The farm tools of Okinawa · Shorei-Kai
Kobudo
Tools of the field, turned into an art.
What it is · 古武道
The farm tools of the Okinawan peasant, studied with the same rigour as the kata.
Kobudo was born of everyday life in the fields: the pole for carrying buckets, the threshing flail, the handle of the mill where grain was ground. In the practitioner’s hands, each tool teaches distance, angle and timing.
At Shorei-Kan Europe it has its own branch: Kobudo Shorei-Kai.
The tools
Five tools. One method.
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Bo
The long wooden pole used to carry buckets. The foundation of the whole system.
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Sai
Made of iron and brought from China: the exception among the farm tools.
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Tonfa
Born from the handle of the mill used to grind grain.
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Nunchaku
Two pieces of wood joined by a cord: the flail used for threshing.
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Kama
The harvest sickle. It asks for precision and full attention.
Shorei-Kai · Hidari gomon
The crest of a kingdom
Hidari gomon: three turning commas, the crest of the royal house of Ryukyu. The emblem of the school’s kobudo.
Shorei-Kai is the school’s kobudo branch, created by Saiko Shihan Tamano, who also studied kobudo with Shimpo Matayoshi.
It was Toguchi Sensei who showed him that kobudo lacked kumite. That is why every tool here has its own Kiso Kumite and bunkai.
«You do not learn to use a tool. You learn to understand distance, angle and timing.»
The door is open.
Find a dojo near you or write to us. The first class is the first step on the path.