Kobudo

Karate-Do and Kobudo (“The Way of Old Martial Arts”, commonly translated as weapons) have often been linked as one. Many schools teach them as separate classes, but eventually make it a requirement to learn Kobudo in order to test for an advanced rank and Shodan. When someone first starts learning…

My previous article on Matayoshi’s Kingai-ryu sparked a large bit of interest and I would like to do a follow up on some of the things that I have learned. Of the three videos I offered in my previous post, it appears that all three originate from the teaching of…

In the first post about Matayoshi Kobudo, I talked primarily about the sai. In the last post about Hakutsuru I discussed the various weapons that were taught to Shinko Matayoshi, including bojutsu. This post will be about the bojutsu of both Matayoshi Kobudo and Yamashita-Matayoshi Kobudo. Note: The bo in…

Matayoshi’s Karate is often overlooked, due to the families’ Kobudo skills overshadowing it. I want to talk about the unarmed fighting skills of the family. To do this, I will first talk about the history of Shinko Matayoshi and then his son Shinpo Matayoshi. Then I will give some insight…

Tonight I would like to start a series on another form of Budo (Martial Way) that I study, Kobudo (Old Martial Way or Weapons). I study under the Matayoshi lineage. Shinpo Matayoshi was one the most amazing martial artists who ever lived. He pushed the idea of a school who…