Taira-ha Ryukyu Kobudo
平派琉球古武道A line of Okinawan kobudo created by Taira Shinken (1897–1970). According to Green, he collected and created kata and in 1955 founded the Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinko Kai.
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About Taira-ha Ryukyu Kobudo
Taira-ha Ryukyu kobudo is a line of Okinawan weapons combat created by Taira Shinken (1897–1970). According to Green (Martial Arts of the World, 2001), he met master Funakoshi Gichin in Japan in 1922, from 1929 studied kobudo under master Yabiku Moden, and in 1933 received from him a personal teaching certificate, shihan menkyo. In 1955 he founded the society Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinko Kai in order to unify, preserve and spread Okinawan kobudo. The profile of the mainland branch on the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai website states that Taira searched for disappearing kata and compiled more than forty kata with eight kinds of weapons. Ron Mottern, in Green's encyclopedia, regards as his greatest contribution, besides the preservation of the kata, the creation of a unified syllabus and teaching methodology. After Taira's death, the society on Okinawa was led by his senior-most student Akamine Eisuke. The mainland branch Ryukyu Kobujutsu Hozon Shinkokai, according to its profile on the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai website, continues through his student Inoue Motokatsu.
History
Taira Shinken was born, according to the Japanese Wikipedia, on 12 June 1897 in the village of Nakazato on Kume Island. He was adopted into his mother's family and officially bore the name Maezato, but he continued to use the surname Taira. The English Wikipedia, by contrast, states that he was born as Maezato Shinken. Green writes that he began studying martial arts in 1922, when he met master Funakoshi Gichin in Japan, and trained with him until 1929. The Japanese Wikipedia states that in September 1922 he entered Funakoshi's school Meiseijuku in Tokyo.
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In 1929, according to Green, he began studying Ryukyuan kobudo under master Yabiku Moden (1882–1945), a leading authority on Okinawan weapons in Japan. In 1932 he opened his first dojo in Ikaho in Gunma Prefecture, and in 1934 he began studying under master Mabuni Kenwa, the founder of Shito-ryu. In 1940 he returned to Okinawa to continue researching and teaching kobudo. The Japanese Wikipedia states that in October 1940 he opened a dojo in Naha. The dates of master Yabiku Moden differ: Green has 1882 to 1945, the Okinawan society on its website 1878 to 1941. In 1955, according to Green, Taira founded the Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinko Kai, while the Japanese Wikipedia in a different article gives the year 1940. The movement in Japan was supported, among others, by Mabuni Kenei, Sakagami Ryusho and Kuniba Shogo, and on Okinawa by Chibana Choshin, Nagamine Shoshin, Chinen Masami and others. In August 1964, according to the Japanese Wikipedia, he published the book Ryukyu Kobudo Taikan, which CiNii lists in a new expanded edition from 1997. He died on 1 September 1970 in his house in Naha. After his death, according to Green, his senior-most student Akamine Eisuke took over the leadership of the society. According to the profile of the mainland branch, Inoue Motokatsu, as Taira's highest direct student, received the complete transmission of all kata and created for each weapon a set of basic techniques and kumite. CiNii lists volumes of his Ryukyu Kobudo from 1972 and 1974, while the third volume from 1975 is given by the Japanese Wikipedia. CiNii also lists a number of books on individual weapons from 1977 to 1986.
How it differs
The two main organizations of Taira's line have a similar name. The Okinawan Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinkokai was led after Taira by Akamine Eisuke, the mainland Ryukyu Kobujutsu Hozon Shinkokai was, according to its profile, developed by Inoue Motokatsu. Sources give them different numbers of weapons: the mainland branch's profile eight, the Japanese Wikipedia nine for the Okinawan society.
Technique
Green states that Taira created the kata with a stick, Kungo no kun, two kata with nunchaku, a kata with sansetsukon, Maezato no tekko, based on Funakoshi's bare-hand forms, and the kata Jigen no manjisai. The profile of the mainland branch states that the school preserves more than forty kata with eight weapons together with basic body movements and kumite kata in pairs, and regards bojutsu as the best of the transmitted kata. The second soke of the mainland branch, according to the Japanese Wikipedia, wrote in the foreword to the new edition of the book Ryukyu Kobudo Taikan that Taira gathered 42 kata for eight kinds of weapons. According to the same source, the Okinawan Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinkokai preserves nine weapons: bo, sai, tonfa, nunchaku, kama, tekko, tinbe, surujin and tecchu.
Training
Ron Mottern sees Taira's greatest contribution, besides preserving the kata, in creating a unified syllabus and teaching method for kobudo. The mainland branch's profile states that Inoue Motokatsu created a set of basic techniques and kumite for each weapon, and that the school practices kumite kata in pairs.
Ranks and progression
According to Green, Taira received the personal teaching certificate shihan menkyo from master Yabiku Moden in 1933. The Japanese Wikipedia states that on 1 July 1964 the chairman of the Zen Nihon Kobudo Renmei awarded him the title hanshi. The mainland branch's profile mentions the complete transmission of all kata (kaiden) to Inoue Motokatsu.
Today
At a demonstration for Karate Day 2023 in the Okinawa Karate Kaikan, the holder of the prefectural intangible cultural property for kobudo performed, according to the newspaper Ryukyu Shimpo, the kata Maezato no nunchaku, which the English Wikipedia attributes to Taira. The Japanese Wikipedia lists as Okinawan continuators of Taira's line through Akamine Eisuke the groups Ryukyu Kobudo Shinbukan, Ryukyu Kobudo Kenryu-ryu-kai and Ryukyu Kobudo Tesshinkan, and on the mainland Ryukyu Kobujutsu Hozon Shinkokai and Kongo-ryu. According to its profile, the mainland branch is a Nihon Kobudo Kyokai member based in Tokyo.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Taira Shinken?
An Okinawan kobudo master (1897–1970), a student of masters Funakoshi Gichin, Yabiku Moden and Mabuni Kenwa. According to Green, he founded the Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinko Kai in 1955 to preserve and spread Okinawan kobudo.
How many kata did Taira gather?
The profile of the mainland branch on the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai website states more than forty kata with eight kinds of weapons, the foreword to the new edition of his book, according to the Japanese Wikipedia, exactly 42.
Which organizations lead Taira's line?
On Okinawa the Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinkokai, which after Taira's death was led by his senior-most student Akamine Eisuke. On the mainland the Ryukyu Kobujutsu Hozon Shinkokai, which was, according to its profile, developed by Inoue Motokatsu. The Japanese Wikipedia lists other groups as well.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.