GOJU-RYU AND NAIHANCHI, PART 2

In September 2023 I published the article GOJU-RYU AND NAIHANCHI, where I partially reconstructed the story of the relationship between this Shorin-ryu kata and the Goju-ryu style, also dispelling some myths. In the same article I also talked about the fact that this kata was also practiced in the dojos of some students of Miyagi Chojun sensei, including the Meibukan dojo of Yagi Meitoku sensei, at least until the 1950s.

 

In recent days, carrying out in-depth research on Chibana Choshin sensei, I came across an article that appeared in the Okinawa Times on February 28, 1969, that is, two days after the death of the man who went down in history as "The last warrior of Shuri", as well as the founder of Shorin-ryu. The article in question, simply titled "Remembering Mr. Chibana Choshin" (Chibana Choshin-shi o shinobu), bears the signature of Yagi Meitoku sensei, who in addition to remembering Chibana sensei in a more than honorable manner, also speaks briefly about the relationship between the two of them. Yagi sensei wrote that although he was a practitioner of Goju-ryu, therefore belonging to a different style from that of Chibana sensei, he still went to see him when he had free time, and that from these meetings he learned many things about Karate. He further wrote that he made these visits with the intention of absorbing from the sensei what he needed to learn.

 

Given that Yagi sensei practiced and taught the Naihanchi kata, that Naihanchi is a fundamental kata for the Shorin-ryu of Chibana sensei's school, and given what emerged from the 1969 article, it is very likely that in these meetings with Chibana sensei, Yagi Meitoku had the opportunity to study this very important kata.