Women in the Martial Arts

Kiaiiii! The scream fills the dojo, piercing the intense atmosphere. Looking up from the floor one cannot help but notice the look of satisfaction on the predominantly male faces.

Many of these ill informed "paper tigers" would be embarrassed at having to engage in combat with a woman. A half-hearted effort would be attempted, and, most of the time, would be all that was necessary. However, any man who put forth less than total commitment in combat with the ladies of the Matsumura family would undoubtedly have given up his life!

Throughout history, women have had a profound, but rarely acknowledged, influence on the martial arts.

For example, Fang Chi Niang was the daughter of Fang Zhonggong, a Shaolin monk. He taught Chinese boxing to his daughter so that she could protect herself in the harsh and violent world in which they lived.

After a deal gone sour, Fang Zhonggong was badly beaten and eventually died from his injuries. While Fang Chi Niang was alone and thinking about what to do about her father's misfortune, and how she might defend herself and clear her family name, she noticed two cranes in what seemed to be a mating ritual. Looking closer, she noticed that their movements were actually quite aggressive and resembled fighting techniques.

After observing until satisfied she had seen enough, she picked up a stick and tried to part the two. She noticed that they merely side-stepped any attempt to lunge at them, stepped back when she tried to strike them and then attacked with their wings and beaks. She laid down her stick and left.

In Matsumura's time, one question which was debated, was whether Matsumura or Yonamine Chiru, his future wife, was the greater fighter? It seemed that Matsumura himself had some doubts.

Master Tony Sandoval explains it like this: Matsumura fought Yonanime in a contest he set up to match their skills in a lifelike situation. Yonanime Chiru came away the clear winner. The only consolation to the males of the time was, that had Matsumura fought her in a life and death battle, he may well have won, but in doing so he would have had to kill her with his most powerful of blows.

Her own family's Kobudo in Okinawa was, and is, one of the top schools of all time, and is the style used by many karate schools of thought even today.

When Matsumura's time was drawing to an end, family matters fell into Yonanime's capable hands. She kept Matsumura's karate and his secret White Crane alive.

Yonamine Chiru's Daughter, in turn, passed it down to her daughter, who then passed it to her son, Matsumura's great grandson, Hohan Soken, Sensei Tony Sandoval's teacher.

Ladies of the arts are finally getting the recognition due them and continue to make many valuable contributions to martial arts. One need only look in our very own dojo's to see many women who are role models for men and women alike.

Michele Legacy continues the tradition of the women of the dojo's by becoming the first female of the White Crane in Canada. She has reached and been awarded a masters level by the Matsusokan Karate Jutsu Kyokai of Okinawa.

Nothing ever stood in the ladies' way in the past, and I do believe that they intend on having it that way in the future.

G. Legacy Sensei

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