Techniques of Ryu-Te

Probably everyone has hit a sensitive spot on their elbow, suffering crippling pain and numbness. For a few seconds, you can't collect your thoughts or move your arm, and the pain spreads to wider parts of your body than the impact site itself. Ryu-Te, an Okinawan martial art that uses the opponent's vital points, takes advantage of this phenomenon. There are many such points on the human body, and their effects are varied. Master Taika Oyata teaches an art that uses this specific way of dominating an opponent called Kyusho Jitsu. By using the weak spots on the opponent's body, it is possible to defend yourself without causing permanent damage and injuries. Of course, Kyusho Jitsu, performed at a high level, can lead to the death of the opponent, but most practitioners of the master Taika Oyata present techniques aimed at causing severe pain, daze or temporary dysfunction of some organ or limb.

Attacks on vital points on the opponent's body are very difficult to perform on a fast and decisive attacker. So, in addition to Kyusho Jitsu, we are dealing with Atemi Jitsu and Tuite Jitsu. These are techniques that prepare the opponent for a knockout by using Kyusho Jitsu. All three types of techniques give a complete technique in a real emergency situation.

Atemi Jitsu is the first contact with the opponent. The purpose of this action is to stop the aggressor by attacking a weak spot, such as an arm or leg. By stopping, I mean breaking the original intention of the opponent, which gives the defender a fraction of a second to start the next action, which is Tuite Jitsu.

Tuite Jitsu is a system of levers and interceptions, sometimes also with the use of vital points. The purpose of this action is to hold the attacker for a longer time in such a way that they cannot free themselves. Only in such a "stabilized" situation, there is a possibility to perform Kyusho Jitsu, i.e. a knockout ending the fight. Properly executed Atemi and Tuite Jitsu can also end a fight. It should be remembered that this entire sequence cannot be stretched out in time and should last little more than a second. One of the basic rules is to keep the opponent in constant pain from the first contact to the end of the action, which prevents him from continuing the fight.

The training methods, despite their basic similarity to most traditional karate styles, change as you continue to learn about the system. In the example of blocks, it is possible to trace the change in the meaning of individual movements. Initially, blocks are made widely and only defensively. Over time, the blocks begin to be narrower and in forward direction, which makes them offensive as well, as they are also strikes to the opponent's arms. Then there are additional moves performed simultaneously with the block, which together give precise techniques of attacks on the opponent's nervous and skeletal systems. This is how the basics of Atemi Jitsu are born. Tuite Jitsu and Kyusho Jitsu are achieved by developing more complex routines than single techniques – by developing complex foundations and kata.

The development and change of meanings and interpretations of individual movements is characteristic of Master Oyata's System. It is worth mentioning that only a few of the closest disciples accepted by Master Oyata into the family of the Oyata ShinShu Ho system, in whom He places his hopes for the cultivation and development of the system, learn the techniques at the highest level, which are the most advanced interpretations of the movements learned before.

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