Wareham, Massachusetts
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Wareham Recreation   54 Marion Road (Rt.6)   Wareham, MA 02571

Hi! My name is Colman Fink. I'm the Yuishinkai Kobujutsu instructor at the Wareham Recreation Center.

  Yuishinkai Kobujutsu is a non-competitive Okinawan martial art which incorporates traditional Okinawan weapons as an integral part of Karate training. The term Kobujutsu means traditional martial arts. Yuishinkai is an organization which was founded by the late Motokatsu Inoue in Japan to teach, promote and preserve Okinawan Karate in it's original combined armed and unarmed format. The empty-hand or weapon-less training incorporates mostly what was taught in the ancient Shuri, Naha and Tomari Karate systems of Okinawa. In the training of weapons, traditional Okinawan weapons such as the kon (staff), sai (truncheon), tonfa (handles), nunchaku (flail) and kama (sickles) are used.

  Beginners are first taught basics such as stances, blocks, punches, kicks, knee strikes and elbow strikes. Kicks are kept below belt level as high kicks are not considered practical.
  Next students move onto Kata which is a routine of pre-arranged Karate moves. Some of these Katas are more than a couple of hundreds years old and have been handed down over the centuries from teacher to student.

  After the student has received a grounding in empty-hand basics and Kata, he/she will start their weapons training. Also to re-enforce their understanding of the dynamics of Kobujutsu, students learn pre-arranged movement sparring. As people really don't carry these weapons around with them today, some have questioned whether the study of these weapons is useful at all. However, by understanding the strong and weak points of these weapons, you can defend yourself if you are confronted by someone with a similar type of weapon. For example, a kon(bo) can represent a large stick or a nunchaku can be the same as a length of chain. Many of the more effective techniques of Kobujutsu are not found in Karate competition today with good reason since the primary targets are normally the eyes, throat, groin and knees. This is one of the reasons why competition is not practiced at all in Yuishinkai Kobujutsu. Competition encourages students to only train for point scoring which emphasizes Karate merely as a sport and not as a martial art.

  Kobujutsu is taught as a means of self-defense and is not to be used trivially. Martial arts is not a game, it has to be respected for what it can do. Students are encouraged to respect each other and their teachers, in other words treat others the way you want them to treat you; help each other learn together; keep their minds clean - free from negative thoughts, just the same way they should keep their bodies clean; and finally try their best in any endeavor and rather than be the best. Through the diligent practice of Kobujutsu and it's spiritual ideals, some of which I've just mentioned, students can enhance the development of their own personal discipline and self-esteem.

~ YUISHINKAI KARATE ONLINE ~ Yuishinkai Yuishinkai South Africa A brief history of Yuishinkai Kobujutsu as compiled by Kim Bower. (pictured below) Karate/Kobujutsu Main Canadian Ryukyu Kobujutsu Association Yuishinkai Karate Jutsu - Finland  Yuishinkai Karate and Ryukyu Kobujutsu style, articles and links.   You can access the eGroup (discussion forum) here.   Good information and history.
This picture was originally in our local newspaper, The Standard Times, as part of an announcement about the coming of Shihan Jardine. It's Sensei Kim and Sensei Mark doing the kon (bo) kumite while Sensei Fink looks on.   The prearranged kumite are exactly what they sound like: a set of "fighting" moves set up ahead of time to practice various moves with your weapon, in this case the bo.   In the Kobujutsu style students begin learning the bo at the white belt level, since the style is oriented towards both the empty hand moves and traditional weapons.
Shihan Jardine is the teacher of Sensei Fink. The Wareham Recreation Yuishinkai Kobujutsu Club is also affiliated under the Yuishikai Kobujutsu organization in South Africa.
How to tie a karate belt - photographs. How to tie a karate belt - graphics. Martial Arts Information @ Karate Depot A comprehensive martial arts information resource with information on Karate, Kung Fu, Judo, Taekwondo, Aikido and more.