tatsujin

I think you have to quantify it a bit for a better answer. When Itosu led the charge to change Okinawan martial arts to make them more plateable to the Japanese and got it into the school systems, none of those folks had ranks. Hell, they didn't even have names for their arts at that point or than "te". To line up with what the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai wanted and with the belt ranking system that Kano Jigoro took from swimming, Funakoshi, Motobu, etc. didn't have rank. Funakoshi himself was a godan for quite some time. So, from that aspect, there was no promotion for these folks and their early students. From that standpoint today, it could be very different. But, if someone develops a sogo budo art today, who is to say that they cannot assign themselves rank? At the end of the day, it would depend on if what they are doing works or not, right? And do others think they are doing it at the level they say they are with the self appointed rank. For me personally, I would not go that route. But I have also rolled with some BJJ blue belts that were better fighters than alot of the self-styled grandmasters, soke and sho-dai soke that I have run into. Just a thought....

So, I am working on a little project and maybe some of you more experienced folks here could offer up some opinions or thoughts... With the heavy influence of Southern Chinese quanfa on Okinawan martial arts, why do you think it is that there is no codified system of kiko (qigong)? With all of the Okinawans that went to Southern China (and Gokenki that came to Okinawa...with others), they had to have been exposed to it. Pretty much every quanfa style does some form of qigoing. Sure, Sanchin and Tensho could be considered kiko in nature, but it is very much a hard "golden bell" or "iron body" in nature. And not much of a codified system. Thoughts?

Being the new guy, I am a bit late to the game, but looking for some posts that I might be able to contribute to. The art can be a bit of a lightening rod, but Bruce Juchnik of Sei Kosho Shorei Kai has some interesting Jo kata that they teach. Does the Shintō Musō-ryū not interest you? They have like 70 different jo kata. It's going to be hard to find any koryu jojutsu that isn't tied to some degree to kenjutsu/kendo due to the Musashi/Gonnosuke dual.

Seems like maybe a good place to make my first post and say hello (HELLO!). For all practical points and purposes, the Kingai-ryu of Matayoshi Shinpo is all but dead with his passing. Supposedly, he only passed this family art along to a couple of people and it is not being taught publicly. To make matters worse, Matayoshi Sensei said that all of his public demonstrations of Kingai-ryu were never "the real thing" to keep people from trying to learn it that way. Kojo-ryu is another art that is really all but dead. Hayashi Shingo Sensei seems to have a legitimate claim to having learned at least some of the original family art as does Yabiku Takaya Sensei, but I do believe Yabiku Sensei passed away. Also, I don't really know the true level of Kojo-ryu knowledge either of these gentlemen actually had...especially since the Kojo family quit teaching it and has asked anyone and everyone using the family name to stop doing so and call what they are doing something else. You could probably put Motobu-ryu (Motobu Udundi) into the same boat more or less, especially after the passing of Uehara Seikichi Sensei. Plus, as the 3rd son, Motobu Choki Sensei was never really taught the family art (although it has been said that he may have learned some of it from his brother). Lastly, I way say (my opinion, your mileage may vary) that the indigenous te or udun-di that people such as Chikudun Pechin Matsumura Sokon learned and used prior to the integration of Chinese quanfa has all but died out. Bits and pieces can probably be found here and there, but changed very much from what the original art was. Anyway, just some first post ramblings and thoughts.