Hanshi Peter “Polander” Ciećwierz

To boldly go where no man has gone before

Early life

     Hanshi Peter Polander was born as Piotr Ciećwierz in Warsaw, Poland, on the 12^th of March 1962. Shortly after, he moved with his mother and brother to Tomaszow Mazowiecki where the family originated from. His father had a construction company and stayed behind in Warsaw, visiting them during weekends. For his mother, taking care of two small children was more convenient in the town where they were surrounded by lots of family. Even if the living conditions where harsh. The house was old, there was no central heating nor running water and the toilet was outside. On the other hand, there was no lack of human warmth with all the uncles, aunts and cousins that were visiting them often. Around the age of 7, young Piotr moved with his family to the Zoliborz district in Warsaw because the family received a bigger apartment there. His father’s company was thriving, there were better working conditions to be found for his mother, the life standard was just much higher in Warsaw.

     Also, around this age, Piotr Ciećwierz started his lifelong journey in martial arts. First, he picked up boxing with his father who was an amateur boxer and his uncle who was a professional one. At the age of 9, Piotr started to train Shotokan karate and another year later Kyokushinkai. From the around 100 people that started there, only 9 remained after a month or two of hard training. He himself also decided to change to Judo as he fell in love with the close contact fighting, throwing opponents, doing chokes and armbars. And besides that, the world of Judo was much better organized in those days, with possibility to compete in tournaments and travel abroad for competition. His first Judo teacher was the famous university vice world champion Wlodzimierz Lewin. After that he trained with the Polish champion Stanisław Radek and later with the silver Olympic medalist Antonio Zajkowski.

     Piotr Ciećwierz worked himself up as a member of the Polish national judo team, competing in Russia, Austria and Italy – Sardinia in the late 70’s. In 1981, during a Polish national competition, he severely injured his knee and needed surgery. After the operation, the doctors told him to stop doing sports at a high level or he could end up in a wheelchair. Hearing the news his sports career could already be over at such early age was very discouraging at first, but soon he started to prove the doctors wrong. ‘Till today I have some problems with this knee, but that is not stopping me from training and teaching.’

     On the 3^rd of May 1982, after the knee operation and at the end of his physical therapy, 21-year-old Piotr Ciećwierz was walking with crutches in the old towns centre of Warsaw on his way to visit his friends from the University of Warsaw Judo club. The 3^rd of May is the Constitution Day in Poland and during communist times there were Solidarity manifestations. Being at the wrong time at the wrong place, he got arrested and was put in detention without being able to contact anybody. After he was judged he was put in a waiting room where he found an unfinished cigarette on the floor. He removed the tobacco and using burned matches he was able to write his telephone number. The detention room was located a bit lower than the street, from the window he could see the legs of people passing by. With his elbow he broke the window, and started screaming for help. As people knew this was a detention building, they ran away. So instead of screaming for help he started shouting he’s from the ‘Solidarity’ movement and finally one older lady was brave enough to come stand in front of the window with her back to the window so he could give her the little paper in her opened hand. Thanks to the phone call of the older lady, his parents found out what happened to him. His father came and paid the sum to bail him out. During his imprisonment, he was given an ultimatum to start working for the secret policy as a spy at the university. When he refused, he got expelled from the AWF (Academy of Physical Education) where he was studying. For him, it was time to leave the country. Being karate teacher at the Main School of Planning and Statistics, he was in contact with exchange students from the Georgetown university in Washington. He received an invitation from one of the female students there and was able to obtain a VISA to receive surgery on his injured knee in the States. With 300 USD in his pocket, no knowledge of English, no contacts, no work permit, the young Piotr found the Georgetown university judo club. He started to teach Judo there and received renovation jobs from the people who were training in that club. The first years in the States were very tough, but somehow, he survived. Till the early 90’s when Piotr Ciećwierz started to make a living mainly from martial arts.

