoto Sensei’s teachings that we must learn hard technique before we can learn soft technique, this is a process of ‘go’ to ‘ju’, hard to soft, the test of finding the internal strength. These higher order concepts of soft or relaxed power, negashi (absorption), muchimi (stickiness and heaviness), explosiveness from seemingly nothing or seemingly no preparation, are developed after hard power has been learned. The value of Koryu kata is in the learning process, the making of the Martial Artist who pursues deeper knowledge of the technicalities and physical skills as well as the ishiki and mental concepts found in the Koryu kata. In the learning process the individual forms, then breaks and re-makes their technique repetitiously over time through kata sequence and related partner work. This will be further detailed later in the essay. My experience of this process revisits the shu-ha-ri concept with realisations that the path to mastery is to repeat these stages not just once but continuously. As outlined in my Sandan essay, ‘Shu’ refers to the first encounter of a new skill in which the patterns and execution of techniques are copied or closely guided by the Sensei. The ’Ha’ stage moves into an internally driven sense of progress in which the Sensei acts more as a guide. The ‘Ri’ stage is a theoretical point of enlightenment in which the student becomes the ‘Waza’ (technique). I visualise the shu-ha-ri learning process as a sliding scale from externalised to internalised, from the Sensei to the self. The training experiences that lead to the Koryu path, and then the further training of the Koryu kata, embody this concept of learning in a repetitive cycle. The learning occurs in stages of kata and partner work, these stages often reflecting the learning stages of shu-ha-ri. Further, these training cycles also promote the practice of bun-bu-ryodo, the warriors balance between the pen and the sword, or perhaps the Martial Artists balance between effective kaishu and a state of ishiki. The kata leading up to the Koryu kata develop the practitioners kaishu- technique- and elevate the ishiki- consciousness- gradually in stages, so that the Koryu kata can be attained with ample physical and mental exploration through practice. This is the value of bun-bu-ryodo, marrying the pen- consciousness- and the sword- technique. The value of Koryu kata is not in attaining knowledge of the kata themselves, but in the cyclical training experiences towards the Koryu stage that informs the Martial Artist. Therefore, the path to mastery of Chitokai Karate is the training journey to and continuous training of Koryu kata.
The learning process for Koryu Kata
O’Sensei wrote, “Our teachers did not give us a clear explanation of the kata from old times. I must find the features and meaning of each form by my own study and effort, repeating the exercises of form through training”.
The Koryu learning process occurs in four distinct stages as written by Kyoshi Hayes in his essay ‘Facing up to Koryu Kata’; “… Moto or preparation kata (Seisan and Niseishi), animal kata (Bassai, Chinto, Rohai, Tenshin, Sochin) and then kata that express human emotion (Sanshiru and Kusanku). Ryushan then bridges to the koryu group that includes Tensho, Unsu and Seichin.” Since the writing of essay another stage has been added to our practice between Ryushan and the Koryu san-kei, this is Seichin-Yui-Tensho that acts as a bridge to the Koryu san-kei; Unsu, Seichin and Hoen. To begin the process our black belts first learn Sanchin with hard power, which is simplified with closed fists and shime. They then re-learn Sanchin with open hands, which in my experience feels stronger as the energy travels from the ground, through my centre and out my finger tips, rather than halting at the fist. The closed fist is a manacle to soft power and must be relaxed in order to uncover multi-purposeful open hand technique that is true kaishu. Once the closed fist is abandoned one can allude to much more various and deadly possibilities in their technique and begin to explore wider concepts such as dead weight, pinching, grabbing, poking, cutting, scraping, catching, and more. The next step for the practitioner is to then repeat the kata’s kaishu as a partner exercise to ensure its effectiveness and to further explore it’s possibilities. With this process I found that I could develop effective monkey technique for Seichin, which in turn affected my Hen Shu Ho. I was also able to develop wing technique for Rohai, sumo technique for Sansheryu, and begin my circling and air/wind patterns