ryoute freestyle karate, ryoute, double hand grappling, kata bunkai, kata applications, kusanku, naihanchi, naifuanchi, tekki, sanchin, rokushu, tensho, passai, bassai, cross hand grappling

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FROM ZEN SHORIN DO
TO RYOUTE
TO THE FUTURE

ZEN; IT STARTED TO FALL APART

There was a time in the history of Zen Shorin Do Karate when the kata known as Sanchin was used for pushing hands. As a practitioner I was quite proud of the fact that we only used material from our kata and nothing else. It gave Zen Shorin Do a feel of completeness. Sanchin (our first kata) was for pushing hands, Rokushu (our second kata) was used for grip escapes and Naifuanchin (our third kata) was a double hand grappling kata. But inevitably it fell apart. I had put much effort into getting my pushing hands to resemble Sanchin and encouraged others to do the same. Zen Shorin Do had a style of pushing hands unlike any other style. Structurally it was closer to sticking hands from Wing Chun than it was to Tai Chi’s style of pushing hands. Of course it was influenced heavily by Wing Chun because Nathan Johnson (one of the founders) was a Wing Chun instructor. Maybe this is just what you get when you stick a load of Karate ka and Wing Chun practitioners in the same room, and then make them build something out of Sanchin. But perhaps this is a simplification.

Sadly Sanchin is not a pushing hands kata, and when Nathan et al realised this, the art started to fall apart for me. I might have been more receptive to this change in the art, if it wasn’t for the fact that when I suggested Sanchin was for grappling (less than a year before) the idea was poo-poo-ed (in favour of increasingly elaborate pushing hands applications). But who am I to argue with the masters? I guess sheer bloody mindedness pushed me to put all my effort into making my pushing hands look like Sanchin. If I couldn’t change anything by suggesting an alternative theory that was more likely, then I would have to disprove it by following it to its logical conclusion. I don’t remember feeling resentful at the time but with hindsight maybe I should; but never mind!

At first I was excited because we were at last starting to really understand Sanchin. But, when I went back to Birmingham and out of the Zen Shorin Do mainstream it hit me. ‘There is no pushing hands kata!’ Aided by my brother David we devised a system that contained all the applications from Zen Shorin Do kata but did not contain any pushing hands. We then set about teaching it under the Zen Shorin Do banner. We believed this was reasonable, we were only using Zen Shorin Do kata and nothing else. We thought we were totally justified in changing the Zen Shorin Do format to make it more consistent with its kata. However this was a naïve belief! The upshot was that I couldn’t get anyone through a grading because they didn’t know pushing hands; even though they new all the applications to the kata. So I had to teach pushing hands anyway just to get people through gradings. I reluctantly put all the details of our system onto a video tape and sent it to Nathan in the hope that it might change things. Again this was naïve and in the usual fashion it got poo-poo-ed. Essentially this material was a prototype for what was to become double hand grappling, but it still lacked a key ingredient. As a possible solution I attempted to base a system of pushing hands on the Wooden Dummy form from Wing Chun. This served as a bridge between mainstreamed Zen Shorin Do and what I was teaching. However the difference between what I was teaching and the mainstream still caused me problems. Later on I found that the Wooden Dummy form wasn’t a pushing hands form anyway.

THEN IT ALL CAME TOGETHER

What I was teaching was essentially a highly structured form of double hand grappling. All the techniques were either cross handed double handed grappling or non-cross handed double handed grappling techniques. At this time I had developed a great faith in double hand grappling leading to a more general solution to karate kata; I just didn’t know how.

WHERE IS THIS ALL GOING?

Future plans include an idea that I call “The Ryoute Grid”. Whilst double hand grappling explains a lot of karate kata it does not explain Sanchin and Rokushu. Also it does not explain the three Wing Chun forms Sul Lim Tao, Chum Kil, Bil Jee which I hold in very high regard. Why does this matter? Well, it matters to me because (as with Sanchin and Rokushu) I know their applications but I have not yet found a suitable format in which to use them. They don’t fit double hand grappling or pushing hands, so what is the answer? I think the answer lies in the foot work. In my understanding these forms are nothing more than grip escapes to be used when various grappling techniques are done to you. However these techniques are not natural when done on a surface where both people can easily change position and stance. It is far too easy to reduce all of these techniques to a few simple techniques by shifting your stance and body weight. So why do the Wing Chun forms describe such a vast variety of techniques? This question has led me to the idea of the Ryoute grid. The grid is a simple array of raised surfaces for example polls or post sticking out of the ground. Thus it becomes impossible to reduce techniques as described above because this would cause you to fall off or at least lose you balance. This also explains the odd foot work in these kata. The kata have a characteristic of alternating between rooted stances and circular foot movements as you would expect if you were transferring your weight from one poll to the next. However at the moment this is only a theory and not a reality. But we intend to build a fully movable and adjustable platform in order to test this theory.

Also we will be developing a set of Ryoute kata based on the ideas of Yin and Yang. In essence there are two types of behaviour that one can adopt during free-play, these are, Yin (going with) or Yang (resisting). However it is also possible to do both or neither simultaneously. For example beginners tend to do neither and advance practitioners tend to do both. Therefore there are 64 different possible combinations of things that can happen. You being yin / you not being yin, you being yang / you not being yang, the other person being yin / the other person not being yin, the other person being yang / the other person not being yang, double hand grappling / single hand grappling, you gripping / you being gripped. That is 2x2x2x2x2x2=64 (just like the I Ching). Of course this does not cover all available techniques in Ryoute. Our intension is that if you are grading in Ryoute you can choose what kata to study from a centralised online database. And if you are an instructor you can invent kata and upload it to this database. With this principle we would hope to see a continuous development of kata and Ryoute become a living art.

This brings me onto the idea of www.katabunkai.com where the applications of kata can be published by anyone. The idea here is to attempt to bring the scientific method to the somewhat ‘alchemistic’ field of karate kata bunkai. Most people teaching karate kata bunkai are not applying any scientific methodology to figuring out what they are. They simply adapt the kata movement into whatever technique they want. This is made to work in a dojo environment because you can make anything work in a dojo environment. Repetitive training builds up a subconscious conditioning between training partners such that even the most ridiculous technique can seem effective. Even when you try to exercise your conscious mind to try and prevent it from working the conditioning can still win through. There is a methodology behind studying kata that goes beyond making assumptions as to their application and manner of use. As I said to Rob once “If kata bunkai was a true scientific discipline then popular karate applications would be laughed out of the lecture theatre.” Modern bunkai are about as backward as believing the earth is flat. Never mind, they’ll learn.

Finally, future plans also include a Ryoute book. Basically we intend to do Ryoute techniques in a solo picture and then in a two person picture to show how these techniques look exactly like karate kata. This will be accompanied with poetry to attempt to break through the dogma propagated by modern karate. I think this will give rise to large number of annoyed karate ka. But to hell with them, why shouldn’t I speak the truth?

So that is Ryoute, past, present and future. We are coming! So be ready!

Martin A Clewett