Table Of ContentShotokan's Secret
EXPANDED EDITION
"the i-lidden "truth Behind Karate's
Fighting Origins
Bruce D. Clayton, Ph.D.
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Shotokan's Secret
EXPANDED EDITION
The f-lidden Truth Behind Karate's
Fighting Origins
B,uce D. Clayton, Ph.D.
Edited by Sarah Dzida, Cassandra Harris, Raymond Horwitz,
Wendy Levine and Edward Pollard
Graphic Design by Ghislain Viau
Cover and Additional Design by John Bodine
©20 IO Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010926557
ISBN-IO: 0-89750-188-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-89750-188-0
First Printing 2010
WARNING
This book is presented only as a means of preserving a unique aspect of the heritage of the mania! ans. Neither Ohara
PubUcations nor the author make any representation, warranty or guarantee that the techniques described or illustrated
in this book will be safe or effective in any self-defense situation or otherwise. You may be injured if you apply or train
in the techniques illustrated in this book and neither Ohara Publications nor the author is responsible for any such injury
that may result. It is essential that you consult a physician regarding whether or not to attempt any technique described
in this book. Specific self-defense responses illustrated in this book may not be justified in any panicular situation in
view of all of the circumstances or under applicable federal, state or local law. Neither Ohara Publications nor the author
make any representation or warranty regarding the legality or appropriateness of any technique mentioned in this book .
• BLACK BELT BOOKS
OHARA' PUBLICATIONS, INC.
A Division of
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Karate is the most difficult martial art.
Kata is the most difficult part of karate.
Bunkai is the most difficult part of kata.
Vision is the most difficult part of bunkai.
Silence is the most difficult part of vision.
Self is the most difficult part of silence.
Silence reveals the answers.
Answers contain the vision.
Vision teaches bunkai.
Bunkai inspires kata.
Kata makes karate real.
Karate teaches us to live.
Only self bars the way.
Set self aside and listen to the silence.
Bruce Clayton
J\cknowledgments
I want to thank Hanshi Vincent Cruz and the senior instructors (the
San Ten Shihans), of the International San Ten Karate Association, who
are my instructors, colleagues and friends. If this book earns any praise,
they deserve part of the credit.
I would also like to thank my friends in the International Karate
Association especially Richard Gould, Tom Frobel, Paul Lopresti, Sal
Lopresti, Paul Allan and Jerry Lupkes. Their creative approach to tradi
tional karate has been an inspiration.
Justin Butler, the soke of San Ten Jujutsu, and his partner Mike Sullivan
have taught me many painful jujutsu lessons-the best kind-as we have
shuttled back and forth between our respective dojo in California and
Colorado. I owe a debt to George Kirby, grandmaster of budoshin jujutsu,
for his patient explanations of obscure jujutsu techniques and how to
perform them safely in the dojo. Harold Brosious and his students were
generous with their time and creativity, answering many questions about
jujutsu. David Oliver Shipley helped me gain insight into "the arresting
art" of taiho jutsu. Thanks to Brett Denison for his help with the "pistol
grip." I have crossed paths with Don Cunningham more than once on
this quest, and he has always been helpful.
Special thanks to Abbot Daiei Matsui, administrator of the Ryosenji
Treasure Museum at Shimada, Japan, for permission to reproduce the
images of the Black Ship Scroll.
Other friends have also made valuable contributions. Gary Simpson
of Perth, Australia, was a typhoon of bunkai. Colin Wee, also of Perth, has
generously shared his knowledge of aikido and taekwondo. Liu Haixiang
of Beijing helped me make simultaneous sense of Japanese, Okinawan,
Chinese and Korean karate terminology. Eri Takase, who is San Ten
Karate's Japanese interpreter and calligrapher, has been patient and
helpful throughout. David LaVerne taught me the difference between
honne and tatemae. Robert Camden-Ishimaru introduced me to the hidden
art of chi gerk. Rafael Malabanan gave permission to publish a portion
of his computer-generated Shuri Castle map.
Philip Sneyd reminded me that many modern Japanese sensei are
much more approachable and cooperative than has been the case in the
past. Sneyd also provided the remarkable photo of the Shinbyouden and
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.. negotiated with the abbot of the Ryosenji temple for the pictures from.
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• I the Black Ships Scroll.
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• I Special thanks are owed to the San Ten Karate photographic model
My black-belt assistants-Tony Wilcox, Jim Wooles, Audrey Heeren an~
Nigel Gerritzen-posed for hundr~ds of photos at th~ Claw of the Dragon
dojo in Mariposa, CA. We were as~1sted by T~urus Batley, Randhir Singh
Bains, Justin Butler, Peter Clarke, Timothy Gaines, Andrew Garcia, Albert
Gu, Jon Hartley, Cindy Hellman-Wylie, Ashton Jardine, Armando Jemmott
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Langston Johnson, John and Anisa Kinsey, David and Dianne LaV erne,
Gilles Lavigne, John Leggett, Kevin Little, Ricardo Llewelyn, Bruce Lee
McGlynn, John M. Morris, Marcelino Navedo, Jasmine Nguyen, Steven
Oliver, Cephra Raja, Richard Roddguez, Eli Rowney, Robert Rushing,
, , Don Shimozono, Robert Stevenson, Michael Sullivan, Beth Waldow
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Jenny Williams and Robert Young. They had not read the book when
they posed for the pictures. I appreciate their trust in me.
