Ebureto

Well, Matsumura Kenpo is a Shorin-ryu style, use of the word "kenpo" notwithstanding, so it falls under the category of "Matsumura Shorin-ryu" just as much as, say Kise Fusei's Kenshinkan or the late Arakaki Seiki's Shinbukan (I think it was "Shinbukan"). Don't let the "kenpo" fool you into thinking it's a style like Tracey's Kenpo or some other such thing. Matt, Curt is still making kobudo gear and getting better and more refined all the time. I'll dig up his email and send it to you privately. He used to have a little page attached to the Seattle Kobukan, but since that site's gone down I believe Curt's page evaporated as well. For those of you curious about Kuda no Tanmei's Okinawan MA training, he engaged in sumo as a youth (which is different than the mainland version), Shuri-te from a fellow naval conscript, allegedly some bojutsu from his father which influenced the bo kata of his kobudo system, Kobayashi for a short time under Nakazato Shuguro, Okinawa Kenpo under Nakamura Shigeru for long enough to earn his shihan menkyo, and finally and probably for the longest amount of time under Soken Hohan. He and his son, Tomosada, also briefly participated in a study group with other old-style contemporaries after Soken's passing (Higa, Uehara, Nagamine, I forget who else in that group, I'll have to ask when Tomosada-shinshii is back in the states)... concepts and bunkai only, apparently there was no "kata trading".

Sorry, I should have re-read my previous post... appears I've been redundant.

I concur with your former point... Although, at the risk of sounding like I know more than I do, I was one of those "hakutsuru chasers" in the '90s who followed Tony Sandoval around after an introduction made by Chuck Chandler, and the subsequent "hakutsuru" material that I later saw Mr. Lindsey present resembled an altered version of what Mr. Sandoval was teaching. Mr. Sandoval had other things to say about that as well. That being said, after consulting with Kuda Tomosada-sensei (and having a brief conversation with Nihsihira Kosei... through Tomo-sensei...during my first visit to Okinawa), it's become apparent that certain crane forms that Mr. Sandoval had been teaching "May be someone's hakutsuru, but not Soken's". That all being said, two things: 1) I am strongly opinioned that no one out there in this country has Soken's hakutsuru, unless something has changed since speaking with these two Okinawan gentlemen, and 2) as Yuichi Kuda-sensei and Nishihira-sensei both said, in different ways and on different occasions, (obviously I'm paraphrasing) if you understand all the concepts in the other Matsumura kata, then you understand hakutsuru. It may very well be that Mr. Lindsey and others have valid crane techniques from various sources, but as previously mentioned, I find it highly doubtful (based on the word of two Okinawan masters I trust implicitly) that any American has the whole enchilada. Kuda-O'sensei may even have been more direct in his position on this, but I'm not privy to those had they been said. In closing, I'll say that, in regards to Mr. Lindsey, no one can take away his skill and dedication to Shorin-ryu. When Greg Ohl hosted him up here in MN back in about 1980, he seriously cleaned house on two very rough and tumble black belts at the same time during a demonstration shiai.

George alexander's Hohan Soken, life of a grandmaster allegedly shows part of the hakutsuru kate, but without Master Soken, or Fusei Kise to confirm it's; authenticity, it's probably just a hoax. This is an old thread, I know, but I just recently became a member of this list. Sorry. Anyway, some years ago after Kuda Yuichi-sensei (founder of Shorin-ryu Matsumura Kenpo and an old dojo-mate of Kise Fusei in both Nakamura and Soken's organizations) passed, his son Tomosada took up the mantle of Kaicho and continued training us in his father's stead. I have been fortunate enough to spend a fair amount of time with him during his US visits and once for three weeks on Okinawa... anyway, one of the many things we have touched on on numerous occasions is this whole "hakutsuru" thing. I showed him some of my collected hakutsuru video footage from various Americans teaching it here in the US, and his only reply was (whether it's from Alexander, Sandoval, Lindsey, or Chandler) "Maybe someone's Hakutsuru, but no Soken's". This was more or less verified when Tomosada-sensei introduced me to Nishihira Kosei (Soken's nephew and probable inheritor) who offered an impromptu demonstration and lecture.

Mr. Ohl hasn't been practicing (as far as I'm aware) for some time now and has long since moved away from Bemidji. The school he started is still there, but I forget if it's under the name "Minnesota Kobukan" or "Bemidji Kobukan". In either case, one of his students is running the dojo in his absence (he returns two or three times a year to visit and train his local students) whose name is Peg Rickert (sandan or yondan, a Shidouin in either case). There are still little pockets of Matsumura Kenpo around Minnesota. I teach a small private class in Brainerd, Curt Fisher (Rokudan) teaches in Walker, Duane Wolfe (Nanadan) teaches in Kensington, Brian Swedburg (Sandan) teaches in Hackensack, and I'm not sure if we still have a presence in East Grand Forks yet or not. The face of Matsumura Kenpo has changed slightly since O'sensei's passing in 1999, when his son Tomosada took up the mantle of Kaicho. Stances and footwork have changed slightly and have become more dynamic in the use of weight shifting, reflecting Sensei's training and emphasis on tactical movement and (of course) change-body. We also now have added Matsumura nu Patsai to our curriculum due to the fact that Tomosada-sensei learned it from Miyahira Katsuya from Kobayashi-ryu. If you still have interest in finding someone in a particular locale, let me know and I can get contact information for you.