World of Okinawan Karate

Learning Okinawan Karate

There are more than 400 Karate Dojos in Okinawa. It is a sacred place where people from all over the world come to learn Karate. There are three exclusive elements that you can learn here.

You can learn the original form of Karate

Okinawan Karate is completely different from mainstream Karate. It is an original martial art form which contains many practical techniques and personality formation as its fundamentalism. It includes rigid physical and mental daily training. Karate learned in Okinawa will not only improve your physical condition but also your mental strength.

Real Okinawan Karate Masters

Karate Workshops

Karate Camps

Real Okinawan Karate Masters

Karate Workshops

You can learn from Okinawan Karate masters

Karate Camps

There are more than 400 Karate Dojos in Okinawa, and Karate masters you have seen only in videos exist here. Okinawan Karate is a lifetime martial arts. Some masters are even over 70 or 80 years old but still have incredible skills. You can learn Karate techniques and philosophy from those masters.

You can feel the Okinawan culture that created Karate

Karate is not aimed at attacking or harming your opponent; it is the contrast, it is about discipline and defense. This philosophy was created in Okinawa and it is what Karate represents. Karate is not just about strength and fighting but also the culture that loves peace and politeness. You can learn Karate in Okinawa where the root of this excellent and peaceful Karate philosophy exists.

Karate Training a Famous Spots

Karate History Tours

Okinawan Sightseeing

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We can arrange a dojo training session or any program based on your requests. Please see below for the many different programs that we have to offer you at Ageshio Japan.

Okinawan Karate History

1429 - 1609

The empty hand of self-defense of the Ryukyu Kingdom was transmitted from China. Seminal martial arts via the Silk Road into China, found their way to Ryukyu. In 1429, the three kingdoms on Okinawa unified to form the Ryukyu Kingdom. When the Ryukyu King came into power in 1477, traning of martial arts was forbidden. Tō-te and Ryukyu Kobudo continued to be taught in secret.

The ban training of martial arts continued in 1609 after Okinawa was invaded by the Satsuma Domain of Japan. The ban contributed to the development of Kobudō which uses common household and farming implements as weaponry.

The Okinawans combined Chinese martial arts with the existing local variants to form Tō-te (唐手 Tuudii), also sometimes called Okinawa-Te (沖縄手 Uchinaa-dii).

18th century

By the 18th century, different types of Te had developed in three different villages–Shuri, Naha and Tomari in different forms. The styles were named Shuri-Te, Naha-Te, and Tomari-Te.

Historic photo of a mass karate demonstration in front of Shuri Castle

20th century

Well into the 20th century, the martial arts of Okinawa were generally referred to as te and tii (手) in Japanese and Okinawan for “hand”. Te often varied from one town to another, so to distinguish among the various types of te, the word was often prefaced with its area of origin, for example, Naha-Te, Shuri-Te, or Tomari-Te. Shuri-Te, Naha-Te and Tomari-Te belong to a family of martial arts that were collectively. All these are Karate.

Karate (Okinawa-Te) was taught systematically in Japan after the Taisho Era (after 1926).

Different Types of Te

手

Te

首里手

Shuri-Te (首里手)

A martial art indigenous to the area around Shuri before World War 2. Shuri was the old capital city of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

MASTERS OF SHURI-TE

那覇手

Naha-Te (那覇手)

A martial art indigenous to the area around Naha before World War 2. Naha was the old commercial city of the Ryukyu Kingdom and is now the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture.

MASTERS OF NAHA-TE

泊手

Tomari-Te (泊手)

A tradition of martial arts originating from the village of Tomari. It is based on an underground empty-handed fighting style native to Okinawa. Tomari-te developed through the influence of Chinese diplomats and other personages skilled.

MASTERS OF TOMARI-TE

Masters of Shuri-Te

Matsumura Sokon
Itosu Ankō
Asato Anko
Funakoshi Gichin
Motobu Choki
Chibana Choshin
Mabuni Kenwa
Kyan Chotoku
and more.

Masters of Naha-Te

Arakaki Seisho
Higaonna Kanryo
Miyagi Chojun
Mabuni Kenwa
Uechi Kanbun
and more.

