Traditional Okinawa Dojo

I was asked to give a short talk on "traditional dojo" in Okinawa. I can't help wonder why they thought I would know about a traditional dojo but what the heck.

When I studied on the island it was at the honbu dojo for Shimabuku Kichero Sensei. He geared his dojo to model after Japanese styles which are not "traditional" Okinawan dojo. I can only go back as far as the early nineteen hundreds. Most of what I believe are simply guesses because there is not documentation or history written on the subject - it is subjective as to pre-1900's.

I suggest it might have been much like it was up to the seventies and this is also spoken too in Mike Clarke's book, "Shin Gi Tai." I have photo's from my Sensei as well as other photo's that many brought home with them from the fifties and sixties.

First, they did indeed work out, study or train in either loincloths or the zubon/pants used for the karate-gi in the fifties or later. Due to the heat they wore little else. There are several historically oriented photo's of those early times.

As to the traditional dojo on Okinawa, as stated in Clarke Sensei book it was indeed the courtyard or yard or garden type area around the Sensei home. Urban legend's and such rose up out of those dojo such as the one about Tatsuo dreaming on a water hole, well or tank - pick one.

The Marines in the fifties also wore only the zubon and obi. It was just to hot and humid. Today I believe the Okinawan dojo are more in line with the Japanese style dojo layout.

As to the shomen, etc. and where students lined up and trained I can only say that in the courtyard for Shimabuku Tatsuo Sensei there were no line up and group training. Every person came in and left on their schedule through out the day, every day. Usually the Sempai of the time and day assisted Kohai. Note also that these terms to include the term Sensei were not used at that time, i.e. fifties. Shimabuku Tatsuo was greeted and addressed as "papasan." The students greeted and addressed by their names. It wasn't until sometime in the sixties when a Marine started to insist students refer to Tatsuo as Sensei.

I also doubt seriously that anyone used Sensei earlier either. I suspect that any terms used were of the cultural nature indicative to Okinawans in general and not specific to karate, etc.

Tatsuo did have a place inside his home that held a type of shrine per Okinawan custom but it was not out in the courtyard dojo. He did have a trigram, I Ching trigram, on a post in the dojo area. Tatsuo Sensei sat on his porch, drank tea, smoked and observed the goings on letting his more senior students teach unless he wanted to do something specific himself, etc.

This is what I told them, generally, as to my view of a traditional dojo. I could see disappointment on many of the faces as this particular dojo assumed and utilized the more formal dojo aspects of a Japanese dojo which is also up for debate.

Oh, and we could get into a huge debate as to what constitutes a "traditional dojo" as to defining traditional. Oh well, the debate will go on.

Note: the entrance was adjacent to a small wall standing alone. Many times the Marines would hang a tatami mat over the wall then use it as a makiwara for kicking. Also, on the right side that post coming out of the ground is a four-by-four makiwara. Tatsuo put them in to keep the local youth from continually breaking the standard makiwara boards. The cement wall was a new addition sometime in the early sixties, I think, done by the Marines to enclose the dojo from the neighbors, etc.