Masaji Taira
Encyclopedia
Masaji Taira
Masaji Taira is a leading teacher of Okinawa Goju Ryu Karate Do, in the manner of the Jundokan dojo in Okinawa and of his teacher Ei'ichi Miyazato. He heads the Okinawa Goju Ryu Jundokan Karate Do Kenkyukai. He is best known as a researcher and practitioner of the bunkai
of the Goju Ryu kata. He is unusually open in his teachings, feeling that the techniques and learning must be shared, for their preservation and to test their effectiveness.
When he was young on Kume Island the kids all used to do Okinawa Sumo. They would go to the sand pit when they were in school and do that during break times. There were always Okinawa Sumo competitions and tournaments between the different villages.
at the Jundokan dojo of Miyazato Ei'ichi Sensei. There was a break in his Karate training when he joined the Japanese police force. He has trained continuously at Goju Ryu Karate
since he was 21.
He joined the Japanese Police Force when he graduated from High School. As part of his riot police training he was required to learn Judo
. He achieved his Judo
black belt in 3 months, when 6 months was more common. He attributes this to his childhood Okinawa Sumo training. He is currently 4th dan in Judo.
His day as a member of the riot squad ended at 5pm whereby he would make the journey from Gushikawa City where he was stationed to the Jundokan in Naha where from 6pm to 10pm every night he would pursue his karate
training with an equal dedication under the guidance of the late Eiichi Miyazato Sensei, founder of the Jundokan and heir to Chojun Miyagi Sensei.
While in his early years at the Jundokan he met a senior in the Dojo called Shinko Gima Sensei. Gima Sensei is a very wiry, extremely strong man whose kata exudes power. Although a slight man, he is formidable in his speed and execution of technique. Realising they were on a similar path the two men teamed up and spent their time in the dojo training together. Both hating to lose there were many battle scars received on both sides. After the dojo on many occasions, taken by the spirit of perfecting their technique, they would make their way to the hills of Madanbashi approximately an hours walk from the Jundokan. There they would spend their time training until sunrise on some occasions. Being the hills and given Okinawa's tropical climate, the mosquitos were always in abundant supply giving them all the more reason to keep moving.
Most of Taira Sensei's Karate career has revolved around his focus on the Bunkai
of the Kata
. He has painstakingly dissected the kata and trained his body to the point where he has mastered the inner workings of Goju Ryu Kata. Taira Sensei's bunkai
is unusual in his insistence on working the kata
in sequence, rather than picking techniques from the kata in isolation. He is also adamant that the kata do not be changed to perform bunkai.
Taira Sensei's first overseas seminar was held in Seattle, Washington in 1997 and hosted by Jundokan Seattle. Since then he has been traveling the world giving seminars on his interpretations of the bunkai of the Goju Ryu kata. He has presented seminars in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Europe.
. Unlike many other teachers he does not cherry pick techniques from the kata. He believes that the Kata were designed as complete fighting systems, with logical transitions from one technique to another as a complete and complex defensive flow.
It is important not to mistake his complete kata bunkai to mean that the entire kata needs to be performed. Any single technique can be used to finish a fight. The kata works as a template to prepare the student with entry and exit points for defensive and counter moves. With a complete knowledge of the system a practitioner should be able to response to almost any attack and have a start and end point from that attack.
One of Taira Sensei's motivation in spreading his teaching world wide is to give him access to more partners of differing size and skill levels, to better test his techniques.
Quoting one his students, David Oddy
"I've been on the receiving end of his practice and believe me, you
try to resist and move away. The reason you don't see much response is because his movement is designed to maintain initiative and keep you on the defensive. He doesn't land blows because you (hopefully) know the pattern well enough to block everything, but with less experienced uke, you will find that the pattern doesn't finish because blows are landed - once blows are landed it comes to a close very quickly as it should. For example, if you were to see him try the pattern on me (even as someone who kind of knows it) you wouldn't see it in its entirety. Why not? Simply because I couldn't keep up with the defense and the fight would end in the first couple of moves. However, the established pattern would let him press the advantage and keep initiative until that happened. This is VERY relevant against an untrained attacker as karate is designed for."
