Chatan Yara

Chatan Yara came from the village of Chatan on the island of Okinawa . When he was 12 years old his uncle convinced his parents that he should go to China for martial arts training.

Yara trained vigorously in the art of the "Bo" and the "twin swords or Sai", but it was his sense of balance which made him excel at an unusual rate. He spent 20 years in China. His sensei was Wong Chung-Yoh.

Because Yara was endowed with brute strength, he thrived on physical activities which demanded collision or body contact. 

One day after Yara had returned to Okinawa he came between a rogue Japanese samurai and his intended victim, a woman. The samurai intended on forcing himself on her and Yara decide to stop him. The samurai had right on his side and wanted to kill Yara. He drew his sword intending on slicing the Okinawan open and then get back to the girl. Yara realized this was the real thing; this is what he had been training for all these years. He tried to relax until his fear subsided. The samurai moved into a "hasso" position prefatory to an attack and struck. He tried to cut cross-wise to open Yara's belly, in the so called "do cut". The Okinawan retreated just out of range and circled until he stood in the billowing surf. The samurai, hot with anger, charge in and Yara circled back to the beach. The girl seeing Yara's danger picked up an oar from a beached craft and tossed to him. Now he was also armed. The samurai assumed a "Jodan Kamai" with the sword held high above the head. He charged in determined to avenge himself. Yara positioned the oar so it left an opening for the attacker. The samurai went for it , Yara struck his sword hilt knocking the heavy weapon from his grip, as the weapon slipped away, the samurai reached for his short sword from his sash. Yara knew Japanese sword tactics, he waited and timed it right. As soon as the opponents knee hit the ground, Yara kicked him in the head with a side kick. Lying unconscious the samurai was helpless. Yara killed him with the oar.

Yara was a cultured man who could read and write Chinese, but was capable of killing whenever necessary. The martial arts teach mastery over the self. That was his Chinese mentor's lesson to Yara. The ancient purpose of the martial arts is to learn to control the emotions, to learn to overcome fear, regret, anger etc. and all the fierce drives that are part of our biological ancestry.

By Hanshi Gary Legacy