Email: Saifa Kata - Nothing to Do With Lions! (3.9.2022)

Chinese Lions Are a Stylised 'Dog' - Constructed in Ancient China By Officials Who Were Working From Vague Descriptions Secured From Indian Travellers - As Lions NEVER Lived in China!

Dear Tony

Chinese Language: Saifa = Lion Law

'碎破的SAIFA发音，其实是福建话当中的『狮法』， 除了隐喻这个套型有著狮子般的战斗动作外，其实仔细看本套型的动作，也会发觉它的动作构成与『狮阵』、『弄狮』的招式颇为类似，我曾经学习过台湾狮阵拳术当中的『狮战拳』也与这个『狮法』颇为类似！'

As Fuzhou exists in Southeast Fujian province, I am assuming that the dialect spoken when Higaonna Kanryo was taught gongfu - was a version of South Hokkien (Min Nan).

Kata Preserved in Okinawa = 'Saifa'

Chinese Ideograms: 碎 (sui4) 破 (po4)

Translation = Shatter - Break (Tear)

Fujian - Hokkien = Sui Pho

Alternative Name 'Shi Fa':

Chinese Ideograms = 狮 (shi1) 法 (fa3)

Fujian - Hokkien = Sai Hoat

Ten Logical Arguments Against this Theory:

1) Miyagi Chojun possessed 'inside' knowledge regarding Higaonna Kanryo's gongfu transmission from China and said nothing about this.

2) Contained in both ideograms of the 'Saifa' (碎破) Kata title is the left-hand particle of '石' (shi2). This is a 'rock' perched on the edge of a cliff - before it suddenly drops - generating tremendous power! Many movements in the Saifa Kata generate power by 'dropping' the bodyweight (together with the depth and width of stance). I believe the secret to Goju Ryu power production lies in these ideograms and that they are 'correct'. 

3) This situation is exemplified by the fact that Miyagi Chojun used the first ideogram of 'Saifa' (碎 - sui4) as the 'second' ideogram of his 'Geksai' (击碎) Katas.

a) Saifa = 碎破 

b) Geksai = 击碎

4) If 'Saifa' really derived from the 'Lion Law' - why did Miyagi Chojun not use the '狮' (shi1) - or 'Lion' - ideogram in 'Geksai' and project a greater sense of tradition into his new creation? This would have read '击狮' (Gekshi) and translate as 'Strike Lion'! 

5) The ideogram '破' (po4) - even if replaced with the ideogram '法' (fa3) - has no correlation with the Hokkien 'Hoat' pronunciation of the latter ideogram. 

6) The second ideogram of 'Saifa' is '破' (po4) - whereas the title of the Goju Ryu Kata 'Kururunfa' (久留顿破) - also uses '破' (po4) as its final ideogram. 

a) 久 (jiu3) - Hokkien (Ku) = Long (Duration)

b) 留 (liu2) - Hokkien (Liu) = Hold (Detain)

c) 顿 (dun4) - Hokkien (Tun) = Sudden (Abrupt)

d) 破 (po4) - Hokkiem (Pho) = Break (Tear)

7) If the logic of the 'Saifa =  Lion Law' argument is retained for a moment, then the final ideogram of 'Kururunfa' which is '破' (po4) - should be replaced with the alternative ideogram of '法' (fa3).

8) The Kata name 'Kururunfa' would then be spelt '久留顿法' and mean 'Long Hold Sudden Law'.

9) The argument seems to be that the ideogram '碎' (sui4) [shatter] should be replaced with the ideogram '狮' (shi1) [lion] simply upon the grounds that the latter is pronounced 'sai' in Hokkien! Furthermore, the ideogram '破' (po4) [break] should be done away with altogether and replaced with the ideogram '法' (fa3 [law] - whilst retaining its (Putonghua-Mandarin) pronunciation of 'fa' and quietly laying to one side its Hokkien rendering of 'hoat'! This all seems very selective and designed to take advantage of a Western lack of experience with the Chinese language. 

10) There seems to be a trade in dubious styles all referring to themselves as being various incarnations of the 'Lion' in Taiwan - all competing for Western money and diverting the onus for Goju Ryu enthusiasts away from Mainland China and onto Taiwan (The Chinese language author above states that he has attended a number of different classes of various 'Lion' styles whilst visiting Taiwan). Higaonna Morio is very popular in Mainland China and the 'Saifa = Lion Law' phenomenon appears to be as political as it is unconvincing. All Chinese gongfu was banned in Taiwan between 1895-1945 - whilst the KMT destroyed the Shaolin Temple in 1928 due to Chiang Kai-Shek preferring Christianity, etc.