In Okinawa those students most closely associated with his teachings are Keiji Ito, Satoshi Taba, Stewart Azuma and Glenn McIlvride.
Overseas students include Aivaras Engelaitis (Lithuania), Mark Kapel (New Jersey), Glenn Cunningham (Staten Island, NY), Ken Erridge (UK), Bryson Keenan (Australia), Brendan Murray (New Zealand), Dave Oddy (Syracuse, New York) and Mark Loucks (Seattle).
Masaji Taira is a leading teacher of Okinawa Goju Ryu Karate Do, in the manner of the Jundokan dojo in Okinawa and of his teacher Ei'ichi Miyazato. He heads the Okinawa Goju Ryu Jundokan Karate Do Kenkyukai. He is best known as a researcher and practitioner of the bunkai
Bunkai
, literally meaning "analysis" or "disassembly", is a term used in Japanese martial arts referring to the application of fighting techniques extracted from the moves of a "form" ....
of the Goju Ryu kata. He is unusually open in his teachings, feeling that the techniques and learning must be shared, for their preservation and to test their effectiveness.
Early Life
Taira Sensei was raised on Kume Island. His family were farmers, growing sugarcane and rice. In his third year of high school the family moved to Naha, where Taira Sensei finished his schooling.When he was young on Kume Island the kids all used to do Okinawa Sumo. They would go to the sand pit when they were in school and do that during break times. There were always Okinawa Sumo competitions and tournaments between the different villages.
Karate Career
At 16 Taira Sensei started training in Goju Ryu KarateGoju Ryu
, is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book Bubishi , used by Okinawan masters during the 19th and 20th centuries...
at the Jundokan dojo of Miyazato Ei'ichi Sensei. There was a break in his Karate training when he joined the Japanese police force. He has trained continuously at Goju Ryu Karate
Goju Ryu
, is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book Bubishi , used by Okinawan masters during the 19th and 20th centuries...
since he was 21.
He joined the Japanese Police Force when he graduated from High School. As part of his riot police training he was required to learn Judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
. He achieved his Judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
black belt in 3 months, when 6 months was more common. He attributes this to his childhood Okinawa Sumo training. He is currently 4th dan in Judo.
His day as a member of the riot squad ended at 5pm whereby he would make the journey from Gushikawa City where he was stationed to the Jundokan in Naha where from 6pm to 10pm every night he would pursue his karate
training with an equal dedication under the guidance of the late Eiichi Miyazato Sensei, founder of the Jundokan and heir to Chojun Miyagi Sensei.
While in his early years at the Jundokan he met a senior in the Dojo called Shinko Gima Sensei. Gima Sensei is a very wiry, extremely strong man whose kata exudes power. Although a slight man, he is formidable in his speed and execution of technique. Realising they were on a similar path the two men teamed up and spent their time in the dojo training together. Both hating to lose there were many battle scars received on both sides. After the dojo on many occasions, taken by the spirit of perfecting their technique, they would make their way to the hills of Madanbashi approximately an hours walk from the Jundokan. There they would spend their time training until sunrise on some occasions. Being the hills and given Okinawa's tropical climate, the mosquitos were always in abundant supply giving them all the more reason to keep moving.
Most of Taira Sensei's Karate career has revolved around his focus on the Bunkai
Bunkai
, literally meaning "analysis" or "disassembly", is a term used in Japanese martial arts referring to the application of fighting techniques extracted from the moves of a "form" ....
of the Kata
Kata
is a Japanese word describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs. The term form is used for the corresponding concept in non-Japanese martial arts in general....
