Tino Ceberano Shihan was fortunate to train in kobudo, traditional Okinawan weaponry with the famed Inoue Motokatsu Hanshi who he was introduced to by his grand-master Gogen Yamaguchi Hanshi, founder of the Goju Kai.
Okinawan Kobudō (沖縄古武道), literally meaning “old martial way of Okinawa“, is the weapon systems ofOkinawan martial arts. These systems can have from one to as many as a dozen weapons in their curriculum, among therokushakubo(six foot staff, known as the “bō”), sai(dagger-shaped truncheon), tonfa(handled club), kama (sickle), andnunchaku (chained sticks), but also the tekko (steelknuckle), tinbe-rochin (shield and spear), andsurujin (weighted chain). Less common Okinawan weapons include thetambo (short stick), thehanbō (middle length staff) and the eku (boat oar of traditional Okinawan design).
The son of a general and grandson to the former Prime Minister of Japan, Katsura Taro, Ryukyu Kobudo Hanshi Inoue Motokatsu was exposed to martial arts from an early age. Interestingly, this training began under a personal security specialist hired by Motokatsu’s father to work in their house.
This specialist, Soke Seiko Fujita, was also the 14th headmaster of the Koga ryu Ninjutsu line, and the last known of his kind to work for the government. Mr. Seiko was always present around the house, and begun teaching Inoue Sensei as a young child.
Inoue Sensei would later train seriously under Konishi Yasuhiro Sensei and Taira Shinken Sensei, who became his primary instructors after the death of Seiko Fujita in 1960. Taira Sensei taught Inoue Sensei the vast weapons curriculum of the Ryukyu Kobujutsu Hozon Shinkokai (The Society for the Promotion and Preservation of Classical Martial Arts). The weapons society practices all eight of the Okinawan classical weapons, and all the combined katas of the Naha, Shuri, Aragaki and Tomari styles.
In addition, Inoue Sensei was also the founder of his own style called the Yuishinkai, a name given to him by Soke Seiko Fujita. Tino Ceberano Shihan visited Inoue Hanshi on several occasions and was privileged to take some of his attending students to Shizuoka Prefecture for training as well.
In this video, a senior student Ragnar Purje demonstrates use of the bo with Tino Ceberano Shihan at a camp in Mt Evelyn. The senior students were well practiced at demonstrations for pubic events whether it be tile and board breaking, multiple partner assaults or basic weaponry.
On May 27th 2017, Matt Kendall a student of the IGK Toowoomba club became the first student to grade in Tino Ceberano Hanshi’s Goju Kalis.
This included being tested on his proficiency in the traditional Goju system as per Hanshi Tino Ceberano’s Goju curriculum, and Hanshi Ceberano’s Kalis (Filpino weapons ).
Being the first at anything is a double-edged sword; while it’s a privilege to be the first it brings with it a certain weight. All of which Matty has taken on board and used to propel his training in the direction of Hanshi’s vision of combining the two disciplines to bring about a devastatingly fluid warrior.
Like all of us who train with Hanshi it is the love of training and training with Hanshi himself that overrides all and any self-doubt and spurs us on to do better.
Remco Spreekenbrink Renshi and I are proud of Matty and what he has achieved. We are also incredibly proud of having the pleasure to be associated with and learn from Chris Clayton Shihan, who has been instrumental in keeping the Kalis system going in the Toowoomba region for the last ten years.
If you had to use whatever what was at your disposal to defend yourself, how adaptive could you be in the moment? Is it possible being confronted in the confines of your own home or bathroom, you could grab the nearest object to assist you, even it it was a towel or piece of clothing?
There are many ways to use a rolled towel, a scarf, cape, jacket or cardigan to trap, ensnare or deceive an opponent. Whip off your belt if you need allowing you to block, parry, trap, throw and choke someone.