Masters of Tomari-Te

Motobu Choki
Matsumora Kosaku
Kyan Chotoku
and more.

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To learn more about the history of Okinawan Karate, please join us on our Karate History Tour, a tour you can experience only in Okinawa. Please click here for more information on our Karate History Tours.

We can arrange a dojo training session or any program based on your requests. Please see below for the many different programs that we have to offer you at Ageshio Japan.

Styles of Okinawan Karate

Okinawan martial arts refers to martial arts, such as karate, tegumi and Okinawan kobudō, which originated among the indigenous people of Okinawa.

Due to its central location, Okinawa was influenced by various cultures with a long history of trade and cultural exchange, including Japan, China and Southeast Asia, that greatly influenced the development of martial arts on Okinawa.

Goju-ryu

剛柔流

Uechi-ryu

上地流

Shorin-ryu

小林

Shorin-ryu

少林

Matsubayashi-ryu

松林流

空手

Karate

We would like to introduce you to five main styles. Below you will find a short introduction to each style.

5 Main Styles

Goju-ryu

剛柔流

Goju-ryu (剛柔流) is one of the main traditional style of Okinawan Karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques.

Kanryo Higaonna (1853-1915) was known as the highest authority of Naha Te. He and his successor Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953) made several basics.

Go means hard, refers to closed hand techniques or straight linear attacks, Ju means soft, refers to open hand techniques and circular movements. Goju-ryu incorporates both circular and linear movements into its basic method, combining hard striking attacks such as kicks and close hand punches with softer open hand circular techniques for attacking, blocking, and controlling the opponent, including locks, grappling, takedowns, and throws. Breathing method is also very important.

GOJU-RYU DOJOS WE OFFER TRAINING AT

Uechi-ryu

上地流

Uechi-ryu (上地流) is a traditional style of Okinawan karate. Uechi-ryu means “Style of Uechi”. Originally called Pangai-noon, which translates to English as “half-hard, half-soft”, the style was renamed Uechi-ryu after the founder of the style, Kanbun Uechi (1877-1948).

Uechi-ryu’s connection with Chinese Shorin-ken means the former shares a similar foundation with Naha-Te despite their separate development. Therefore Uechi-ryu is also heavily influenced by the kung fu from Fujian province. Uechi-ryu training styles are focused only on Sanchin training and body conditioning.

UECHI-RYU DOJOS WE OFFER TRAINING AT

Shorin-ryu

小林

Shorin (小林) -ryu is one of the major modern Okinawa styles of Karate and one of the oldest style. It was named by Choshin Chibana (1885-1969) in 1933, but the system itself is much older. Chosin Chibana was a top student of the great master of Shuri-te, Anko Itosu (1831-1915).

The characters Shorin (小林), meaning “small” and “forest” respectively and pronounced “shorin” in Japanese, are also used in the Chinese and Japanese words for Shaolin Kung Fu. Shorin-ryu adjusts elements of the traditional fighting styles of Shuri-Te. Shorin-ryu karate is the swift, fast techniques based on the strategy of evasion and in the same time attacking to sensitive spots of the body with hits.

SHORIN-RYU DOJOS WE OFFER TRAINING AT

Shorin-ryu

少林

Shorin (少林) -ryu is one of the major Okinawan Karate styles. Chotoku Kyan had a large influence on the styles of Karate that would become Shorin-ryu (少林流). He taught Zenryo Shimabukuro, who studied under Chotoku Kyan for over 10 years. In 1962 Zenryo Shimabukuro built his own Dojo and named it Seibukan, spreading the Okinawan Karate style of Shorin-ryu.

SHORIN-RYU DOJOS WE OFFER TRAINING AT

Matsubayashi-ryu

松林流

Matsubayashi-ryu (松林流), is a style of Okinawan karate founded by Shoshin Nagamine (1907-1997). Nagamine named his style in honor of the two most important masters that his teachings were influenced by Sokon Matsumura of Shuri-te and Kosaku Matsumora of Tomari-te.

