Member-only story
Yabu no Naihanchi
Written by Motobu Naoki, translated by Andreas Quast
Five years ago, in 2014, I introduced the photo shown below on Facebook for the first time.
Note: The original article was written in 2019.
This is a photograph of Yabu Kentsū sensei teaching Naihanchi to students of the Okinawa Prefectural Normal School. The photo was taken in 1932 and was included in a collection of photographs presented to me by Yabu sensei’s grandson, Mr. Yabu Kenjirō.
In fact, the same photograph was published in one of the Kyushu newspapers in the 1930s. In that article, this kata is referred to as Naihanchi Ichi-dan (1st dan). The photo also says: “Karate. This [demonstration] is done as a group” (唐手 團體にてなすもの).
Yabu sensei and Motobu Chōki sensei were close friends and comrades, and I visited Yabu’s house in 2007 to listen to the stories.
By the way, a lot of people probably saw the photo of “Yabu no Naihanchi” for the first time [back in 2014]. Some of those who saw the photo…