One Minute Bunkai: Tenkan Ken #1

One Minute Bunkai: Tenkan Ken is the first Kata taught in the Kojo-Ryu Family style. Created by Koho Kojo in the mid to late 1800s it means fist of "Heaven" or "high". This is the first of three original katas created based on the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. This is the original bunkai for this move--the opponent has been already badly damaged by the elbow strike and the final arm lock and pressure on the top of the shoulder is very painful. This "could" also be a similar bunkai in the Kyan-Ha Chinto Kata which drops to one knee near the end of the Kata. The Kojo (Koshiro or Kogusuku in Okinawan) family has maintained the original bunkai of their style for generations, thus we can safely say that this is the "original intent" for this move. The bunkai shown here represents the main concept (or idea), yet there are deeper levels and some other elements not show thus it does not represent the "complete" essence of the Kojo system for this particular move.

This is the first application showcased in One Minute Bunkai for a Kojo-Ryu kata, in fact it is the first of its kind in any medium, and it marks a new era in the revival and preservation of Kojo-Ryu Karate through the efforts of the Koshinkan Kojo Ryu Karate and Kobudo Association headed by Shihan Chris Hoshiyama. I am a student of Hoshiyama Sensei and learned this Kata earlier this year at the Koshinkan Hombu dojo in Phoenix Arizona. In addition to Hoshiyama Sensei, there is also Hayashi Shingo Sensei who has been teaching Kojo Ryu in Tottori-Ken Japan since the 70s.