琉球古武道保存振興会

Society for the Preservation and Promotion of Ancient Martial Arts of the Ryukyu Islands

Seminars & Events 9 (The start of 2008)

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Fumio Nagaishi

by John Oberle 29/01/2008

We received the following tribute of one of the older Kobudo Budo-ka from John Oberle.

Nagaishi Sensei’s branch dojo is in Honolulu at the Kapahulu Community Centre. While he continues to train at home with his wife, he no longer teaches on a regular basis at the dojo. Training is held Tuesdays and Thursdays from roughly 7 pm to 9 pm. Classes are small, usually consisting of three to four people taught by long-time friend and student Sensei Pat Nakata, who is his main spokesperson. Nakata Sensei began training with Nagaishi Sensei over four decades ago. Nagaishi Sensei’s main representative and designated successor is Alan Yokota.

Fumio Nagaishi was born in Hawaii in 1926. In his early years, he trained as a boxer and was actively involved in sports. After completion of his US military service in 1950, he went to Okinawa as a US civil servant. He gained an interest in karate and became a student of the legendary Chibana Chosin Sensei in 1955. Nagaishi Sensei’s knowledge of English and Japanese enabled him to be an important liaison for many American students wishing to learn Okinawan martial arts. While he had received some instruction in weaponry previously, he began to take private lessons from Shinei Kyan Sensei in 1963. Upon meeting Taira Shinken Sensei in 1965, he started private lessons at his house until Taira Sensei passed away in 1970. Afterwards, Nagaishi Sensei joined the Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinkokai and aided Akamine Sensei in spreading the art of Taira Sensei's kobudo. In 1988, he returned to Hawaii and established the Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinkokai Hawaii branch in honour of Taira Sensei. Nagaishi Sensei’s designated successor is Alan Yokota, and both he and Nakata Sensei continue Nagaishi Sensei’s Ryukyu Kobudo.
There is no website for Nagaishi Sensei or the dojo.
 

News from New Zealand

Derek English 27/01/2008

2007 was a great year for promoting, encouraging, and supporting the practice and teaching of Ryukyu Kobudo here in New Zealand and training groups have sprouted up all over the country. We would like to share the following photos with everyone to show some highlights of the Training Camps (Gasshuku), Workshops and Musings that we have had throughout the year and throughout the country; including my getting together with old friend, Hennie Devries in Melbourne.

I have had the fortune of being able to travel the length and breadth of New Zealand this year to promote
Ryukyu Kobudo and to meet and train with some wonderful people along the way; cultivating the Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinko Kai principles of community, friendship, respect and responsibility. I believe that these ideals have enabled our Martial Arts Community to grow, mature, remain positive, and transcend the boundaries that would normally - and sadly - keep many of us apart. And, being able to meet and train with such a diverse range of skilled and prominent Martial Arts Practitioners has been a most rewarding and encouraging experience for us all.

I am proud of the way our Community is developing, in particular, the encouragement and support we are all giving each other. As part of the Ryukyu Kobudo Worldwide Community that fosters friendship and cooperation with other martial arts schools, we are part of a diverse culture which enables us to function as a part of various Dojo and groups without belonging exclusively to any one organization. I believe that through this diversity we are able to enrich ourselves and grow; cultivating our martial skill (bujutsu) and martial ethic (budo) in cooperation with others while avoiding and overcoming the silliness, negativity, and utter waste of time of the ‘Us & Them’ ideology. It is in this spirit that we here in New Zealand stand as a country and not as our individual styles, clubs, organizations, or regions.

My thanks to everyone for their support in helping make the promotion and practice of Ryukyu Kobudo in New Zealand both possible and positive. I am looking forward to an even greater year this year.

We have an excellent Kobudo year ahead for us and we wish all of you the same, wherever you are.

My South African Trip 2007.
Photo Album

Fumiya Matayoshi
September 6, 2007—November 26, 2007
 

First, I want to say thank you to Emile and Penny van Heerden and all the South African guys. I really appreciate about organized my schedule and all your help.

