Kasumi Murakami, the Ryuku Kobudo Master of Kyushu

by Merv Oakley

Katsumi Murakami lives in a small town tucked away in the mountains of Kyushu. He holds sihan in six different martial arts, including karate, jujitsu, taikyokuken, but his real passion is ryuku kobudo. Ryuku kobudo is the collective term for the ancient martial arts of Okinawa which makes use of old-style weapons.

The roots are lost in time and mythology. It is believed that sai-jutsu and karate-do evolved about the same time. In 1606, when the Satama clan of Kagogshema conquered Okinawa, all swords, spears and other weapons were hastily confiscated. These actions caused the Okinawan people to earnestly study and train in the various martial arts, such as ryukyu kobudo, including bo-jutsu (the art of the staff), tonfa-jutsu (the art that utlises the wooden handles of a rice grinding tool) and nichigama-jutsu (the art that uses a type of a sickle).

Kataumi <font size="-1"><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Murakami 9th Dan and Merv Oakley in Japan
Kataumi Murakami 9th Dan and Merv Oakley in Japan


At the present time, Ryuku Kobudo primarily revolves around bo-jutsu (the art of the staff) and sai-jutsu. While karate is a martial art that defends against an unarmed enemy empty-haned, the art of kobudo defends against an armed enemy by using weapons. Among the core of martial artists of the Ryuku Islands from early historical times these two martial arts (karate and kobudo) have been developing togheter. Therefor karate and kobudo are like two wheels on a cart - one helps the other but one without the other is incomplete.

My first introduction to true Ryuku kobudo was in 1972 on my way back from the second world karate champion ships in Paris. It was then that I first visited Murakami Sensei who was a top studen of Kyodazuhatu Sensei, the man who brought Ryukyu Kobudo to Japan from Okinawa in about 1940.

We brought Murakami Sensei to Australia in 1973 where instructed at my dojos. We gained a lot from that and some of us were graded by him at that time. While he was in Australia, we held a karate tournament where Murakami Sensei gave a kobudo demonstration that showed all of us how kobudo should be done. When you watch Murakami Sensi using weapons, it is not a man and a weapon; rather it is as if the weapon is a part of him, an extension of his arm. He teaches that you must always think of the weapon as an extension of yourself and flow with the movement of the weapon, not to try to go against the natural flow.

Since then I have visted Murakami Sensei in Japan many times. Each time adds a little more knowledge to the memory banks and knocks the rust off the higher kata that we do not teach much.

At age 77, Murakami Sensei still has the speed of a cheetah, the strength of a bull and the endurance that men half his age ondream about. Every morning he does one hour training before breakfast. He says that it makes breakfast taste good. After breakfast, it's back to the dojo for private lessons till lunch and then the same after lunch. After dinner he teaches a karate class and after that, a kobudo class. By this time, most people would be exhausted but he is still full of energy.

Each time I visit Murakami Sensei, I learn more in a few weeks than I have when training with some other teachers for years. I also come away with the knowledge that I have taken one more step on the never-ending ladder of knowledge.

Merv Oakley and Yamamoto Sensei
Merv Oakley and Yamamoto Sensei