Taikiken (太氣拳) is a Japanese martial art created by Kenichi Sawai in 1947. Developed from Kungfu he learn from Wang Xiangzhai, founder of Yi Quan school.
Kenichi Sawai was colonel in Japanese army during World War 2. In 1931, he moved to Manchuria (China), he met and asking Wang Xiangzhai for duel. He made several attempts to defeat Wang, including one where he fought with a shinai whilst Wang used only a stick. However, Kenichi was defeated each time. Kenichi subsequently pleaded for a week to be taught Yi Quan by Wang. Initially, Wang had principle of not accepting foreign students, but saw Sawai's enthusiasm as earnest and took him as his pupil.
Kenichi returned to Japan in 1947. Since Yi Quan was a foreign style, Sawai had to rename the style in order to spread it to native Japanese people. Initially, the style was to be called Taiseiken, but with permission from Wang Xiangzhai, he added a single letter "ki", and founded Taiki Seiseikenpo (Taikiken). Subsequently, he started practising with a few disciples at Meiji Shrine. Following the Taoist teachings of his teacher, he practiced in nature and did not have a permanent dojo.
No comments:
Post a Comment