He chose to name the school using the first kanji characters from both master’s names Matsu (松) and the style is pronounced in Japanese “Matsubayashi” (松林). Matsubayashi-ryu is one of the main styles of Karate on Okinawa.

MATSUBAYASHI-RYU DOJOS WE OFFER TRAINING AT

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We can arrange a dojo training session or any program based on your requests. Please see below for the many different programs that we have to offer you at Ageshio Japan.

Okinawan Karate Pioneers

Meet the masters who shaped Okinawan karate. Each of them founded or carried forward a style that is still taught in Okinawa’s dojos today.

Chojun Miyagi

宮城長順

Chojun Miyagi (宮城長順) is the founder of Goju-ryu(剛柔流) Karate. He was Okinawan martial artist who founded the school of karate by blending Okinawan and Chinese influences. He studied under the Naha-te master Kanryo Higaonna. After Kanryo Higaonna’s death, Chojun Miyagi learned some local Chinese martial arts in China. He traveled to Fujian and Shanghai to train and research southern Chinese Boxing.

Kanryo Higaonna

東恩納寛量

Kanryo Higaonna(東恩納寛量) also known as the Ryukyuan martial artist who founded a fighting style known at the time as Naha-te. He went to study martial arts in China Fuzhou from 1876 to 1888. He returned to Okinawa with those skills. His student, Chojun Miyagi, would later found Goju-ryu Karate(剛柔流). Several of Kanryo’s students went on to become influential masters of what came to be called karate, He has the greatest influence on masters who include Chojun Miyagi, Kenwa Mabuni, Kyoda Shigehatsu, Koki Shiroma, Higa Seiko, Tsuyoshi Chitose and Gusukuma Shinpan.

Kenwa Mabuni

摩文仁賢和

Kenwa Mabuni(摩文仁賢和) was the founder of Shito-ryu(糸東流). He was one of the first karateka to teach karate on mainland Japan, and was credited for developing this style. Born in Shuri on Okinawa in 1889, he studied and reserched both Shuri-te(首里手) and Naha-te (那覇手) , and began his training in the art of Shuri-Te at the age of 13 under Anko Itosu (糸洲安恒) . After that, he began to learn Naha-Te under Kanryo Higaonna(東恩納寛量). Mabuni derived the name for Shito-ryu(糸東流) from the first Kanji character in their names, “Shi (糸)” from Ito(su) and “To (東)” from Higashi(onna). Kenwa Mabuni passed away on May 23, 1952.

Anko Itosu

糸洲安恒

Anko Itosu (糸洲安恒) is considered by many the father of modern karate. He was born in Ishimine, Shuri in 1831. He was a master of Karate that was active in the Ryukyu Kingdom period through the Meiji Period. He made karate accepted as part of the regular physical education curriculum in the school system, and is also known as the first person to start the “modernization” of Karate. He passed away in 1915.

Sokon Matsumura

松村宗棍

Sokon Matsumura (松村宗棍) was given the title “Bushi” meaning “warrior” by the Okinawan king in recognition of his abilities and accomplishments in martial arts. Matsumura served as a close advisor and bodyguard to three Ryukyuan kings. This position enabled him to travel widely to places such as Fuchou, Satsuma and the Fukien Shaolin Temple where he studied several forms of Chinese boxing and other fighting styles. His martial arts have been the base of many karate styles, for example, Shorin-ryu, Shotokan, and Shito-ryu. Ultimately, all modern styles of karate that evolved from the Shuri-te lineage can be traced back to the teachings of Bushi Matsumura.

Gichin Funakoshi

船越義珍

Gichin Funakoshi (船越義珍) is known as the founder of Shotokan Karate (松涛館), the most widely known style of karate, and is attributed as being the “father of modern karate”. Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato, he went to Tokyo to introduce the Okinawan martial art. He was one of the Okinawan karate masters who introduced karate to mainland Japan in 1922. He taught karate at various Japanese universities and became the honorary head of the Japan Karate Association upon its establishment in 1949. Funakoshi’s famous words “Karate Ni Sente Nashi (there is no first attack in Karate)”.