. He has painstakingly dissected the kata and trained his body to the point where he has mastered the inner workings of Goju Ryu Kata. Taira Sensei's bunkai
Bunkai
, literally meaning "analysis" or "disassembly", is a term used in Japanese martial arts referring to the application of fighting techniques extracted from the moves of a "form" ....
is unusual in his insistence on working the kata
Kata
is a Japanese word describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs. The term form is used for the corresponding concept in non-Japanese martial arts in general....
in sequence, rather than picking techniques from the kata in isolation. He is also adamant that the kata do not be changed to perform bunkai.
Taira Sensei's first overseas seminar was held in Seattle, Washington in 1997 and hosted by Jundokan Seattle. Since then he has been traveling the world giving seminars on his interpretations of the bunkai of the Goju Ryu kata. He has presented seminars in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Europe.
Training Philosophy
The main focus of Taira Sensei's training is the application of Goju Ryu Kata techniques to self defense, as bunkaiBunkai
, literally meaning "analysis" or "disassembly", is a term used in Japanese martial arts referring to the application of fighting techniques extracted from the moves of a "form" ....
. Unlike many other teachers he does not cherry pick techniques from the kata. He believes that the Kata were designed as complete fighting systems, with logical transitions from one technique to another as a complete and complex defensive flow.
It is important not to mistake his complete kata bunkai to mean that the entire kata needs to be performed. Any single technique can be used to finish a fight. The kata works as a template to prepare the student with entry and exit points for defensive and counter moves. With a complete knowledge of the system a practitioner should be able to response to almost any attack and have a start and end point from that attack.
One of Taira Sensei's motivation in spreading his teaching world wide is to give him access to more partners of differing size and skill levels, to better test his techniques.
Quoting one his students, David Oddy
"I've been on the receiving end of his practice and believe me, you
try to resist and move away. The reason you don't see much response is because his movement is designed to maintain initiative and keep you on the defensive. He doesn't land blows because you (hopefully) know the pattern well enough to block everything, but with less experienced uke, you will find that the pattern doesn't finish because blows are landed - once blows are landed it comes to a close very quickly as it should. For example, if you were to see him try the pattern on me (even as someone who kind of knows it) you wouldn't see it in its entirety. Why not? Simply because I couldn't keep up with the defense and the fight would end in the first couple of moves. However, the established pattern would let him press the advantage and keep initiative until that happened. This is VERY relevant against an untrained attacker as karate is designed for."
Students
Through his teaching at the Jundokan Taira Sensei has taught many students from all over the world.In Okinawa those students most closely associated with his teachings are Keiji Ito, Satoshi Taba, Stewart Azuma and Glenn McIlvride.
Overseas students include Aivaras Engelaitis (Lithuania), Mark Kapel (New Jersey), Glenn Cunningham (Staten Island, NY), Ken Erridge (UK), Bryson Keenan (Australia), Brendan Murray (New Zealand), Dave Oddy (Syracuse, New York) and Mark Loucks (Seattle).
See also
- Goju Ryu KarateGoju Ryu, is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book Bubishi , used by Okinawan masters during the 19th and 20th centuries...
- Miyazato Ei'ichi Sensei
- KataKatais a Japanese word describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs. The term form is used for the corresponding concept in non-Japanese martial arts in general....
- BunkaiBunkai, literally meaning "analysis" or "disassembly", is a term used in Japanese martial arts referring to the application of fighting techniques extracted from the moves of a "form" ....
External links
- The Bunkai of Masaji Taira Sensei Registration required
- Okinawa Goju Ryu Jundokan Karate Do Kenkyu Kai
- Dunedin NZ Seiden Goju Ryu Karate Brendan Murray (DunedinDunedinDunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
) - Mountain Martial Arts Mark Kapel (New Jersey)
- Staten Island Jundokan Glenn Cunningham (Staten Island, New York)
- Keenan Karate Bryson Keenan (MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
). - Syracuse Jundokan David Oddy (Syracuse, New York).