Nunti Bo no Kata

Quick Facts

About the kata

Nunti Bo no Kata is a form with the nunti-bo weapon in the Matayoshi Kobudo school. The English Wikipedia lists it in the school's kata overview under the spelling NuntiBo No Kata as the only form for this weapon, and the American Iwa Dojo of the Kodokan line writes that one kata is taught for the nunti-bo. According to Wikipedia, the nunti-bo is a staff fitted at one end with a manji-shaped sai, its side prongs turned to opposite sides. The Matayoshi Kobudo school links nunti with Shinko Matayoshi. According to the Matayoshi Kobudo Kodokan site (bushikan.com), he learned this art in Shanghai from a master they call Kingai. Wikipedia states that Shinko Matayoshi lived from 1911 to 1915 in northeastern China, later travelled to Shanghai, and returned to Okinawa around 1935. After his death, his son Shinpo Matayoshi continued the teaching; the year of the father's death differs among the sources (1945 and 1947). On the official WUKF kobudo kata list, the nuntibo section carries the entry Matayoshi no Nuntibo, numbered 1 and 2. Which of the two forms matches the form given in the Wikipedia overview, we have not found in the sources. We have not been able to confirm the number of movements or the course of the kata's floor pattern.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

The Matayoshi Kobudo Kodokan site explains nunti as the Okinawan nuchidi, piercing hand. The English Wikipedia gives the characters 貫手棒 for the weapon, translated as staff of the piercing hand. The head is a sai shaped like a manji; so named, per Wikipedia, because it resembles the manji character.

Creator and history

The Matayoshi Kobudo Kodokan site says this weapon dates from the Ming dynasty, called sabu in the Chinese military manual Bubishi. Per the same source, it reached Okinawa about 600 years ago through Sino-Okinawan trade and first served as a fishing tool. As a martial art, nunti-jutsu resembles, per bushikan.com, the staff art practised on Tsuken Island. Nunti also includes separate manji weapons: one part fits onto the staff, the other is thrown. The manji sai differs from an ordinary sai in its handle and in having one prong turned the opposite way.

Differences between styles

The official WUKF kobudo kata list gives, in the nuntibo section, besides the Matayoshi forms, also Tsuyoshi no Nuntibo and Uhugushiku (Ogusuku) no Nuntibo. The English Wikipedia on Okinawan kobudo names Nunti Sho and Nunti Dai as known forms with the nunti-bo. The International Shuriway Karate & Kobudo Society site writes that adapted staff katas are also practised with the nunti-bo, e.g. Choun no Kon. How these forms differ in sequence from the Matayoshi Kobudo kata, we have not found in the sources.

Competition status

• WUKF (World Union of Karate-Do Federations) – Okinawan Kobudo — Official kata list ↗