Mike Hancock

In fact, according to Mike Hancock, chief instructor of the International Okinawan Budo-Kai, very few American karateka truly understand the origins of their forms.

"About 90 percent of those practicing karate in the United States know little, if anything, about their art other than the physical aspects," he says."Those of us in the Okinawa Shorin-Ryu Matsumura Seito Karate and Kobudo Association have a burning desire to learn the history and origins of our art.To a certain degree, the veil of secrecy still exists.This, coupled with a lack of written records, has created a void of information on the early years of Ryukyu martial arts.What information we have has been passed down to us from my teacher, Master Fusei Kise, the founder of kenshin kan shorin-ryu."

Hancock relates a story that exemplifies the traditional thought process that often caused masters to keep the bunkai of their kata secret.It happened on a summer's evening in the mid-'80s.Kise was on Hancock's porch teaching a kata when a passing car slowed down and began watching the workout.Kise immediately ended his demonstration, he said, because he thought the car contained students from another school out to steal his techniques.After years of traveling between Okinawa and the United States, Kise finally decided to loosen centuries of restrictions surrounding kenshin kan shorin-ryu karate.He gave Black Belt express permission to publish this article and the accompanying photographs so select bunkai from his art could be made public.

Pinan Kata

Kise's style of shorin-ryu contains 23 empty-hand kata, along with a potpourri of weapons forms and white-crane forms. The kata pinan yondan is taught as an introduction to the white crane.

"The first move in pinan yondan is an open-hand block that represents the wings of a crane," Hancock explains.
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Matt Molineux is a ninth-degree black belt, a major in the Air Force and a senior student of Hancock's.
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But even this straightforward form contains hidden techniques that Hancock teaches only after he's deemed the student ready for such knowledge.
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According to Hancock, the old Okinawan masters spread this misinformation to protect the secrets of the sequences.

"Naihanchi is frequently seen being performed in a straight line," Hancock says.

Shihan Williams dedication the UMAAHOF to the memory of Mike Hancock
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Amy Hancock speaking about her late husband, Mike Hancock

Mike Hancock "Modern Warrior" Award
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Mike Hancock - Florida

Mike HancockSokeshinmei@AOL.com

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