The Secret Royal Martial Arts of Ryukyu [ペーパーバック]

'The secret royal martial arts of Ryukyu' is a trip in time back to the origin of karate. It appears to confirm the research and theories of Bruce D Clayton in his book 'Shotokan's secret' (which I highly recommend) where he proposes that, aside from Okinawan 'te' and Chinese 'kung fu', many forms of karate had the further origin in Japanese 'ju-jutsu' and many weapon arts. This book is not for the beginner, it is more an informative guide regarding the original form of Okinawan martial art which has been kept alive in secret. The pictures would not be of particular use to a beginner as they cannot be followed in practice without a degree of experience in similar movements. The photo's are black and white and often of poor quality and while the translation has been excellently done the book leaves you wishing that it was much more comprehensive and useable as a working textbook. However, I rated this book at five stars as there is no equivalent work (upon this school of martial art) extant currently to my knowledge, although as I mention Bruce D Clayton has done an extremely good job of coming close. This book will be a benefit to anyone practicing a style of karate derived from Shuri origins, particularly if you have sufficient experience to recognise the applications demonstrated in the photo's.

Along with all the popular interest in *self-defense Karate* and *free-sparring Karate* and [seemingly] further onward into MMA [mixed martial arts], there seems to be a fairly common impression that most of *that old-school Do martial arts stuff* is increasingly unrelated to current times. In particular, it is suppossed that *that Do stuff* is hopelessly tangled in *ancient tradition* and therefore *rigid patterns* -- that even more, in particular, is *just by-the-numbers standing dance*. Some folk would even seem to practice the *ancient ceremony and ritual of Kata patterns* -- to knowingly recreate a little bit of a half-lost Way of Life. A few folk [such as myself] even still seek to find out what is possible about the living vitality of the full spectrum of *Karate-do* -- that would seem currently alive if it would include integrated *self-defense* sparring, grappling and weapons usage -- leading into *health-defense* and even *spirit-defense*.

"The Secret Royal Martial Arts of RyuKyu* presents aspects NOT commonly seen -- that seem to address the above topics in a good way towards providing a look-see into *that old-school Do martial arts stuff*. For me, this book has verified that from Udun-di to Shuri-di to Tomari-di to Naha-di to Shotokan Karate-do and even to [Hawaii] Kenpo Karate-do -- there runs a deep stream of *Ibukido* [unwar-spirit-way] -- that involves Kata being equally Arts of *kumite* [sparring], *tegumi* [grappling] and *kobudo* [weapons] -- LIKE a unified *form* of *karate*, *aikido* and *arnis*. And, centered practice of such *ancient Kata*, can develop *form, mind and will in parallel*. Karate-do Kata [can] even have a Sword Way as shown by the following quote [from page #3 of the book under review] and some further clues and cues ---

"The Ryukyu Kingdom was unparalled as the "Nation of Courtesy." For over 300 years, inside the royal castle at Shuri, a unique martial art was developed in response to Chinese and Japanese prototypes, and passed on in utmost secrecy. This martial art is known as *Ryukyu Oke Hiden Bujutsu*, which transilates as The Secret Royal Martial Arts of Ryukyu. It is the acccumulated wisdom of both martial and academic studies of the past kings. The secret techniques are found within the sword, which are able to defeat any opponent. It is also easily applied to the movements of dance, making it truely a curious art." Now, compare to "Shotokan's Secret" [book] and the traditional fists, grips and canes of Kata, and we can begin to see *The Do of that old Karate-do* +++

The martial arts community owes Joe Swift a big debt of gratitude for translating Matsuo's fairly comprehensive book on his adaptation of Motobu Udundi, the "Motobu Palace" style of martial arts made famous by the late centenarian Uehara Seikichi, one the the greatest martial artists of the 20th century. Although the translated edition is relatively expensive and the photos are produced at a much lower quality level than the original, the information contained in the book is the most authoritative on this little-known system and is a major addition to the literature in English on the Okinawan martial arts. Swift had translated many primary sources and written extensively on the martial arts. I hope he will continue to translate important finds like Matsuo's book, although he might find it useful to work with another on-demand publisher that can produce a slightly higher quality edition at a lower cost.