Isshinryu Kusanku Kata, Kusanku Sai, Kama and Nunchaku

In May of 2003 we hosted three days of training and demonstration in Calgary Alberta Canada with Advincula Sensei. This was the first of four Isshinkai Shunki Enbukai held at Mount Royal University.
As at all enbukai, demonstrations by the various participants are always something to look forward to. On this particular day I asked Advincula Sensei if he could demonstrate his Kusanku kama, a kata he created based on Kusanku kata. He has also created a Kusanku nunchaku kata much in the same way that Shimabuku Tatsuo created his Kusanku sai kata.

Advincula Sensei performs Kusanku kama - May 2003 Calgary Alberta Canada

After completing the kata and giving us a little history, he called up some individuals, all from different dojo, to perform with him. Simultaneously, they performed Isshinryu Karatedo’s Kusanku kata, Isshinryu Kobudo’s Kusanku sai, Advincula Sensei’s Kusanku nunchaku, and Advincula Sensei’s Kusanku kama. This was an unplanned, spur of the moment demonstration by the four of them. They did not rehearse or take any time to practice before presenting it, so it's not perfect.

Ian Johnston​ - Kusanku (empty hand), Richard Rosenthal​ - Kusanku sai, Arcenio Advincula​ - Kusanku kama, Les Fugata - Kusanku nunchaku - May 2003 Calgary Alberta Canada

Now a question related to Kusanku sai: Why did Shimabuku Tatsuo call his creation Kusanku sai and not Kusanku no sai as in Kyan Chotoku no sai, or Chatan Yara no sai? This, of course is only my speculation.
The Japanese no (の) particle is used to connect nouns together. It has many uses but in the case of kata names, is most often used as a possessive particle.
Kyan Chotoku no sai, a kata created by Shimabuku from techniques he learned from Kyan Chotoku so, the sai of Kyan Chotoku or Kyan Chotoku's sai (techniques). Chatan Yara no sai, the sai of Chatan Yara. Note in these cases Chatan and Kyan are both names of the places the persons named were from. They were so well known for this that people no longer needed to say that Yara guy from Chatan or Chotoku from Kyan village so the particle is dropped from the kata name. The no particle can also denote a place name such as in Urashi (Urasoe shi) no kun or the stick (bo) techniques from Urasoe city.

So now, why no Kusanku no sai? Common opinion is that Kusanku was a Chinese diplomat on Okinawa in the middle 1700's. He was the teacher of Sakugawa Kanga who developed the Kusanku kata based on Kusanku's teachings. He developed and named the kata to honour his teacher.
Shimabuku Tatsuo developed and named the Kyan Chotoku no sai kata based on Kyan Chotoku's sai teachings and named it to honour his teacher but Kusanku sai was not really based on Kusanku's teachings as it is not known if Kusanku taught or practiced sai so Kusanku no sai or the sai of Kusanku would be incorrect. Advincula Sensei has done the same in naming his Kusanku nunchaku and Kusanku kama kata the same way as Shimabuku Tatsuo. In this way he again is honouring his teacher.

"The origins of the systemization of kobudo are unclear. According to Nakamoto Masahiro, “Many of the names of kata of kobudo were devised taking the names of our predecessors. Kata names were created from someone’s name, from the name of a family or house, from a region or a hamlet name (yago), from the name of an island, as well as named on the particularity of the kata itself, according to people’s aspiration or natural phenomenon. Among various theories, the various weapon kata of Okinawa kobudo were given names characterized by the name of the one who created a kata and the names of the followers. However, because of some imperfection in teaching systems and the principle of extreme secrecy, as well as the states of affairs of the society, many kata disappeared with the death of first generation masters. It may also be considered that many kata were also forgotten”.

(Okinawa Dento Kobudo History and Spirit,  Nakamoto Masahiro, 1983 English edition. 2008)

"About kon and bo kata names, “There are 8 categories of names. 1. Names devised taking the names of our predecessors (Shirotaru no kon, Choun no kun); 2. Names devised by a name (Tokumine no kun, Soshi no kun, Sakugawa no kun, Oshiro no kun); 3. Names devised by a hamlet name (Hantagawa kurabo); 4. Names devised by a region name (Yonegawa no kun, Urasoe bo); 5. Name devised by an island name (Tsuken bo, Chikin Sunakake no kun); 6. Name devised according to the form characteristics (Shihokiri, Tsuki bo, 9 shaku bo); 7. Name devised according to aspiration or natural phenomenon (Tenryu no kun); 8. Name devised according to a material (Kongo no kun).”
“Many weapon kata of Okinawa kobudo were given names relating to the name of the one who created a kata and the names of the followers. From the fact that the names of kata passed on to us today are of Okinawan origins, one can think that many of these kata were invented and devised by Okinawans’ hands.” (Traditional Kobudo of Okinawa – Introduction)"

From: http://okkb.org/karateandkobudo/stylesandschools/kobudo

Kusanku sai would fall somewhere between #2, names devised by a name and #6, name devised according to the form characteristics.

Advincula Sensei performs Kusanku nunchaku - August 2001 Pismo Beach California Obon Festival

Advincula Sensei now calls the above kata he created Kusanku sho kama and Kusanku sho nunchaku, with sho meaning short or smaller, as he has now incorporated additional techniques in them which are not seen in these versions.

Here is Advincula Sensei performing the long version of Kusanku nunchaku.

Finally, another video of Kusanku sai, Kusanku sho nunchaku, and Kusanku sho kama all at the same time. With Mike Storms and Carol Womak.

The above videos were extracted from Advincula Sensei’s DVD Video series recorded at Mike Storms Karate, Mandeville Louisiana USA ã 2003 AJ Advincula, M Storms, SSI, LLC, and used with permission

If you are interested in more information or wish to order copies please follow this link and contact Mr. Storms.
http://isshinkai.net/ordering01-DVD_Products.html

For further reading:

Who, the what, the why
Advincula Sensei's thoughts on creating kata
http://www.msisshinryu.com/articles/aja/isshinkai/katagwa.shtml

"I  have said this about kata. You can only know for sure the true meaning of a kata if you know the person who created it and why. Unless you were their (sic) at the time it was being created you can only speculate the who, the what and the why." AJA

Response to question about by Kusanku Sai
Advincula Sensei answers the question: Why did Shimabuku choose Kusanku kata as the basis for a sai kata?
http://www.msisshinryu.com/articles/aja/kusankusai.shtml

"Maekawa Sensei also told me that you could use kobudo weapons in any kata and started to show the first part of Kyan No Sai stating Seiunchin kata.

Kusanku in my opinion is just as good as any kata to use because of its unique characteristics. It is one of the reasons and knowing what Maekawa told me and because Shimabuku did it with sai that I created my own Kusanku kama and Kusanku sai. (ed. Sensei means nunchaku not sai) And as all who have seen these kata know, I also took liberties at the end adding traditional kama or nunchaku techniques." AJA

Advincula Sensei with kama. I purchased these kama at a Korean grocery store in Calgary. They are very light and not the best quality. Definately not designed for Kobudo but they are the real article, designed for gardening. - May 2003 Calgary Alberta Canada

"Shimabuku Tatsuo Sensei did not teach kama or nunchaku so I created a kama and nunchaku kata using Kusanku kata just as Tatsuo Sensei created Kusanku sai kata.” AJA