Sōke started to learn Karate from his father Motobu Chōki in Ōsaka, since around when he was 13 years old. When his father Chōki went to Tōkyō, he practiced Karate together with the neighborhood youths. At that time, because Motobu Chōki had to leave his family in Ōsaka, he went back and forth between Ōsaka and Tōkyō.
In the neighborhood of his home in Ōsaka lived many people who were born in Okinawa. And, among these people, there were quite many from the Ryūkyū gentry, including those from the Udun and Tunchi classes. As a matter of course, in the former dynasty period these classes acquired Karate, Ryūkyūan dance and other performing arts as "the necessary accomplishments of a shizoku", and their children gathered in the vacant spots of the neighborhood and practiced karate together.
Sōke also practiced Karate together with those of the same age and those who were 2 or 3 years older on such vacant spots, and he learned a Pinan from a person whose name he now forgot. So, when Motobu Chōki returned from Tokyo, Sōke said to him "Father, I have learned the Kata Pinan. Please take a look", and showed Pinan in front of his father.
Sōke thought, with
the child's juvenile mind, that his father would like to watch him
perform his new kata. But as Motobu Chōki watched that performance, his
mood became gradually worse, and in a strict tone, he said as follows:"The Martial art of the Motobu (family) does not pull back the hip. Martial arts should never pull back the hip!”
「本部の武に腰を引く武はない。武は腰を引いてはいけない！」
Pinan is a well known kata that are frequantly using cat stances. Motobu Chōki felt uncomfortable when he saw that his son performing the Pinan kata without knowing the thinking in Motobu Kenpo and therefore was using the cat stance. The following words are a saying of Motobu Chōki.
”In my Karate, there are no stances such as the Nekoashi (cat stance), Zenkutsu, or Kokutsu, etc. The so-called cat stance are one example of the floating feet, which is most disliked inside martial arts. This because if your body get hit then immediately you’re blown away as you lost your balance. Zenkutsu and Kokutsu, are also inferior stances, hindering the free movement work of the legs. In My Karate the same stance work used in both kata and kumite, and is like the stance of Naifanchi. This stance with the knees being gently bent can move freely. During defence or offence the knees are tightened and the hip is dropped. Weight is not applied to either the front or the back foot, instead the weight is put more evenly on both feet.”
Right: Ukiashi (floating feet)
I think, in old style Karate, with which Motobu Chōki was accustomed, there were not so many Nekoashi stances. However, since Itosu Ankō Sensei had created Pinan, and since in it Nekoashi and Zenkutsu stances are frequently used, it seems that the mainstream way of standing in Karate has changed since that time. I think Motobu Chōki was irritated by this trend of this "modernization of Karate".
By the way, since this incident Sōke stopped practicing Pinan. And today he completely forgot Pinan. It seems that the Pinan kata he had learned was either Pinan Shodan or Pinan Nidan, but he forgot which one it was.
Translator comments:
Sōke 宗家 means ”head of family” and in the case of martial arts the leader for an organisation or art. The current Sōke for Motobu ryu are Motobu Chōsei.
Ryūkyū gentry here is used for the shizoku 士族 of the Ryūkyū kingdom.
The former dynasty period = Ryūkyū kingdom era, during the second Shō Dynasty
Karate are used in the text for 唐手 (Tode).
"the necessary accomplishments of a shizoku" used for 「士族の嗜み」
The text in the Sayings of Motobu Chōki was written by Nakata Mizuhiko and published in 1978.
Floating feet 浮き足(Ukiashi) is a term, made famous by Miyamoto Musashi in his book Gorin no Sho. Ukiashi means having a unstable stance or unsteady step because one foot is not grounded in the placement. Ukiashi is one of ”the three footwork to avoid” 三つの嫌い.
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