11/30/2013 TUITE

TUITE  11.30.2013

     In the old style of Okinawa Karate or Te as it was called then, (1750-1880),  it wasn’t just known for being a strike, kick, block type of  fighting art.  The way of “Te” was a grappling, joint lock art.  A lot of the techniques were a hands on way of self-defense.  The art most likely came from China’s chin na marital art. Chin na can be translated as Chin means to catch or seize, like a tiger catching a prey, Na means to hold and control.   Chin na was the art that use grabbing, control type of techniques,  it was what the police used to apprehend the bad guys.  There is also some speculation that the Japanese arts of Ju-jitsu, and Aikido came from Chin na.   The principles of the three arts are the same, control the opponent’s body as fast as you can by seizing and locking the weak points and by only having to use a small amount of  strength.   I always think back on what Master Takazawa told me “80% of all Marital arts are the same, its the way it’s pass on that makes the style”.

The Okinawan karate masters were greatly influenced by Chinese marital arts.  Some traveled to China just to train with them.  There was also a great number of Chinese living and working on Okinawa, who would train in their own styles.  The art of Chin na  could be referred to as Eagle claw, Tiger Claw, and names like that, mostly due to the fact that it was a seizing, elbow breaking , muscle separation, vital point hitting, bend your fingers the wrong way, striking and kicking, type of art. These types of styles made up the majority of Chinese arts, the different schools would specialize on one or more of the techniques in china na and a whole new style of Kung fu was formed.

Which leads us to Okinawa and Tuite. In all of our katas  the Bunkai (application) has the grappling and controlling techniques of Chin na.  I feel that these are the true applications that were passed on to us. But through the years when new Bunkai was added, they interpreted the applications as a strike or an escape movement, so the way of looking at kata changed.  I teach at least three different applications to the movements in the kata, a strike, a grappling move, or an escape, but this is not all they could be or maybe even what the master that created the kata had in mind.  I was taught that the way to pass on the kata’s application was to show the student how to look at each movement for the appropriate response, and come up with their way to do it.  Some of the Bunkai I teach are what was passed on to me and some are what I have come up with by practicing the kata for years.  Also by keeping an open mind and training with other styles and teachers, I learned  a lot of ways to do the same technique, which opened up the door to new applications.

If we look at the original definition of the words we can get an insight to what the techniques originally meant. Tui can mean”to grab” te  meams hands, our word for sparring, Kumite means crossing hands,  or grappling hand. The Okinawa’s used the word tegumi (kumite) to mean  wrestling.  In our katas there are Tuite techniques in them, we just need to be looking for them.  Tuite can be put into five categories :  Dividing muscle and tendon,  Misplacing the bone,  Sealing the breath,  Sealing or blocking the vein or artery,  Pressing the nerve. Think of these meanings when you are doing kata.  In the tekki kata (naifanchi), which were the first kata that the old masters taught to their students, You learned the angle and direction to use these techniques and to look for the double meanings in them (is it a grab or a strike).

So when Tuite was first used it was to control and to stop the person from hurting themselves or some one else. When it starting being a true self-defense art the Karate Masters could use both arts, grab and pull with one hand (tuite) , while striking with the other hand. You could also use a throwing technique (tuite) then follow with a punch or stomp. Our katas are rich in applications we just have to keep training to discover all they have to offer.

   See you in the dojo

 

 

 

 

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US Branch of Japan Keishinkan Karate