Jim,
Just for background, the gentleman you’ve been sparring with is obviously attached to the Isshinryu taught by Javier Martinez in Puerto Rico.
The Wansu ‘bunkai’ is the same Martinez Sensei described in his book on Wansu years ago, and that performer is credited in the same lineage. The bunkai is a result of his personal research, somewhat different from what I believe most in Isshinryu utilize. I don’t see that is as bad or good, just is their subsidiary training appropriate to make it work. The demonstration of course is following contemporary international kata standards. I presume their ‘Hakutsuru’ presentation is also focused on the same stanrards.
As far as that gentleman’s mix of Chinna,Kyusho,Tuite that is also the way Martinez Sensei used the terms in his book on ‘Tuite’. At best your correspondent is following a training lingeage.
Perhaps it is not accurate ‘historically’ but once someone writes something and teaches something in that lingeage it often becomes truth. So I guess you’ve been corresponding to a true believer.
I’ve been tracking ‘Hakutsuru’ since it first made it’s appearance in the magazines. Not because I lust after it, but to try and understand it’s claims.
I have a copy of the video showing Soken Hohen performing Hakutsuru, but of all the different Okinawan versions I’ve seen, I consider the Matayoshi Shimpo performing Okaku
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmASeBvCq5M the best. Another friend in Cambridge who trained with Matayoshi Sensei has a performance of this form almost identical.
My only other direct brush with Hakutsuru came indirectly because Azem Sensei was teaching Hakutsuru no Kata at a nearby school (this was one of Azem’s students demonstrating the kata)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOyhgwc5T7M close to 20 years ago. One of those students chose to switch to my program and in turn taught me this form. I worked it for maybe a decade be fore I set it aside. The notes he shared with me was this was taught to Azem on Okinawa by Soken Sensei.
Of course I haven’t studied on Okinawa, and in any case any form can be judged on its own merits.
Some thoughts,