Chotoku Kyan's CHINTO KATA

By

Dan Smith, Kyoshi, Shorin Ryu Scibukan

Chotoku Kyan was a renowned master of Uchinandi, the art that is referred to in modern terms as Shorin Ryu or Okinawan Karate. Master Kyan studied from several of the most famous teachers of the late nineteenth century. He learned Seisan and Gojushiho from Sokon Matsumura, Wansu from Peichin Maeda, Passai from Oyadomari Kokan, Kusanku from Chatan Yara, Tokumine No Kun from Pechin Tokumine and Chinto from Kosaku Matsumora.

One of Kyan sensei's greatest contributions to Okinawan karate was that he kept the kata that he leamed from these great teachers without changing the basic movements to standardize them. Many Okinawan teachers would leam kata from different teachers and then standardize them to the kihon that was in their own system.

Kyan never named his karate and used the Okinawan hogen (dialect), Sukunaihayshi, to refer to martial arts from China. Sukunaihayshi is the way of saying Shorin Ryu in Japanese or Shaolin Ji in Chinese.

Kyan sensei did not modernize his teaching or techhiques so that they could be taught to the mass public as did many other Okinawa karate teachers in the early 1900's.

The Chinto Kata that is the subject of today's seminar comes. from the Tomari Te teacher Kosaku Matsumora. The other version of Chinto kata is from the Sokon Matsumura lineage.

One story that tells how the Matsumura version of Chinto kata was introduced to Okinawa was by a shipwrecked Chinese seaman that lived in caves above the city area of Tomari. The legend states that Sokon Matsumura, who was the chief of police in Shuri and the king's top retainer, was sent by the king to find this pirate or shipwrecked seaman that was stealing clothes and food from the local villagers. Upon finding this unidentified person Matsumura engaged him in combat but could not defeat him. The story goes that Matsumura befriended the Chinese man and studied the Chinto kata from him.

The story sounds interesting but does not appear reasonable. How could someone live for a long period in a cave, on a small and heavily populated island without being discovered? Where did the Chinese man go after his encounter with Matsumura? Why did the king send the chief of police to apprehend one man for such a small crime? These questions are not answered in any historical information. So therefore we have no reasonable historical information that this story is the origin of this kata.

During this same time period Kosaku Matsumora was a famous karate man in the Tomari village area. The story of how Chinto kata came to Okinawa from the Matsumora lineage is that due to Tomari being the harbor area of Okinawa that many Chinese visited as the ships were docked there for trade. Many Chinese martial artist shared their techniques with the karate men of Tomari village and Chinto kata is said to have become part of Matsumora's training. The story continues that Matsumura learned the Chinto kata from Matsumora and changed the techniques to fit the Shuri Te style of fighting.

It is my belief the latter story has the greatest possibility of being true. It does not make sense that a person of Matsumura's standing would learn from someone in a cave that he was supposed to have arrested. Also, the Chinto kata has all the characteristics of a Tomari kata with the grappling and circular techniques which are distinctively not Shuri Te. The reason that Matsumora was not given credit for teaching Matsumura the Chinto kata was that he was a person of high standing in Okinawa. He was the top student of Tode Sakagawa and it would not have been appropriate for him to learn from someone from Tomari as this area was not as important as Shun. Matsumura had the reputation of being the most knowledgeable karate man on Okinawa at this time. The story of a lost sailor would be a convenient story to explain why Matsumura learned something not passed on to him by Tode Sakagawa.

Kyan learned from both men but he passed on the Matsumora version of Chinto. Matsumora and Matsumura were approximate the same age and died in 1908.

The Chinto kata of Matsumora and Matsumura have the basic framework except for two obvious differences. One, the Matsumora kata moves on a 45 degree embusen or line of movement. The Matsumura Chinto moves on a forward and backward embusen. Two, the Matsumora Chinto utilizes the neiko dachi and shiko dachi, which is from Tomari Te. Matsumura Chinto utilizes the kiba dachi and zenkutsu dachi, which are indicative of the Shuri influence. So one could hypothesize that Matsumora took the kata from Matsumura and changed it into a Tomari style kata. If this is true then it would be the only kata that came from Shuri Te that was homogenized into Tomari Te when in fact the kata of Tomari were brought into the Shuri Te or Shorin Ryu systems.

Basic Teachin~ of The Matsumora Chinto:

1. Forty-five Degree Movement - always move and be positioned at a 45 degree angle from the opponent. In 1996 during two visits with Hanshi Shoshin Nagamine. I discussed the 45 degree angle and movement difference in the Matsumora versus the popular Matsumura version. My teacher Zenryo Shimabukuro and his son Zenpo had stressed to me many times the importance of always moving on a 45 degree angle and finishing on the same spot. I wanted to get another source of information to confirm the research on this kata. Master Nagamine, who also studied Chinto from Kyan, passed on to me the same thing my teachers had shared with me and that is to always be to the side or not in front of an opponent. Master Nagamine took the notebook that

I had with me and drew a diagram of how the Chinto kata should be performed and he wrote much of the bunkai of the kata in my notebook. The information that he gave me was almost identical to what Master Shimabukuro teaches today.

2. Cross Hand Kamae - The crossed hand kamae is found three times in the Matsumora Chinto Kata. The Matsumura Chinto does not utilize the crossed hand kamae but has the crossed hand block in two places. The difference between using the kamae versus the actual block is that by blocking you are limiting the understanding of the kamae. Kamae, or fighting posture, leads to the understanding of multiple applications.

3. Tai Sabaki or Body Changing - The Matsumora Chinto contains three major body changing positions. The twisting one legged stance, two,180 degree spins and three cross back step. These three important body changing moves are characteristic of the Tomari village fighting and are not found in other Okinawa kata. They also do not appear in the Matsumura Chinto version.

4. Kake Uke or Catching Block - The Matsumora Chinto has two grappling sequences in the kata that again represent the Tomari Te's emphasis of touide or grasping hand movements.

5. Nidan Tobe Geri or Double Jump Kicking - The Matsumora version of this kata utilizes the double front kick versus the jumping front kick of the Matsumura Chinto. The kicks in this kata are performed separately but in combination after assuming the cross hand posture.

These five basic teachings of Matsumora Chinto are singled out for instruction in this seminar forum to give the participants a glimpse of Kyan sensei's kata and how he put the emphasis on actual fighting in the performance of the kata.

The performance of Chinto kata by Kyan sensei was much different than the way kata is performed even on Okinawa today. I first learned this kata in individual sequences and many times we did not practice the kata from beginning to end as we do today. The kata movements were practiced only to build the fighting applications not to insure the beauty of the movement or a fluid movement to develop the body. The timing was much different before the advent of modern kata competition. The timing and sequencing was performed just to make the particular movements work in a real fighting situation. The transition to the next series of movements was not of any importance. I will attempt to lead you through the original timing and sequencing of this very important link to the old Okinawan karate.

I realize that every teacher states that the way that they perform the kata is the original way that the kata was performed. I cannot say that what I am teaching you today was the original method but I do know that Master Zenryo Shimabukuro learned this kata from Kyan sensei and it was taught to him by Master Matsumora, so the only thing keeping you from getting a glmpse of Chinto kata the way it was 150 years ago is my memory. Please forgive me in advance for I am sure that even though I have tried diligently to keep this kata as it was taught to me I have failed to some degree.