Okinawan Ti (Okinawa-te)
沖縄手The Okinawan term ti (te in Japanese, hand) for the native martial art that, according to one theory, merged with Chinese fighting and gave rise to karate.
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About Okinawan Ti (Okinawa-te)
Ti, te in Japanese, literally hand, is the Okinawan term for a native martial art. Green (Martial Arts of the World, 2001) states that in Okinawan it is pronounced di, and distinguishes it from karate, which was originally called toudi or tote, Chinese hand, and indicated roots in the Chinese martial arts. What ti looked like is not known precisely, according to an abstract in a Japanese scholarly journal on budo, because old documentation is lacking. The Okinawa Karate Information Center OKIC states that nothing can be said clearly about when and in what form karate arose, and, according to a 1994 report of the prefectural board of education, summarizes three theories. According to the first, karate derives from ti, the original Okinawan art, which was later influenced by Chinese and other martial arts. The widespread explanation that its development was supported by two weapon bans, under King Sho Shin and after the occupation of the islands by the Satsuma domain in 1609, is questioned by the Nipponica encyclopedia. The threefold division into Shuri-te, Tomari-te and Naha-te first appeared, according to OKIC, only in 1927.
History
According to the dictionary Yamakawa Nihonshi Shojiten, the Ryukyu Kingdom arose in 1429, when Sho Hashi unified three kingdoms on the island of Okinawa, Hokuzan, Chuzan and Nanzan. Green states that the Chinese martial arts entered Ryukyuan culture with Chinese immigrants, such as the thirty-six families settled in Kume, and with Okinawans who traveled abroad. According to him, the first mention of te appears only after the Satsuma invasion of 1609, in an oral tale about Jana Ueekata.
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Under King Sho Shin (1477–1526), according to Green, an edict forbade carrying and stockpiling weapons. It was generally not observed, and the weapon ban was strictly enforced only after the Japanese conquest of 1609. Nipponica states that the theory of two weapon bans, under Sho Shin and under Satsuma rule, spread thanks to early writings authored by Funakoshi Gichin and still has broad support today. Postwar research, however, according to it, found that a standing army was stationed at Shuri Castle, and a new reading of the inscription Momourasoe rankan no mei, which had been cited as evidence, deprived the weapon ban policy of its support. Nipponica states that the existence of tode was known to samurai of the Satsuma and Higo domains by the 18th century at the latest, and thereby calls into question the theory of secret transmission. An abstract of a lecture authored by a member of the Nihon Karatedo Motobu-kai association, on the other hand, states that karate was practiced in secret in the days of the kingdom and was passed on to a single heir, so contemporary evidence is almost absent. According to another abstract by the same author, a will written by the Ryukyuan samurai Aka Pechin Chokushiki in 1778 and 1783 shows that Jigen-ryu swordsmanship was studied on Okinawa in the 18th century. The will also mentions the arts karamuto and yawara, which are not to be practiced, and the author interprets karamuto as probably present-day karate or its predecessor. A tradition, according to an abstract in a Japanese scholarly journal on budo, relates that about two hundred years ago people called a warrior from Shuri who had learned Chinese fighting Tode Sakugawa, and the name tode comes from this. The author judges that an art of Chinese origin was deliberately called tode because ti, the native Okinawan martial art, already existed. Nipponica states that tode was practiced in the kingdom among the warrior class it calls samure as a martial art, part of education and a state performance, and names as warriors Tode Sakugawa (real name Sakugawa Kanga) and Matsumura Sokon (1809–1899). The way ti was transmitted, formerly from master to a single pupil, changed markedly, according to Nipponica, when tode entered Okinawan schools at the end of the years Meiji 30 to 39 thanks to the efforts of Itosu Anko (1831–1915) and others. In 1922 Funakoshi Gichin introduced tode on the Japanese mainland, and from 1924 university clubs arose in the Kanto region. Green states that in the early twenties of the 20th century Funakoshi proposed replacing the character for Tang with the character for empty, which Okinawa rejected until a meeting in 1936.
How it differs
Green distinguishes te, closely tied to weapons and to the royal court, from karate, originally toudi, whose name points to roots in Chinese martial arts. He also cites the view that te may be of Japanese origin. An abstract in a Japanese scholarly journal on budo regards Motobu udundi as a surviving art of the ti line without direct Chinese influence, unlike tode, which developed from Chinese fighting. Dictionaries differ in their definition of karate. Daijisen describes it as an art that arose on Okinawa from a combination of Chinese fighting of the Ming period with Okinawan kobudo, Nihon Kokugo Daijiten as fighting brought over from Ryukyu that developed because carrying weapons was banned under the rule of the Shimazu clan.
Technique
According to Nipponica, in the Ryukyuan and Okinawan period technique was transmitted mainly through kata, and strengthening the fists on the makiwara was typical. The Shuri-te line, which stems from the master Matsumura Sokon, had naihanchi as its basic kata, and the Naha-te line, whose reviver was Higaonna Kanryo, had the kata sanchin. According to Nipponica, Okinawan traditional karate keeps this kata-based approach at its core to this day. Green states that te was always closely tied to weapons and its main weapons were the sword, the spear and the naginata.
Training
According to Nipponica, young men of the Ryukyu and Okinawa periods tested their art in outdoor fights called kakedameshi, and Motobu Choki reportedly trained this way too. Instruction, according to the same encyclopedia, relied on kata and on toughening the fists on the makiwara.
Today
When Okinawa Prefecture speaks of Okinawan karate today, it includes in it, according to Nipponica, Ryukyu kobudo as well, the art with the weapons sai, tuifa and others. The prefecture celebrates Karate Day on 25 October. According to the OKIC, most of today's schools (ryuha) are new and the oldest of them is goju-ryu, named after a demonstration given by Shinzato Jin'an in November 1930 at the Meiji Shrine. For the first international Okinawan karate tournament in August 2018, the organizing committee chose as its official list 133 karate kata, 28 bojutsu kata and 17 saijutsu kata.
Did you know
An abstract in a Japanese scholarly journal on budo identifies the karate master of the 18th century whom Motobu Choki in his book of 1932 calls Gushikawa Uekata, most likely with the politician Ginowan Uekata Choga, who from 1745 to 1750 was one of the sanshikan under King Sho Kei. His granddaughter married the fifth head of the Motobu Udun family, an ancestor of the brothers Motobu Choyu and Motobu Choki. The book Watashi no Tode-jutsu (1932), authored by Motobu Choki, is according to the author of the abstract one of the oldest and most detailed accounts of oral tradition.
Styles & Branches
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ti and karate?
Ti (te in Japanese, hand) is the Okinawan term for a native martial art. According to Green, karate was originally called toudi, Chinese hand, and its name points to roots in the Chinese martial arts. What ti looked like exactly is not known because of the lack of documentation.
Did karate arise because of a weapon ban on Okinawa?
This is a widespread theory, which according to Nipponica was spread by early writings authored by Funakoshi Gichin. Postwar research, however, according to the same encyclopedia, showed that a standing army was stationed at Shuri Castle, and the weapon ban theory lost its support.
Since when have Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te been distinguished?
According to the Okinawa Karate Information Center OKIC, this division first appeared in 1927, when, for practical reasons, it was used at a karate demonstration for Kano Jigoro organized by Miyagi Chojun and Mabuni Kenwa.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.