Imagine you are walking a dog and you use the leash. It’s already there so use it. Your dog might not be as helpful as you wish so you better adapt quickly. If it’s a small dog, it might only offer a small moment of distraction until it is disabled and you’re on your own. What can you quickly grab that’s on your person to give you an advantage?
How about the strap of your shoulder bag? You have a great weapon right there. A man in a suit could be wearing a tie – rip it off and use it. Even a cord of an electrical device that is lying around in the kitchen or bathroom can be adapted if needed. Think of extending your reach and using something you can grab and snatch a limb with giving you some leverage to disarm and throw.
A rolled towel can be used as a partial defense rolled around your arm if under a knife attack allowing a small but partial added layer of defense to your wrists.
When the timing is right, the rolled towel can be applied to grab and snatch a punch or kick, throw the opponent then choke if necessary.
There are no end to the techniques you can use. We all know what a wet towel can do when flicked. How about flicking it at the eyes or face to inflict damage, perhaps the groin?
Use it as a whip then strike the sensitive areas. Throwing the towel in the face could provide a moment of distraction to simply escape and flee.
The action of trapping and grabbing a limb is derived from the mawashiuke circular blocking technique using two hands moving in different directions.
If both hands were gripping either side of a towel, the applied action quickly twists the towel around the limb thrust towards you, being a wrist or foot, allowing you to then use your body torque to pull the attacker off balance into a throw, take-down or slam into them into a wall.
The same circular mawashi uke is used in applying a choke hold where the towel is quickly placed around the neck instead of a limb and the body will surely follow where you lead the neck.
These all fall into the category of flexible weapons. In every culture the kerchief, bandanna or accessory of clothing has been used as a humble piece of cloth to assist defense. Putting a quick knot in its centre would generate a choking tool like a garotte.
The Indonesians, Bruneis and Filipinos would often wear a sarong or sash and there is a long cultural history of techniques used with the sarong in Silat and Kali. The ninjas were renowned for using many soft or flexible weapons seemingly pulling them out of nowhere.
A sap is weapon where a heavier object is loaded into a flexible weapon and swung. Grab any solid object, wrap it in the centre of the towel or scarf and you’ve increased your reach. A good strike in the temple could disable your opponent or break a wrist coming at you.
Tino Ceberano Hanshi demonstrated these techniques on daytime television for many years in the days of the Roy Hampson Show, the Bert Newton Show and In Melbourne Today. His motto today remains as “Be armed to stay unharmed” even it as simple as using a towel.
It could take some years to develop enough proficiency, awareness and skill to successfully ward off an attacker with only your hands and feet. There is no code of honour that states a karate-ka cannot adapt and use anything about his/her person as an improvised weapon. After all, the traditional Okinawan weapons were simply farm tools or implements that were used daily.
The nature of self-defence dictates that there is no restriction to one’s training requiring a limited use of techniques or skills. Tino Ceberano Hanshi maintains that adapting everything you’ve learned and physical objects around you to the current situation is necessary for survival. The better you can adapt your martial art to the situation, the better for your welfare.
Carrying a weapon for self-defence is illegal but a walking stick, magazine, ballpoint pen, keys, wine bottle, penlight and many other items can be used with some improvisation. The walking stick or cane has been used throughout the ages. It is mentioned in the Bible, was used in ancient Egypt, was toted by Asian monks and carried by Zulus. In 18th century London, a license was required to carry one.
Baritsu is known as the martial art of gentleman. Created by William Barton-Wright, an English railroad engineer, Baritsu is, practically, the art of self-defense with the walking stick. As early as 1900, the London Free Lance reported that the new school was crowded with students, as follows.
“At the school in Shaftesbury Avenue all the most telling strokes that it is possible to make with an ordinary walking stick are explained, illustrated and taught, and the pupil is shown how to best tackle the man – say, a street rough – “who comes at you anyhow with a stick. ”
“Personally, I am of the opinion that every young fellow ought to learn Baritsu, for it appears to be the one the mode of self-defense liable to prove of practical use to any man and at any moment, even to the man who lives, moves and has his being only in this prosaic city of London.”
