Okinawan Karate Hidden in Dance

Did you know that Okinawan Classical Dance incorporates Karate movements into the dances? Well incorporated into the Classical Young Mens dances were often hidden Karate movements. Behind the movements lurk turbulent amorous passions; and young mens dances' called Nisai Odori, especially express a vigorous masculine quality to them by incorporating gestures from Okinawan Karate.

During the royal age of the Ryukyu kingdom dances were performed exclusively by male members of the nobility, following the first florescence of aristocratic culture during the sixteenth century. The Ryukyuan arts developed a more introspective side in the wake of the Satsuma invasion of 1609 and the subsequent domination of the Ryukyu islands by Satsuma. Satsuma would not allow the Ryukyu people to be armed so they hid their Karate movements into the dance.

The period of domination by Satsuma saw the Ryukyu Kingdom obligated to dispatch frequent ambassadorial parties to the Satsuma capital of Kagoshima and the Japanese capital of Edo on official and ceremonial business. These parties would contain envoys that would perform cultural dance to enhance the relationship with the Japanese. These envoys were also body guards trained in hand to hand martial arts with the movements they used hidden in the dance.

Today, I am presenting a film of the Traditional dance Hamachidori for you to see the actual presentation of this wonderful dance. The second film I have placed here will show a comparison of the hand movements contained within the dance and the Karate movements associated with the movement.

Hamachidori's theme is the desolation of travel and the image which runs through it is that of a bird known as the beach plover. The dancers wear costumes decorated with kasuri patterns on dark blue backgrounds and held firm without an obi in the Ryukyuan ushinchi style, whereby the kimono neckband is tucked into the belt of the undergarment. Long purple headbands trail from the dancers chignons. A feature of Hamachidori is its incorporation of flowing hand movements as used in the dances of Okinawan priestesses during religious ceremonies.