The Curious Case of Yanagi Ryuken (柳龍拳)
(Translation by Adrian Chan-Wyles PhD)
Probably around 2007, a Singaporean friend of mine introduced me to a video that appeared to show an elderly Japanese man being punched repeatedly in the face by a young Japanese man – and when dropping to the floor bleeding profusely from his mouth – a sizable crowd that was in attendance cheering the spectacle. I was a little confused at the time, as the entire affair, whilst purported to have happened in Japan, had a distinctly ‘un-Japanese’ feel to it. Looking at the Youtube ‘Comments’ section did not provide much help at the time, as many were written by White Americans who were using the video to make continuous anti-Japanese racist comments. Another friend of mine enquired how these people would have reacted if an elderly White American was repeatedly punched in the face by a young White male (or even a young Black male for that matter). The consensus was that they would have probably called the police. As matters transpired, I later found-out the elderly man in question was Yanagi Ryuken (柳龍拳) – described as a ‘master’ of Daito Ryu Aiki-Jitsu, although today I have discovered (in Japanese language sources) that he refers to his style as ‘Daito Ryu Aikido’, although a version unrelated to that developed by the great Morihei Ueshiba. The Chinese characters used to describe his style are ‘大東流合気道’. What concerned me as I occasionally re-visited this subject, was that despite all the articles deriding Yanagi Ryuken in the West, not one bothers to research his name in the Japanese language (which in this instance uses traditional Chinese ideograms). His name is written ‘柳龍拳’ which in Chinese is pronounced ‘Liu Long Quan’, and ‘Yanagi (柳) Ryuken (龍拳)’ in the Japanese pronunciation. In English this might be translated as ‘Willow Dragon Fist’. The Japanese surname ‘Yanagi’ (柳) translates as ‘Willow Tree’, and the first-names ‘Ryuken’ (龍拳) translate as ‘Dragon Fist’.
Yanagi Ryuken has a dedicated ‘wiki-page’ in Japan, where he is treated with what might be described as an ‘indifferent’ respect. On that page (shared below), he is described as an Aikido master, a qigong expert, and a ‘psychic’. He was born on the previously disputed island of Sakhalin (that lies north of Japan) around 1941, which in now claimed by Russia (since 1945). Other Japanese language sources state that he has also studied Judo, Karate and Jujitsu. In the past he has also served as a Japanese Buddhist monk in the Nichiren Sect. Yanagi’s assumed ability to manipulate physical objects in Japan (without the use of touch) stems not from his martial arts background (as alleged in the West), but rather from what he believes to be his ‘psychic’ ability (never mentioned in the West). This is an important fact as disparaging Western narratives a priori assume that he has been misleading the Japanese public by teaching a distorted form of Aikido, when in fact in Japan it is a well-known fact that his demonstrations in ‘no touch’ manipulation derive from what he assumes to be the psychic manipulation of his environment. Those who attend these kinds of lessons are aware in advance of exactly the nature of the lesson. The issue is often complicated when Yanagi combines his assumed psychic ability with conventional Aikido techniques. It is believed that this psychic ability was develop during his time as a Buddhist monk engaged in hours of ritual chanting and meditation. According to Japanese language sources, Yanagi Ryuken is highly respected in Japan, and has from time to time, offered large sums of money to fight any opponent to prove the efficacy of his style (and psychic ability). Anyone who can beat him, Yanagi stated, could keep the money (often as much as 500,000 yen). In 2006, a challenge match between 65-year-old Yanagi Ryuken and the 35-year-old Iwakura Tsuyoshi (岩倉豪 – Yan Cang Hao), a Japanese journalist and political activist trained in Judo, Karate and Brazilian Jujitsu, was confirmed for November the 26th, with an agreement that both parties could film the proceedings. The subsequent video of Iwakura repeatedly punching Yanagi in the mouth, and him kneeling on the floor pouring with blood in-front of a crowd of around 500 spectators, attracted a record number of views on Youtube on the 27th and 28th of November, 2006, including the record for the highest number of replays. Yanagi subsequently stated that he was ill at the time of the encounter. Other Japanese language sources state that part of the rules for competing with Yanagi for the money was that there was to be no full-contact, closed-hand blows to the head and face. However, in the years following this bout, Yanagi Ryuken has simply stated that his ki energy (and psychic abilities) were impaired by his illness. On the back of the publicity Iwakura Tsuyoshi achieved with this beating of an old man, he was eventually propelled into an unsuccessful and short-lived mixed martial arts career (that lasted between 2009 and 2015, where he had four bouts – winning two and losing two (including a match with Jonathan Gray). After the loss, Yanagi Ryuken recovered and carried-on his teaching career as usual attracting more students (including Westerners). ©opyright: Adrian Chan-Wyles (ShiDaDao) 2017. Japanese Language References: http://commonpost.info/?p=95389 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/柳龍拳 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/岩倉豪 |