journey for Tensho, Yui, and Unsu. These experiences provided more understanding of soft power and flowing technique in my Nage No Kata and Jyu Ni Ko. Sakamoto Sensei wrote in his essay ‘Koryu Program’; “…we must grasp the monkey’s movements with our rational mind, transfer them to our senses, compose them into a conscious form, and then perform them.” This alludes to a process of learning that links consciousness and practical movement that allows the practitioner to access a higher level of Martial Arts ability. When I trained in Kumamoto, Sakamoto Sensei employed butterfly imagery to communicate the elevated consciousness of Yui, the bridging kata between soft Sanchin and Tensho. I felt a link between the provided imagery of the butterfly’s wings, which are very sensitive to air flows, and the breathing techniques used in Sanchin and Tensho. I feel that the middle kata, Yui, is affected by air flow in correlation to the effects of circle breathing and the butterfly’s wings. This implanted imagery has affected my kaishu in all three of the bridging kata- Sanchin, Yui and Tensho- as I not only visualise the self defence applications of the techniques but the links to nature through grounding, breath, eye movement, visualisation, and emotion. A short kata that’s purpose is merely to link two kata together suddenly becomes significant in its own right, bringing a connectedness, a sense of flow and an amplified imagination to my training. Kyoshi Hayes wrote that the Sanchin-Yui-Tensho bridge promotes ishiki by “broadening the perspective, promoting awareness of both mae and ushiro tanden and a feeling of connection of ue and shita tanden through the naka tanden (solar plexus).” Similarly, Sakamoto Sensei is very adamant that we must focus on our sacrum- ushiro tanden- while practicing kata. Perhaps the practice of Yui promotes awareness of the ushiro tanden, as Sakamoto Sensei said to me numerous times that the sacrum is the butterfly across your eyes, and linked butterfly imagery to Yui. Whether this is a true link that Sakamoto Sensei was communicating to me or simply his attempt to awaken my imagination through visualisation techniques, I have found that the Sanchin-Yui-Tensho bridge has given me deeper understandings of my own training in Chitokai Karate, elevated levels of ishiki and more effective kaishu through the ongoing development of soft power. Therefore, my idea is that the current path to Koryu must be through the bridge of Sanchin-Yui-Tensho.
My experience with the learning process for Koryu Kata
Sakamoto Sensei wrote; “Moving freely, hands can mimic the movements of animals such as snakes, birds and monkeys, and like the flow of water in a stream or clouds upon the wind, can repeat the same motion over and over again.”
In my practice of Koryu kata I have further developed multi-purposeful kaishu concepts and elevated consciousness. As outlined earlier, the Martial Artist must balance the pen and the sword, meaning that we cannot have a conceptual understanding of technique without being able to physically execute it and vice versa. First, I had to learn a prescribed form and structure, this kaishu then had to be practiced repeatedly on a partner to ensure I could execute it effectively. The prescribed structure of the kaishu in the kata provided a structure to explore in partner work. The repeated partner work led to exploration of each technique and concept which informed the structure of my kaishu performed in the kata, and added to my visualisations of each technique, making it look more realistic and formidable. Being informed by partner work, my hands and arms had purpose, and felt more connected to my centre and therefore stronger when performing the kaishu in the kata. The process breaks down the technique into it’s core concept that can then be extrapolated, built upon and pulled in new and interesting directions. When the kata begins to look too different to the structure then it must be revisited and pulled back into line, but now with fresh ideas, informed practice and deeper meaning. It is a slow and cyclical process as they both inform each other and must be repeated to maintain physical relevance and mental presence in the practitioner. It is in the slow and repetitive process that I am able to find myself in a state of flow when practicing kata such as Yui, Tensho, Unsu and Seichin. Croatian researcher Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi’s flow theory, published 1988, found that people find genuine satisfaction during an elevated state of consciousness he named flow. 