Choshin Chibana

知花朝信

Choshin Chibana (知花朝信) was an Okinawan martial artist who developed Shorin-ryu (小林流), a karate based on what he had learned from Anko Itosu. In 1928, Chibana Choshin was born on June 5th, 1885 in Shuri. Choshin began his study of martial arts when he was 15 years old. He was the first to establish a Japanese ryu-ha name for an Okinawan Karate style. He taught Karate at the Shuri Police Academy. In 1956, he became the President of the Okinawa Karate Federation. Chibana had received the title of Hanshi (High Master) from the Dai Nippon Butokukai. In 1960, he received the First Sports Award for his overall accomplishments in the study and practice of traditional Okinawan Karate-do.

Chotoku Kyan

喜屋武朝徳

Chotoku Kyan (喜屋武朝徳) was an Okinawan Karate master who was famous for both his Karate skills and his colorful personal life. He had a large influence on the styles of Karate that would become Shorin-ryu (少林流). From the age of 16, Chotoku studied under Matsumura Sokon for two years. He moved to Tokyo and stayed there for 9 years. After returning to Okinawa, he began studying Tomari-te under Kosaku Matsumora from the Tomari village. While at 30 years of age, he was considered a master of the Karate styles known as Shuri-te and Tomari-te. Kyan was also was responsible for having Karate introduced into the curriculum of the Okinawa Prefectural Agricultural School where he taught.

Shoshin Nagamine

長嶺将真

Shoshin Nagamine (長嶺将真) was a Japanese author from Okinawa as well as a soldier, police officer, and Karate master. He was the founder of the style of Karate Matsubayashi-ryu. Nagamine was born in Naha in 1907. He was born in Tomari, Okinawa. After graduation in March 1928, he began to study martial arts, moving to Shuri and training under Zenryo Shimabukuro (島袋善良) and Ankichi Arakaki. He became the first vice chairman of the Okinawa Karatedo Federation and served as chairman of the Fourth Phase Federation for eight years from 1961 to 1969. In 1977, He organized the World Matsubayashi-ryu (松林) Karatedo Federation.

Kanbun Uechi

上地完文

Kanbun Uechi (上地完文) was the founder of Uechi-ryu, one of the famous Karate styles of Okinawan Karate. Uechi was born in the town of Motobu in northern Okinawa. Uechi took up the study of the Kung Fu system called “Pangai-noon”, under a Chinese master named Shushiwa. Uechi received a certificate of mastery in 1904, and he opened his own dojo in Nansoye, China. After returning to Okinawa, the style he taught was renamed to “Uechi-ryu” Karate in 1940. Uechi-ryu is one of the major styles of Okinawan Karate, and it spread throughout his homeland.

Kosaku Matsumora

松茂良興作

Kosaku Matsumora (松茂良興作) was a Ryukyu Karate master. He was born in Tomari. He studied and trained Karate in Tomari under Uku Karyu. Matsumora had a very strong sense of justice and he once used his skills to defeat a Satsuma warrior who was terrorizing the citizens of Tomari. Matsumora’s students Choki Motobu and Chotoku Kyan went on to influence next generations.

Information

We can arrange a dojo training session or any program based on your requests. Please see below for the many different programs that we have to offer you at Ageshio Japan.

Learning Okinawan Karate

You can learn the original form of Karate

You can learn from Okinawan Karate masters

You can feel the Okinawan culture that created Karate

Okinawan Karate History

18th century

20th century

Different Types of Te

Masters of Shuri-Te

Masters of Naha-Te

Masters of Tomari-Te

Styles of Okinawan Karate

5 Main Styles

Goju-ryu

Uechi-ryu

Shorin-ryu

Shorin-ryu

Matsubayashi-ryu

Okinawan Karate Pioneers

Chojun Miyagi

Kanryo Higaonna

Kenwa Mabuni

Anko Itosu

Sokon Matsumura

Gichin Funakoshi

Choshin Chibana

Chotoku Kyan

Shoshin Nagamine

Kanbun Uechi

Kosaku Matsumora

Okinawan Group Tours

VIP Karate Retreat

Karate History Tour

Traditional Dojo Training

4 Styles of Okinawan Karate

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