Sakugawa no Kon Sho

佐久川の棍小

Sakugawa no Kon Sho (or 佐久川の棍小 in Japanese) is a Ryukyu Kobujutsu Bo Kata. The first part of its name – Sakugawa ( 佐久川 ) – was the family name of Budo Master Kanga Sakugawa. He was born as Kanga Teruya on 3 March 1733 in the village of Torihori, near the town of Shuri, Okinawa. After returning from studing Martial Arts in China, he changed his individual name into ‘Tode’ (meaning ‘Chinese Hand’). The empty handed Kata that he learned from his Chinese Master Kusanku is nowadays known in Shotokan Karate-do as ‘Kanku Dai’. Tode Sakugawa developed three Bo Kata (before he died on 17 August 1815 at the age of 82). This Bo Kata coming from him has the extension of ‘Sho’ (or 小 in Japanese), which means ‘small’. In the video embedded below (recorded on 24 April 2023), budoka Johan Oldenkamp, a former national champion from the Netherlands, performs this ‘small version Tode Sakugawa’s Bo Kata’.