Special thanks to Jose Fernandez for shooting hundreds of photos
during the 2009 Sierra Camp. Jose gets the photo credit for many of the
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bunkai photos in this book Thanks also to Ira Estin for the composite
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photo of Hanshi Cruz and the San Ten Shihans. The photo of the "bone
I beach" in Okinawa is courtesy of Dom Grisanzio, who was there.
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Every single person I know has taught 1;11e something important.
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I ;• My wife Jeannie most of all. I am thankful every day that she is still
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Author Bruce Clayton is a self-described "polymath''- a person
with extraordinarily broad interests who can integrate those interests
into a single view. Because of that diverse life outlook, Clayton has
been a dishwasher, producer and adapter of plays, staff botanist at the
Huntington Gardens in San Marino, California, researcher and actor
for the Encyclopedia Britanica Educational Films unit in Hollywood,
graduate entomology student in Montana and has a Ph.D. in population
ecology. He is also a longtime author and martial artist.
As a martial artist, Clayton is a student of Hanshi Vincent Cruz (10th
dan) of Madera, California. Cruz was an Air Force combatives instructor
who holds six black belts, all from Japan. He is the founder of the Inter
national San Ten Karate Association.
Clayton is ranked seventh dan in traditional karate by International
San Ten Karate Association, sixth dan by the United Karate Associations
International, and third dan in the San Ten Jujutsu Association. Clayton
has also taken rifle and pistol combat training at the American Pistol
Institute (API) in Paulden, Arizona, under the eye of the legendary Col.
Jeff Cooper. He has brown-belt status in Okinawan kobudo under shito
ryu Master Fumio Demura.
San Ten Jujutsu specializes in the jujutsu techniques that complement
the shotokan karate kata. It was founded by Soke Justin Butler of Denver,
Colorado. Butler was trained by Hanshi Dennis Palumbo, yet another
Air Force combatives instructor with belts in karate and jujutsu from
Japan. Palumbo was a kaiden master of hakkoryu jujutsu, and the author
of three books on this subject with Paladin Press.
Over the years, the San Ten Black Dragon Society has honored Oayton
with the titles of renshi, kyoshi and shihan. Master Cruz refers to him
affectionately as "the Witchdoctor."
As an author, Clayton began the four-volume Black Medicine
series, using the pen name "Mashiro," while a graduate student in
ecology at the University of Montana. He is also a well-known survival
expert, author of Life After Doomsday, Fallout Survival and Thinking About
Survival. He has camped out in the Sierras in the winter using Native
American survival skills under the supervision of survivalist Ron Hood.
In 1984, he received a Citation from the Governor of California, George
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Deukmajian, for his work in "educating the public about the importance
of emergency preparation." His most recent survival book is Life After
Terrorism (2002).
Clayton has been interviewed by several national television programs,
including The CBS Evening News, The Tomorrow Show, Today and 60 Minutes.
He has also appeared on many local radio programs in the United States,
Great Britain, Canada and Australia.
Clayton lives with his family near Yosemite National Park in Cali
fornia. He thinks that commercial television and radio are a waste of
heartbeats and never listens to either. As a result, he has had the time
to read over 4,000 books.
For the record, Bruce Clayton has never been a member of any political
party, any religious organization, or any group that is based on animosity,
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walk of life, from every race, creed and orientation, and from every corner
of the world. He believes that our shared life experiences make us all
brothers, while our differences just make us more interesting.
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Figure E-1: Shihan Bruce Clayton, "the Witchdoctor," at the San Ten Sierra Camp 2009.
. (Photo by Jose Fernandez.)
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The Sat\ Ten Shihans
"A black belt is just a white belt who never quits."
- Hanshi Vincent Cruz
Bruce Clayton is part of a faculty of about 30 senior shotokan instructors
under the direction of Hanshi Vincent Cruz. These teachers are known as
the San Ten Shihans. They are the senior instructors of the International
San Ten Karate Association, founded by Cruz in 1979.
This team is dedicated to researching and promoting the basic prin
ciples of linear karate power, which have all but disappeared in the
world of sport karate. This work is based on the lifelong research of the
late Hidetaka Nishiyarna, a karate legend in his own lifetime and Cruz's
teacher for over 50 years.
For more inforn1ation on the activities sponsored by the International
San Ten Karate Association, visit our Web site at www.santenkarate.com.
Figure E-2: Hanshi Vincent Cruz and (a few ofl the San Ten Shihans, at the Sierra Camp
in 2002. Left to right: Bruce Clayton, Randhir Bains, Robert Stevenson, Ricardo Llewelyn,
Jerry Fitzpatrick, and Armando Jemmott. (Photo composite by Ira Estin.)
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