SHUKUMINE HISTORY

In the 1920s and '30s there were three major karate styles in Okinawa. They were all named after the cities where they were developed: Naha, Tomari and Shuri. These three styles (Naha-Te, Tomari-Te and Shuri-Te) are sometimes called more generally Okinawan Karate.

Seiken Shukumine, born 9 December 1925 in Nago on the Japanese island of Okinawa, started at age 8 with karate lessons from Ankō Sadoyama, a grandmaster in koryū karate ("Old style/school Chinese techniques"). He trained him for four years. When Shukumine was about 14 years old, he was accepted by Kishimoto. Kishimoto was very selective: he had only nine kōhai (=pupils/students) throughout his life and also Seiken Shukumine had to insist many times, before Kishimoto decided to teach the young man. The last two students of Kishimoto actually were Seiken Shukumine and Seitoku Higa (born 1920). Another source states that Seiken Shukumine was tested before Kishimoto accepted him as a student. When Shukumine and Kishimoto met for the first time, Kishimoto took a poker and threw a piece of wooden coal with full force towards Shukumine, who evaded. Kishimoto accepted him as a student on one condition: to promise him to keep the techniques a secret.[1]

During the Second World War the 18-year-old Shukumine was drafted into the navy and had to join the Japanese Kamikaze Corps where he became a "kaiten" pilot, a one-man ship packed with explosives used in kamikaze suicide attacks against American warships. Seiken Shukumine was trained to guide this small craft through the protective maze of steel netting that was laid down in the water around the ships, to prevent them from being attacked by these kaiten. He thought in a martial art way to manoeuvre between these steel nettings and tried to think of techniques to avoid enemy torpedoes. He learned that he had to work hard to penetrate the enemy's defenses, and the imagination of the martial artist in him saw how such an approach could be adapted to traditional karate to make for a more supple and dynamic form of combat[citation needed].

Fortunately Shukumine was never appointed for a suicide attack and he survived the war. But when he came back home he found Okinawa demolished by the bombings and his master Soko Kishomoto was killed during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. Shukumine retreated in solitude for a couple of years and started to develop his karate style with in the back of his head his training as a kaiten pilot. He combined his new techniques with the classic techniques he had learned from his masters Sadoyama and Kishimoto, thus developing the special characteristics of Genseiryū.

In 1949 in the town of Itō (Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan), Seiken Shukumine demonstrated publicly his karate techniques for the first time. In October 1950 Seiken Shukumine participated in a karate exhibition arranged by Nippon Television. In this demonstration also participated other masters like Hidetaka Nishiyama (of the Japan Karate Association, JKA), Yasuhiro Konishi (Ryobukai) Ryusho Sakagami (Itosukai), H. Kenjo (Kenshukai), Kanki Izumikawa and Shikan (Seiichi) Akamine (both of Gōjū-ryū). Shukumine demonstrated a.o. the kata Koshokun dai, Tameshiwari (breaking technique, in this case Shukumine broke 34 roof tiles with shutō, the edge of the open hand) and Hachidan-tobi-geri (jumping kick with 8 kicks in one jump). In the early 1950s Shukumine created Sansai no kata, a masterpiece of Genseiryū karate.

In 1953 Shukumine started to give lessons on the Tachikawa military base to the Self-Defense Forces and for the next 10 years he gave lessons at many dojos (e.g. at universities and corporate groups) around the Tokyo area. It was in 1953 that Shukumine officially announced his techniques were Genseiryū, but the year 1950 is often mentioned as the year of the beginning of Genseiryū.

He created these basic drills:

Shiho-enpi
Sonoba-enpi
Shiho-tsuki
Shiho-tsuki geri
Shiho-nuki
Shiho-kuzushi
Happo-nuki

He created these basic kata:

Ten-i no Kata
Chi-i no Kata
Jin-i no Kata
Sansai
Koryū Naifanchi
Koryū Bassai
Koryū Kusanku

There are many more kata mentioned in this book, without pictures, a total of about 44 kata, including Taikyoku-Shodan, Tensho-no-Kata, Wankan, etc. In the book he mentions the name Genseiryū a few times. He refer to the contents of the book as being koryū (古流), which is considered as 'old tradition' or 'old school' karate. In the book he added some kata that he created himself: Ten-i no Kata Chi-i no Kata Jin-i no Kata and Sansai. In the book Shin Karatedō Kyōhan many kata and techniques and training materials are described.

From the 1960s Genseiryū started to spread also outside Japan, to countries like the USA, Spain, Finland, Holland, Denmark, Australia, Brazil, India, etc.

CHARACTERISTICS

Shukumine was also known as a philosopher and during the war he learned that to do something unanticipated or unexpected is the secret to victory, whether in a war between two nations or in a mere personal conflict. In other words: the basic philosophy of Genseiryū pursues this idea of doing the unexpected.

Shukumine ruminated on how to apply this idea not only to life but also to Genseiryū Karate and its kata. Eventually he created the basic theory of "Sen, Un, Hen, Nen and Ten." These are the basic principles that make of Genseiryū a three-dimensional karate style:

Sen (whirlwind): vertical circular movement of the body axis (rotating, turning);
Un (waves): elegant up and down movement in the directions of front and back;
Hen (clouds): falling movement in front and back, right and left by your own will;
Nen (maelstrom, whirlpool): twisted hand and arm techniques, mainly executed on the spot;
Ten (luminous): a technique in an unexpected situation created by front turn, back turn and side turn.

It is "Sansai" that is known widely as a typical kata of Genseiryū with lots of these techniques. Other genuine techniques of Genseiryū are the kicks Ebi-geri (back kick with both hands on the ground and the face close to the ground) and Manji-geri (side kick (mawashi-geri) with head close to the ground and both hands on the ground). Both kicks belong to the so called Shajo-geri group (leaning body). Besides kata, Genseiryū also practices Shihō and Happō (some other styles do too, but not all of them). Shihō (四方) translates into 'four directions' and comprises exercises in which a combination of techniques is repeated several times in four different directions (front, back, right and left). This is almost the same with Happō, but it translates into 'eight directions', thus it comprises exercises in eight different directions.