I was surprised to find this newspaper article on an unusual aspect of kobudo (traditional Japanese martial arts). It’s about a walking style called ‘nanba,’ which was the common way martial artists walked in Japan until western influence during the Meiji period (1868-1912).
Nanba-walking is walking without swinging your arms and without twisting your shoulders or hips. The idea is to keep everything compact and level—no rising, sinking, or swinging as you walk. You can kind of see what they’re saying in the diagram. Instead of bobbing or twisting as you walk, you move from your center. The article describes this as your lower abdomen or ‘tanden.’ Doing this kept samurai more prepared and on balance at all times.
Manaka Sensei had talked to us about nanba-walking in class a while back. It was interesting to see something in the newspaper about it.
Robert R. Gray 