     In that period, while visiting Los Angeles, he met martial artist and movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme. For the new movie Lionheart (Wrong bet), the movie team was looking for a stunt double. Being of similar height and build as the young Belgian actor, they met in a garage in Chinatown, where besides exchanging techniques and opinions, test shots were being made. This all under supervision of Frank Dux. As the name ‘Piotr Ciećwierz’ is quite impossible to pronounce outside of Poland, he was asked to use a nickname. At that time the ‘Highlander’ movie was very popular, and quite spontaneously he said ‘Peter Polander’. A name that stuck ever since. In 1989, he came across of a video of 12 basic forms with brake down performed by Grand Master Taika Oyata. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. Right away he knew this was the real deal, something completely different than the karate he knew, this was what he was looking for so long. He had to meet that Master. That first meeting happened in January 1990 during a national seminar in South Carolina. Immediately, Peter Polander was overwhelmed with the knowledge, the technique, and the personality of Taika Oyata. The young Peter, still in his 20’s and full of confidence, agreed to Taika’s request to throw him a punch. The next thing he remembered was laying on the floor with severe pain in the lower arm. This was the beginning of a great master-student and spiritual father-son relationship, it would last till Taika passed away in 2012. Quickly Peter Polander became Taika’s top senior student. And his only Uke for the more dangerous techniques. Not everybody was able to take Taika’s energy.

The International Okinawan Kempo Federation (IOKF)

     In 1992 Peter Polander provided a demo to be able to teach at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. Out of multiple candidate Martial Artists for the post, he received the contract. Being a bit disappointed with the engagement the navy people were showing during classes, he decided in April 1995 to start his own dojo. That was a scary undertaking as in the neighborhood there were 5 other dojo’s run by Japanese, Korean and American Masters. The big competition made him work even harder and motivate him to study on the business part of running a dojo. And the rest is history, the dojo is still flourishing today, at this moment the oldest and biggest dojo in Bethesda.

     Peter Polander had always been a Polish patriot, never forgetting his roots, so when in the late 1990’s he was invited by a Polish martial art organization to teach on a seminar, he gladly took that opportunity. This was the kickoff for new relationships in Poland and more and more Polish people started to attend his seminars and joined his organization. At this moment, there’s a core of around 30 Yudansha including 3 very knowledgeable and skillful Renshi’s, that are teaching and training in different cities all over the country like Warsaw, Kraków, Przemysl, Lublin to name a few. And outside of Poland, besides his dojos in the US, the Art is also being spread in the Czech Republic, Germany, the United Kingdom and Kuwait. Three times per year, Hanshi spends time in Poland teaching his European students face to face. Twice for a weekend seminar in Warsaw and a longer summer camp that mostly takes place in the professional Olympic center in the beautiful mountain city of Zakopane in the south of Poland.

     After Taika passed away in 2012, Taika’s Ryu Te organization fell apart. Not an uncommon situation when the headmaster of an organization is no longer there. It became necessary for Peter Polander, Kyoshi at that time, to start a new organization. Which he did in 2015. The International Okinawan Kempo Federation was born. To help him create an appropriate name for the style, Peter Polander talked to his dear friend Miko Chinen Teller, the leading authority in the US on traditional Okinawan dancing. Peter Polander’s passion for medieval Polish castles, his spirit of knighthood, Polish snowy winters, combined with Okinawan Life Protection Art came together in the Kanji of ‘Shiro Washi No Te’ – ‘Hands of the White Eagle’. The Kanji can also be read as ‘white snow’ or ‘knight guarding a castle’. Washi No Te also being the title of an old Okinawan dance, the dance of the eagle. This style is the synthesis of all his experience in martial arts.

     In 2019, during the well visited international Okinawa karate summer camp in Warsaw, with participants from the whole of Europe, north and south America and the Middle East, Peter Polander received the title of ‘Hanshi’ from the hands of Hanshi Tetsuhiro Hokama, a Master of Goju Ryu and a lifelong friend of Taika Oyata. In the US, Hanshi Polander is the organizer of the yearly Hands of Okinawa seminar that takes place around April-May. A unique event that gives martial artists the possibility to meet and train with many renowned masters of different Okinawan karate disciplines.

