An Overly Brief History of Karate

Karate as we know it today originated in Okinawa. At least a couple factors combined to result in the development of this martial art.

• At various times, the Japanese forbade the Okinawans to own weapons, so during these periods, those who were Okinawan "Samurai" could not own swords or other traditional weapons.

• The Ryukyu Islands, as Okinawa is also called, historically was a major trade center.

The Okinawans not only refined their empty handed combat, but also developed fighting systems that replaced their forbidden weapons with farm implements and other available tools. This became known as "kobudo."

Three main centers of karate developed, reflecting the major population areas of Okinawa: Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te. Shorin-ryu came from the Shuri area and Shobayashi Shorin-ryu is one of the major Shorin-ryu systems -- Kobayashi and Matsubayashi being the other two.

Contrary to popular belief, karate is not a Japanese art (except to the extent that Okinawa is a part of Japan, as Ireland is a part of Great Britain and Chechnya is a part of Russia). It was not until the 1920's that karate was introduced to the Japanese as a goodwill gesture. At that time, the kanji (the characters used to represent "kara-te") was changed. The character for "kara" was changed from "China" to "empty." In English, these would be homynyms, words that sound the same but are spelled differently (like "cheep" and "cheap", or "straight" and "strait", or "too", "two" and "to." Gichin Funakoshi, a school teacher and the most gentlemanly member of the delegation, became the official spokesman and was eventually credited with being the father of Japanese karate.

Shobayashi Shorin-ryu Karate

This fighting system of Shobayashi Shorin-ryu includes 19 empty-handed kata and 6 weapons kata.

Empty Handed Kata:

• Seisan
• Naihanshi (3)
• Ananku
• Wanshu
• Pinan (5)
• Gojushiho
• Chinto
• Passai (2)
• Kusanku (2)
• Seiyuchin
• Sanchin

Weapons Kata:

• Toyei No Sai*
• Towata No Sai
• Tokumini No Kun
• Sakagawa No Kun
• Pinan No Nunchaku
• Toyei No Kama*

A Brief History of Eizo Shimabukoro

Because Master Shimabukoro maintained the traditions and excellence of Shorin-ryu after Master Kyan's death, in 1959 Kangen Toyama, President of the All Japan Karatedo League and founder of Shudokan Karate, promoted him to tenth degree black belt. Kangen Toyama also appointed Master Shimabukoro the chairman, Okinawan Headquarters, of the All Japan Karatedo League. Two years later, in 1961, at the age of 36, he was awarded the tenth degree red belt, the youngest man ever to attain this status.

Master Shimabukoro has always maintained the purity of the art he teaches and passes on to his students. Indicative of his seriousness in maintaining the purity of the lineage, since Shobayashi and Kobayashi Shorin-ryu are the same, in the 1960's he removed his Red Belt which denotes his status as the head of the Shobayashi Shorin-ryu karate system and asked Master Chibana of the Kobayashi Shorin-ryu karate system to correct his kata. The teachings of Master Kyan stay alive through Master Shimabukoro.

To learn even more about Shobayashi Shorin-ryu Karate, visit: Okinawan Shobayashi Shorin-ryu Karate Home Page