Kodawari Hombu Dojo Ryusei-ha Ryukyu Kempo Karate-jutsu
Kodawari Hombu Dojo
Ryusei-ha Ryukyu Kobudo
If you are new to the Kodawari Hombu Dojo are the arts that we teach, we highly recommend the following link to you as it covers the unarmed aspect of the combative arts in our system.
As stated elsewhere on this website, the main1Notice the use of “main”. We do also teach Modern Arnis along with other influences from Kali and Escrima that concentrates primarily on the knife (daga), single stick (solo baston) and double stick (doble baston). More information can be found by clicking here. weapons art taught by the Kodawari Hombu Dojo (こだわり本部道場) is Ryusei-ha Ryukyu Kobudo (龍精派琉球古武道)2Ryusei (龍精) translates to Dragon Spirit, ha (派) translates to school, version or faction, Ryukyu(琉球) refers to the Okinawa island chain and Kobudo (古武道) translates to old or ancient martial ways.. This style is based upon the original teachings of the Matayoshi family or lineage style of Kobudo (又吉古武道).
It is very much our hope that you will find this page to be one of the most informative available on Matayoshi Kobudo (in particular) and on Ryukyu Kobudo as well.
International Matayoshi Kobudo Association: Nunchaku Renzoku Kumite
In the Matayoshi kobudo tradition or lineage (又吉派沖縄古武道), and many others, students (and instructors) of the art wear the kuro-shiro gi (黒白着) or “black white uniform” as you see pictured below.
An example of the kuro-shiro (黒白) gi of Matayoshi Kobudo
Please Just Use
Matayoshi Kobudo has a large number of weapons within the overall system. We have listed most of them below along with what we feel is important accompanying information.
All weapons showing a small green checkmark are either taught by the Kodawari Hombu Dojo as a part of the Ryusei-ha Ryukyu Kobudo system OR are weapons that Sensei Davis is proficient in. Sensei Davis does NOT teach all weapons listed here or all weapons contained within Matayoshi Kobudo.
All weapons showing a “My Favorite” image are those weapons that Sensei Davis considers as a personal favorite in his own personal training. You should expect to see more about them on this site in the coming weeks and months.
The rokushaku bo3Rokushaku means six shaku, a shaku being .994 feet, so the traditional length is 72 inches. (六尺棒) or just the bo (棒) is usually the first weapon taught in most Okinawan kobudo schools or lineages (沖縄古武道) and Matayoshi Kobudo is no different.
Bo Katas
Shūshi no Kon
Chōun no Kon
Sakugawa no Kon
Tsuken no Kon
Soeishi no Kon
(Click On Any Image To Enlarge)
The tonfa (旋棍)
The tonfa has more than a few interesting “origin stories”. One is, as you might have guessed, Chinese in origin. It is the guai (拐) and is sometimes also called the er zi guai (二字拐) or two character baton. Also the Ox Horn Double Crutch (Niujiao Guai). While it does have a similar look, this is a Northern Chinese weapon and would probably not have been the source of the Okinawan weapon.
双拐 梅修鹏（江苏)Kung Fu Double Ox Horn Crutches rare weapon
Another “interesting” origin story comes from the art of Krabi-Krabong (กระบี่กระบอง) in Thailand. Their weapon is called a mai sok san (ไม้ศอกสั้น)
In the traditional Matayoshi kobudo lineage, this is the third weapon taught to students with the second weapon being the sai. As noted below, we reverse this order as it has been our experience that the tonfa is a better second weapon. Your mileage may, of course, vary.
As you can see from the information above, the tonfa has a number of potential origin stories. Personally, I believe that when you just apply common sense to the situation, this particular weapon probably originated from Okinawa itself. Anyone, from that period of time in history, that was concerned with someone swinging any sort of weapon at them (especially anything that was not a bladed weapon) is going to eventually (and probably pretty quickly!) come up with the idea of having something that runs the length of the lower arm that can block and deflect it. If you have that thought, then it is not difficult to figure out how the handle should work (being at a 90 degree angle to the body of the weapon) so that you can keep it in the desired place. Then, lastly, that person is able to see that the handle design allows not only the ability to “flip” the tonfa out and back, but also provides for alternative grips on the weapon that provide additional methods of striking, hooking and grappling with it.
The sai (釵)4 The kanji 釵 originally refers to an ornamental hairpin. However, the more modern usage is now for the weapon originating from Okinawa. It is interesting to note that this same character reads as hairpin in Chinese as well is another interesting weapon, especially in terms of origin stories.
Sai Katas
Matayoshi no Sai Dai Ichi (Nicho Sai)
Matayoshi no Sai Dai Ni (Sancho Sai)
Shinbaru no Sai
In the traditional Matayoshi kobudo lineage, the sai is the second weapon that is taught to students. We, however, slightly disagree with this. We believe that the tonfa (旋棍) is a better choice of second weapon and then moving onto the sai. Either way should be fine and would not be any sort of deal breaker. However, our line of thought is that the tonfa provides an easier learning process for a weapon that has not only a similar size, but is also similar in many of the ways that it is used.
Origin Theories of the Sai
Since there are so many potential origin stories and theories concerning the sai, we are going to lay them all out and then apply just a little “common sense” for your consideration.
Eku Kata
Tsuken Akanchū no Uēku-dī
Matayoshi Shinpo Tsuken Akachu no Ekudi 又吉眞豊.
Eku Jutsu - AIKO Matayoshi Kobudo
Kan'ei nu Tekkô Matayoshi Kobudo
(Click on any image to enlarge)
Michael Davis and Sensei Greg Poitras (Kyoshi, 7th dan)
- 1Notice the use of “main”. We do also teach Modern Arnis along with other influences from Kali and Escrima that concentrates primarily on the knife (daga), single stick (solo baston) and double stick (doble baston). More information can be found by clicking here.
- 2Ryusei (龍精) translates to Dragon Spirit, ha (派) translates to school, version or faction, Ryukyu(琉球) refers to the Okinawa island chain and Kobudo (古武道) translates to old or ancient martial ways.
- 3Rokushaku means six shaku, a shaku being .994 feet, so the traditional length is 72 inches.
- 4The kanji 釵 originally refers to an ornamental hairpin. However, the more modern usage is now for the weapon originating from Okinawa. It is interesting to note that this same character reads as hairpin in Chinese as well
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- 1Notice the use of “main”. We do also teach Modern Arnis along with other influences from Kali and Escrima that concentrates primarily on the knife (daga), single stick (solo baston) and double stick (doble baston). More information can be found by clicking here.
- 2Ryusei (龍精) translates to Dragon Spirit, ha (派) translates to school, version or faction, Ryukyu(琉球) refers to the Okinawa island chain and Kobudo (古武道) translates to old or ancient martial ways.
- 3Rokushaku means six shaku, a shaku being .994 feet, so the traditional length is 72 inches.
- 4The kanji 釵 originally refers to an ornamental hairpin. However, the more modern usage is now for the weapon originating from Okinawa. It is interesting to note that this same character reads as hairpin in Chinese as well