The Okinawan Art of Kempo

     During classes, Hanshi Polander has the habit of sharing lots of important karate history. He teaches that the true purpose of martial arts is to develop character and true moral goodness by following the Dojo Kun. In one word, to become a good human being. And that the essence of the physical part of karate has never been about trying to hit somebody as hard as possible in the face to try to knock him out. This can take a while and increase the risk of damage to your own body. The purpose of the self defence part of martial arts is to end the fight within a few seconds, by taking away the possibility of your opponent to attack you. By either causing severe pain or damage to the attacker’s body and/or controlling his body in a minimum of time spent fighting. This requires much more skill than just punching and kicking. This is the real art that Okinawan warriors of the past possessed and practised to be able to do their duty in protecting their King and the gates of the Royal palace. The knowledge of these skills is still very rare today. Everybody who teaches you that you can block a punch using Uchi-Ude-Uke by moving your arm one way and then the opposite way to block a punch, or Soto-Ude-Uke by pulling your hand first backwards behind your shoulder to afterwards block forward, doesn’t have this knowledge. Today we have the possibility to learn how to use karate blocks and other techniques like Tuite jutsu, Atemi jutsu and Kyusho jutsu effectively in accordance with the real old ways or to feel the effectiveness of these techniques with a partner in one of the dojos of the IOKF.

     Tuite jutsu is an immensely difficult Art to master. On a totally different level than merely punching or kicking. When you see Hanshi Polander perform Tuite or even knock-outs on partners, it all looks so easy, just tap here or push there and the partner goes down. But there is nothing easy or simple about it. Great artists have the talent to make the immensely complex look easy. The tab here or push there is just the last 5% of the technique. Before that, perfect timing, perfect positioning, perfect angels, use of feet, knees, hips, use of the weight of the body and the movements of the whole body until the fingertips has to be perfect for a Tuite technique to work with ease.

     Okinawan Kempo is a complete style. The art that was introduced in Japan by Okinawan masters was only a very basic part of the whole system. Besides Tuite, Atemi and Kyusho Jutsu, also Kobudo or weapons training is taught. This was actually the first discipline Taika Oyata was taught by the last descendant of the Okinawan Uhugusku warrior clan. First the Bo, the long staff and then gradually shorter weapons to end with empty hand fighting Tuite.

     Today we’re not wielding a Bo or Sai on the streets anymore, but still, weapons training enriches your empty hand techniques in a way that cannot be replaced by other training methods. The resistance of the weapon, the way two hands are wielding it, the weight of the weapon when you strike, it all enhances your empty hand techniques.

The teachings of Hanshi Polander

     Hanshi Peter Polander is one of a few senior students of Taika Seiyu Oyata (1928 – 2012). Being Taika's favorite Uke for 17 years gave him firsthand experience and a special eye for what works and what doesn't. That irreplaceable experience together with lots of hard work and the clear abundance of talent for martial arts, make that when Hanshi Polander performs techniques, it all looks effortless.

     While it is common for students to try and walk in the footsteps of the master, a very honourable thing, Hanshi Polander has a different approach. Great artists are never merely copies of their master. Taika was always developing the art, he was a creative martial artist, always looking to enhance the art. This kind of research of body movement and technique is not for everybody. First it needs a deep understanding of the art as it is, which takes many years of training and true insight in the art, before enhancements can be considered even. And even then, people can become so obsessed with their own ideas, that they lose connection with reality. What is needed in such research is the discipline to take a step back and do a reality check. Is this just a fancy idea? Any idea can be based on logic. Or does this actually work in real life situation? Don't forget, it's a martial art, without the 'martial' aspect, it's just artistic movement. I started my martial path almost 4 decades ago, in the last 10 years I had the possibility to witness part of Hanshi Polander's path of research. A real artist doesn't come up with one brilliant idea some day and then sits back for the rest of his life to enjoy his work. It's a daily struggle, with falling and getting up, trial and error. But great artists do have a strong vision, they are not experimenting in the wild. They are working towards a clear goal.

