RyūTe is an acronym for Ryūkyū Te (Ryūkyū hand) relating to the indigenous fighting arts of the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa). RyūTe is a link to the life-protection arts of all Okinawa that were closely guarded family traditions passed from generation to generation. Taika Oyata’s lifetime study of an ancient family art, passed to him from two venerable martial arts masters, Uhūgūshikū and Wakinagūri, is revealed to present and future generations through a legacy of skill, knowledge, understanding and experience.
The life-protection concepts acquired by Taika Oyata from his two esteemed mentors are unfettered by modern transformation or influence, reflecting the true wisdom and experience of the warrior class of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. The art of RyūTe is a voyage into the life-protection arts of the Ryūkyū Kingdom that became a family’s heritage passed as a treasure through generations. Although RyūTe is unique among some forms of Okinawan karate, it represents of all life-protection arts of Okinawa.
RyuTe is a complete art containing many different facets of life-protection not found in other martial arts. Besides the kicking, punching and blocking normally associated with karate, RyuTe also contains a form of grapping call tūite allowing a defender to protect themselves in less violent ways by controlling the opponent’s vital points. Along with tūite the knowledge of vital point striking, kyūshō jitsū, enables the defender to lightly strike vital points to control the attacker even further.
The art of RyuTe is contained within the prearranged fighting forms known as kata that were handed down through the generations as a means to keep the art as pure as possible. The kata include those of empty hand fight and weapons, known as kobudo. During ancient times in Okinawa, ordinary farm and fishing implements were incorporated into the empty hand fighting art as a means of life-protection against armed opponents.
Although not used in our modern society, the study of kobudo serves to preserve history and also teach the student some important factors about body movement and technique that is directly related to the empty hand techniques. The weapons that are studied in RyuTe include the following; bō, jō, sai, manji sai, nūnti bō, eikū, nūnchakū, tanbō, chizikūnbō, kama and tōnfa.
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