This was my first trip overseas and I was nervous about whether or not I could communicate using English. I stayed at Stephan Coetzee’s house for the first week. The first night I arrived I taught Kobudo at Arnold de Beer Sensei’s Dojo in Glenvista, Johannesburg. The first Saturday there was a Gasshuku at Bosco Youth Center. Even thought they are all Goju Ryu karate style, they asked me to teach a little bit of Shorin-ryu karate.
The next weekend was a tournament at Fourways High School where we did a kobudo demonstration. We performed nunchaku kata, bo kata, sai kata, and bo vs. sai. Next, I stayed at Stef Biagioni’s house for a week and I taught with Stef’s at many different schools and at his Dojo. I was very surprised at how busy he is!!! He must have a lot of energy to teach all those children!

The next week I stayed at Arnold Sensei’s house and taught his Dojo. It was very easy to teach the children at Arnold Sensei’s Dojo since I had met many of them Gasshuku the week before. Teaching kobudo to the adults was also easy since Kuniyoshi-sensei and others did a seminar with them a few months before I arrived. I concentrated on building good kobudo basics since it is very important.
After Arnold Sensei’s Dojo, I went to Pretoria, and stayed at Arina Britz’s house and taught Kobudo in Tony de Beer Sensei’s Dojo. Their main focus is karate, so they don’t usually have a chance to practice kobudo, so I focused on teaching kobudo basics. I was very impressed with the way they tried their best to follow me and how hard they worked. I realized how much interest they have in kobudo.

The next Dojo I went to was Marius de Beer Sensei’s Dojo in Potchefstroom for one week. In Potchefstroom I taught Kobudo for about 5 hours almost every day!!! Marius-sensei trains very very hard! Not only was he interested in kobudo, but also in my style of karate.
The next Dojo I went to was Jannie le Grange Sensei’s Dojo in George for 10 days. I did a Kobudo Gasshuku 2 times. The first Gasshuku was for the general public and was the largest amount of people I have ever taught kobudo at one time! Everyone here was very keen to learn kobudo. The children really liked learning nunchaku and I taught them simply how to get used to using the weapon. But I made sure that the kids understood that the nunchaku is not a toy and should be respected. I made sure that I told this to all the children that I taught. I also went to Wessel’s Wilms Dojo and taught karate and a little bit of kobudo to the children. I practiced kobudo with Wessel and he is also very keen to learn more kobudo and train hard.

The next Dojo I went to was Koenie Very Sensei’s Dojo in Margate. I did a Kobudo Gasshuku for 2 days. The children here also loved the nunchaku and I taught them the same way that I taught the children in George. The adults at the Gasshuku were from all different karate styles and everyone was very interested in kobudo. Mick from JKA was very interested to learn kobudo.

After Margate, I had a one class at a JKA Dojo in Johannesburg. This class started at 6am—7am and people came before work to attend. I taught the bo basics and did a demonstration for them. I also gave them a gift from Tim Jurgens.

After the JKA Dojo, I mainly taught Arnold sensei’s Dojo. There was also one night I was lucky enough to visit a JKA Dojo in Springs with Stephan. This Dojo was in the mainly black community and I think I was the first Asian person to ever teach them! Stephan and I did various demonstrations and I was very proud that we could introduce kobudo to them.

After that I mainly taught at Arnold sensei’s Dojo until I returned to Okinawa. We did a morning practice and an evening practice almost everyday. We all worked very hard together.

I feel that the South African people love Karate and Kobudo very much and very keen to learn. I felt welcome everywhere I went and all of my hosts took me sight seeing to various places. Between practices I was able to see so much of this beautiful country…everything is so much different from Okinawa! Everything is big! The food was wonderful! This experience has definitely widened my view of the world and will always be a treasure for me. They made me feel very comfortable at home. I have created another family in South Africa…my kobudo family! I am proud of being able to teach Ryukyu Kobudo in South Africa.

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