     The basics of the art remain the same, but you can reach goals in more effective ways or reach much higher goals if you train differently. It's the same for every art. Study the piano with a bad teacher or with bad habits and you will never reach a high level. We know by now that the karate stories we grew up with are just urban legends. The stories about Okinawan peasants and fisherman developing lethal empty hands skills to kill armed Japanese samurai. We know that the real fighting skills were kept secret in the warrior clans of Okinawa, all upper-class people. We know that when karate went public with Anko Itosu and his contemporaries, it was just the 'exoteric' art that was taught, the tip of the iceberg. Which is nothing more than basic striking, kicking, and ‘blocking’ to train general physical fitness in schools. The 'esoteric' art, meaning the real effective fighting techniques were not taught publicly. Hanshi Polander teachings show very clearly that the karate as we know it today is ‘picture book karate’. One picture of a kata technique followed by the picture of the end of the next technique. What happens in between the pictures is the real art. In 99% of karate as we see it everywhere, the exoteric karate, there is only the pictures, nothing in between.

     The struggle of Taika Oyata and Hanshi Polander is a struggle with 'tradition' versus the effectiveness of the real art. Tradition is a powerful thing, respect is very important. Respect for the teachings that reached us over generations, but also respect for the tradition of secrecy. But let us not forget that ‘tradition’ in kata today means the tradition of kata as taught after karate went public. Deliberately created by Anko Itosu to teach in schools and for big groups. Very different than how kata was taught before to individual students.

     When it comes to kata, Taika Oyata kept the basic version very close to how the kata were taught to him by Sensei Shigeru Nakamura. Taika was well aware of the 'picture style kata' and showed the real techniques hidden between the pictures to his Yudansha in the so called 'advanced versions'. Hanshi Polander's struggle is the same, but in the last decade he took it one step further. The picture kata as we know them in most karate styles are completely useless in real battle, many karateka acknowledge that. If you watch karate competition you could wonder if the kata part of the competition and the kumite part belong to the same martial art. There doesn’t seem to be any link between the static kata performance and the light-footed moves.

    As Hanshi Polander teaches, a kata is the catalogue of techniques of a particular style. Kata is not a fight simulation where first an attacker comes from the left, then another one from the right then one from behind etc. More and more we see styles come up with 'bunkai choreography’ to make visible what the person who is performing a kata is doing. Although fun for children to add to their kata practice, it is however very far from practical and realistic fighting techniques. Again, the link between kata and actual fighting is missing.

     In the vision of Hanshi Polander, it cannot be like that. Kata practice that cannot be applied in a real fight is not the martial way. Instead, kata should be alive, consisting of movements that are used in real fight. Hanshi Polander's biggest gift to the martial arts world is making the basic kata 'work'. The purpose of doing kata is multiple, but if we are talking about martial application, then the movements we do during the kata should really prepare you for battle and really work in a fight. Which they don't in the standard way of performing kata. Hanshi Polander took the task upon him to make ALL movements in any kata into effective fighting techniques. First of all, you need the knowledge and clear vision to do that and secondly you need to be bold enough to teach it to the world of 'tradition'.

     To completely step away from the picture book kata that was made public is not an easy thing. Proper movements of heels, hip, shoulder which is required for natural effective fighting, should all be part of kata. Nobody fights in a rigid Kiba-dachi. A blocking hand which first moves one way to block the other way will never be in time to intercept the attacking hand. All this needs to be researched, acknowledged, and adapted. Luckily, Hanshi Polander is very approachable, when not teaching in his dojo in Bethesda, he is providing seminars in the US and in his home country Poland. Besides face to face, Hanshi is teaching Saturday zoom classes to people all around the world who are interested in bringing their fighting skills to a whole new level.

Dagmar Uythethofken
International Okinawan Kempo Federation
Sandan