The diagram outlines the optimal conditions that provide the possibility for an individual to enter this altered state. The individuals skill level must meet the challenge level in order to avoid boredom and anxiety, and be able to enter the flow state. In this state they are completely absorbed in an activity both physically and mentally which can spark moments of creation and moments of genius. The flow state that I experience when I am physically and mentally consumed with Koryu kata practice causes the kata to change slightly with each repetition. I often find myself performing sections of the kata in a way I never have before but that makes sense in the moment and feels explosive, and then trying to recreate it to figure out how I did it. It is difficult to recreate this explosive feeling when I am not in the moment and takes repetitive practice to attempt to achieve something that was accomplished with seemingly no thought while I was caught up in the moment of the kata, or rather, in a state of flow. I recognise that Sakamoto Sensei often changes his kata with each repetition, and this makes it difficult for us to learn the embu of the kata. This evidences my theory that Koyru practice puts the Marital Artist into an altered mental state of flow that induces creative outputs that can alter the kata. I think that mindfulness practices foster positive mental health by bringing our attention back to the moment at hand, to remind ourselves that the ground is beneath us, the birds are above us and the air tastes good as we breathe it in slowly and deeply. The world tries to make us go faster, to always be making progress, so mindfulness practices attempt to slow us down by consuming our mental and physical activity with a common action that reconnects us to ourselves and the present moment. Koryu practice achieves mindfulness in a profound way for me, providing a powerful mind-body connection that is removed from any sense of worldly progress, consuming me with the present moment.
Without O’Sensei as a living guide, we may never know if we are practicing the kata as he would have suggested, although we will never stop striving to understand, as the Koryu is the path to mastery of Chitokai karate. Our understandings of O’Sensei’s Koryu theories and practice are predominately based on historical research of limited archival documents, videos and photos, and Sakamoto Sensei’s first hand recounts. To achieve a deeper understanding of Chitokai karate we must continue on this learning path, as it has continuously improved our curriculum in the hopes of teaching these higher concepts further down the line. The value of traditional Martial Arts practice in the modern world is to marry practical self defence with mindfulness practice, so that the mind and the body become healthier together. By changing from the sports karate path to the Koryu path I have reaped the physical and mental benefits. My karate feels stronger, I feel more grounded, and I can use my training to reconnect to my centre. In retrospect, sports karate had the opposite effect on my mind and body, causing physical and mental events that lead to a disconnect. Plyometric exercises, dynamic stretching, weights training, diet, and competitive mentality creates success that is specific to the sport, but not a general feeling of wellbeing, inner strength or health. By slowing down and mentally opening up to the Koryu lessons I was also able to enter a healthier mental space, the ability to nurture my body intuitively, and regulate my mental space. By forcing myself to slow down in my training so that I could be receptive to the Koryu learning process I was able to find other areas in my life to slow down, open up, and feel. I will always strive to perform the kata to the best of my ability out of respect for my Sensei’s and the Chitokai style, but whether I am performing the kata correctly or not is not the end goal, it is in the learning process that I have become a better Martial Artist. In conclusion, there is no way of knowing if we are practicing Koryu kata correctly, but it is in the learning process and continuous Koryu training that we benefit.
References
Sakamoto, K. (n.d.). Koryu Program.
Hayes, B. (2018). Facing Up To Koryu Kata.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Isabella Selega Csikszentmihalyi (1988). Optimal Experience : Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press.
Diagram:
Csikszentmihalyi, M. and Selega Csikszentmihalyi, I. (1988). Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness. Available at: https://lens.google.com/search?ep=cntpubb&hl=en-GB&re=df&s=4&p=AbrfA8rPQ_B8SrjLFwssyDOZV0eJ0f8QF7yJBP6tr6kdFpqaHFhlz_w8oMjomtdX_UjWAmvf5X9Xp33Kc1odfX9RI0-HZPBA-9kJPSGo0uQD8fMx1AHOsqDVpJ8G1NQwg2Mz127PuLpIonIvBJc6_LKUSE3hf2T7nSDRq1p0U3vrIhWt8uLqmyQkTZYSOwspPpkRF5aOi2eQe5Yq5C7lK9Wm#lns=W251bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsIkVrY0tKRGMzT0RNM09XRmlMVGRrTkdFdE5HVXhPUzA0WmpSaExXUTFPV0ppWTJFNU1tUTJOUklmT0Y5dWIxTmtjVUU0Tlc5a2MwWldkMUYzZG5veE4waHRSMUV6VVUxNGF3PT0iLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLDEsbnVsbCxbW11dLG51bGwsWyIxZTAyMjcyYy1hYTMxLTRhNGItODg5OS04MGM4NmMwZmY4NDUiXV0= [Accessed 29 Oct. 2024].