Tsuken Sunakake no Kon

津堅砂掛けの棍

Tsuken Sunakake no Kon (or 津堅砂掛けの棍 in Japanese) is a Ryukyu Kobujutsu Bo Kata. The prefix of this Kata’s name refers to the island of Tsuken (or 津堅 in Japanese), southeast of Okinawa’s main island. Next, ‘suna-kake’ (or 砂掛け in Japanese) means to shovel and cast sand. It is performed with a special type of Bo (or staff), namely a wooden oar or Eku in Japanese. In the video embedded below (recorded on 1 July 2024), budoka Johan Oldenkamp, a former national champion from the Netherlands, performs this Eku kata originating from Tsuken Island.