Tiger Flower Tradition

TORAHANA-RYU
FIGHTING SCIENCE

Torahana-ryu Fighting Science (T.F.S.) is an eclectic
and pragmatic form of martial training that is practical
and realistic in our modern society.
T.F.S. was fashioned and forged in the fires of experience,
practice, and real combat; tempered by the scrutiny and
analysis of Master Teachers, and consequently polished and
refined by it's practitioners.

T.F.S. is not merely karate or kung-fu, but a unique martial
science that has been created to not only provide an effective,
practical self-defense and fitness system, but also an exciting
self-development and self-discovery intermediary for
students of all ages.

T.F.S. was developed to mold to the needs of the individual
student while still being taught in a disciplined class setting.
T.F.S. takes on many appearances
and may not look exactly the same with every student.
T.F.S. is established on the belief that no student is exactly
the same but a unique individual, and no situation is exactly
the same but every situation or predicament will differ,
therefore spontaneity is the key principle taught.

Though T.F.S. is evolving and growing,
all the above mentioned elements make T.F.S.
a martial / fitness program with unprecedented possibilities.

Torahanaryu Fighting Science is nothing more than my expression of my love for
"Budo" (the Martial Way) and what I have learned and gained in the Martial Arts.

Though the foundation of my knowledge of the Martial Arts is Isshinryu Karate, and I have a great
fondness and respect for that style, I am and always will be a sponge for any Fighting Art or
technique that I could absorb or integrate, realistic combat being my first and foremost priority.
Consequently, I found it extremely difficult to teach purely a traditional style (ie. Isshinryu Karate) or
separate my knowledge or maintain the perimeters of what I had absorbed into the styles from
which I learned them. Karate, kung-fu, jujitsu, etc. blend together and became one.

I discovered, that in my training and my search for what it means to be a "Warrior" I was evolving
and so was my personal Martial Art and who I was.
Though I never intended to develop another "ryu" or system, nevertheless my burning desire to
continue my quest for 'my martial Way', to teach, and freely improvise, led me to develop
'Torahanaryu', Tiger Flower School/Tradition.

Bruce Lee once said and even placed on his schools wall this statement "The truth in Combat is
different for each individual...", I have also discovered this, and this principle I also want propagate
through what I call 'Torahanaryu Fighting Science'.

                                 "Tigers know nothing of conformity.
         It is men who weaken themselves trying to be like each other"
                                                                           Emerson

                                                   TORA = TIGER

The incredible, large jungle cat called the Tiger has from childhood fascinated me with its beauty
and prowess. As a teenager I gained the nickname of "Tiger" which I have retained, and even now
I believe the Tiger most reflects my fighting style and intensity.

Torahanaryu is also based on the reality that in a fight situation, the conscious mind has a
tendency to freeze and let the survival self, the subconscious mind take over. If there is nothing (or
the wrong things) in the subconscious mind, it will not be able to react reflexively in the manner
that will help save your life.
In China this reflexive control training of the subconscious mind is called "UNLEASHING THE
TIGER"*

When you have developed the "TIGER", then you can react to the situation you've found yourself
in. This training of the TIGER will help make the martial artist strong, fast, fearless, and close to
unbeatable, responding reflexively. The spirit of the Tiger is one of power, ferocity and relentless
pursuit of the enemy. Proper emphasis on courage, aggressiveness, and actual combat, for street
application of effective fighting techniques, is the most lacking element in modern day martial arts.
Courage and having the right mind-set is more important than blinding fast speed, or ultimate
power, or the best technique. The "TIGER" reveals an indomitable spirit, displaying calmness and
wisdom within ferocity.





                                    HANA = FLOWER

Bara No Hana = Rose in the Japanese language, which happens to be my surname.
A flower, especially a rose has tremendous significance to the internal part of a person. A warrior
can not only just develop the TIGER, he/she must also recognize and nurture the HANA or flower
within them. The flower represents beauty, love, friendship, loyalty and mortality which must be
understood and nurtured through personal development.

As the TIGER is yang, the HANA is yin.
The Rose, the most beautiful of flowers,
is famous for its fragile beauty and its spiky thorns.

" For Bushido, the three qualities of Loyalty, Right Conduct, and Bravery are essential.
We speak of the loyal warrior, and the valiant warrior, and it is he who is endowed with
all three of these virtues who is a warrior of the highest class."
From "Budo Shoshinshu", by Daidoji Yuzan


Personal development is the hallmark and the most important attribute of ToraHana-ryu Fighting
Science. It is my belief and personal experience that real, authentic Martial Arts training (not its
"commercial" counterpart) when properly balanced can be used as a tool by the Artist to mold not
only the physical body but also the human psyche, and to discover the hidden potential and
treasures resident in all of us.

ToraHana-ryu Fighting Science was established on the fact that all advances, accomplishments,
victories in ones Martial Arts training can and should be "transmuted" to the challenges and
obstacles of ones everyday life, thus achieving the personal development that should be
everyone's ambition. To transmute means "the changing, or transferring of one element, or form
of energy, into another."

Transferring the positive energy and attributes of dedicated intensive Budo training into our
everyday life to vanquish and conquer life's everyday problems and hindrances is not new to the
martial arts though absent in many modern or "Americanized" systems, nevertheless, it is the
nucleus of ToraHana-ryu.

As much as ToraHana-ryu Fighting Science is a physical combat art, it is also a esoteric spiritual
hypothesis, ever evolving.

                                                            Edward C. Rose III
                                                         Founder & Head Master