Canne de combat is a French martial art. As weapon, it uses a cane or canne (a kind of walking-stick) designed for fighting. The French developed the walking stick into a formidable self-defense tool that became known as la canne. Adopted into the traditional savate training halls of the 1800s, it’s remained by the side of the kicking art for more than 200 years.
The walking stick and its close cousin, the umbrella, are favourites of Tino Ceberano Hanshi and he has demonstrated the effective use of the walking stick for many years at demonstrations at Melbourne’s Moomba, Chinatown at Chinese New Year celebrations and on TV back in the days of the Roy Hampson Show on Channel 0 and later the Bert Newton Show on Channel 10.
Many of the skills and principles of the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) and Japanese weaponry can be applied to the walking stick. Techniques includes throws, locks, strikes and take-downs. Also known as a combat cane, the walking stick with its many style and designs including the handle is an effective weapon in the hands anyone who takes the time to learn its uses, regardless of their age or gender.
Arcanis is the art of the cane. Arch or Arco is the cyclic movement of the object in motion. Cane or Canias hence when relating to its use as an effective weapon or aid to defend…’the Art of the Cane’. Largo Mano means long hand or extended arm and is an important principle of stick fighting.
The cane is an extension of your hand and acts to extend your range. It provides a defensive shield in the radius of your new extended range providing a new enlarged defensive front with an increased reach. Think of it as a feeler, like a blind person finding his way around or much like a crayfish or lobster might use its appendages, essentially using the largo mano principle.
Importantly it acts as a deterrent to someone entering that range with an intended or even unintended provocation. Simply lifting the stick with a pointing action loudly signals a defensive action as a security measure, simply saying “Stop, I have a weapon” to the aggressor.
It’s no different to any animal which makes a noise or alters it body language in answer to the near proximity of a potential predator. Other animals understand the action and take note, or ignore it at their peril then suffer the consequences.
The walking stick is versatile. It can help you to right your balance and you can use it for a slashing downward horizontally or upward swiping blow across bony surfaces. The ability to poke or prod with the stick can cause devastating harm to soft, vulnerable areas allowing real penetration to delicate areas.
The walking stick handle can be used to hook or grab a limb or the neck allowing control of the aggressor. The grappling effect around the ankle to trip or grab a limb has many variations and you’d be surprised how effective this simple weapon can be.
Tino Ceberano Hanshi was shown by his father how to use the walking stick as a weapon at a very early time in his life and stimulated him to explore the diverse use of such a simple instrument. He explored and developed his skills with the walking stick over many years.
His mentor and fellow master in the Philippines- ‘Siok Glaraga‘ who was a very well versed FMA practitioner of the Amara Arcanis system asked Tino Hanshi to use the word Arcanis in describing the method he established as a training system adopted in his practice and teaching of IGK.
Tino Ceberano Hanshi is quick to point out that age is not a barrier to learning to use the walking stick. As well as its self-defence uses, it is helpful in providing balance, stability and an extension of one’s own self as a longer arm or feeler. Even elderly folk who are stiffer and less agile can gain confidence, a sense of security, enhanced mobility and improved balance when instructed to use a walking stick properly.
The IGK is developing a Senior Citizens Training course for exercise and self-defence with its own research development team. This will form a part of the new Goju Kalis section of IGK’s weapons training. It is just one part of the progressive evolution of martial arts development that Tino Ceberano Hanshi has provided for over 50 years respecting but not being rooted to tradition.
On May 27th 2017, Matt Kendall a student of the IGK Toowoomba club became the first student to grade in Tino Ceberano Hanshi’s Goju Kalis.
A rolled towel can be used as a partial defense rolled around your arm if under a knife attack allowing a small but partial added layer of defense to your wrists.
Baritsu