[av_four_fifth first] [av_textblock size='' font_color='' color=''] One night, early last week, I was browsing through Someya-Sensei's book "Kakushibuki jutsu Nyumon", and discovered a section with techniques that looked very familiar to skills I learned about 30 years ago during Wado-ryû karate-jutsu class (I never learned those in Shotokan or Gensei-ryu). I am referring to the Shuto jutsu (手刀) techniques, explained from page 50 and up. Today, I decided to explore and dissect some of the techniques from the still images in the book. These techniques are very close to tegatana or te-waza in older forms of karate. After a while, I realized that the techniques contain footwork that is rare in modern karate-do, much more relaxed and shorter than in most Japanese karate. Some of the footwork and hand techniques almost look more like they were inspired by methods such as those from Motobu-Sensei, going back to the Okinawan origin of karate-jutsu (or kenpo) rather than karate-do. Besides seeming very effective defensive techniques, they also feel like they were intended to prepare hand and arm, as well as hip and foot for working with Shoken-jutsu and other Kakushi buki. Although I only explored a few techniques, we will definitely incorporate these skills into the Saskatchewan Keikokai curriculum, as recommended by Otsuka-Sensei. I find it fascinating that there are always new doors opening in the world of Budo, sometimes hidden in books, other times hidden in plain sight. [/av_textblock] [/av_four_fifth] [av_comments_list] [av_social_share title='Share this entry' style='' buttons='' share_facebook='' share_twitter='' share_pinterest='' share_gplus='' share_reddit='' share_linkedin='' share_tumblr='' share_vk='' share_mail=''][/av_social_share]
