, also known as

Ueekata ,The same kanji (親方) are pronounced ''oyakata'' in Japanese, in which the term is used in a variety of contexts with meanings roughly corresponding to "master." For example, in sumo, the term is used to refer to coaches. in the Okinawan language ...

, and Yomitan Yara, is credited with being one of the first to disseminate martial arts (''te'') throughout

Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has an ...

. Yara is most noted for teaching Takahara Peichin who would later become the

sensei Sensei, Seonsaeng, Tiên sinh or Xiansheng, corresponding to Chinese characters , is an East Asian honorific term shared in Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese; it is literally translated as "person born before another" or "one who comes ...

(mentor) of

Sakugawa Kanga , also Sakugawa Satunushi and Tode Sakugawa, was a Ryūkyūan martial arts master and major contributor to the development of Te, the precursor to modern Karate. Karate-do In 1750, Sakukawa (or Sakugawa) began his training as a student of a ...

(1733-1815), the father of Okinawan

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

. Depending on Sakugawa's birth date, Yara may have been his teacher also (based on the ''kata'' he taught). Yara was from Chatan Village, on Okinawa Island. There is a popular Shito-Ryu

kata ''Kata'' is a Japanese word ( 型 or 形) meaning "form". It refers to a detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements made to be practised alone. It can also be reviewed within groups and in unison when training. It is practised ...

named 'Chatanyara Kushanku', the kata was taught to Teruo Hayashi by Nagamine Shoshin. Chatanyara kushanku is one of many variants of the popular ' Kushanku' family of katas taught on Okinawa.

Biography

According to most accounts, Yara's parents sent him to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

at the age of 12 under the advice of his uncle to study the

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

and the martial arts. It was here he mastered the use of the

bō A ''bō'' (棒: ぼう), ''bong'' (Korean), ''pang'' (Cantonese), ''bang'' (Mandarin), or ''kun'' (Okinawan) is a staff weapon used in Okinawa. ''Bō'' are typically around and used in Okinawan martial arts, while being adopted into Japanese ar ...

and sai under the guidance of his teacher Wong Chung-Yoh. Shortly after returning to Shuri around 1700, Yara came to the assistance of a woman being harassed by a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

. First avoiding the samurai's sword attacks, Yara acquired an

eku An eku (sometimes spelled eiku or ieku) is an ancient weapon of Okinawan kobudō. Its first intended purpose is as an oar. See also * Taiaha References External links Article, images & video on Eku(Okinawa Prefectural Government websi ...

(oar) from a nearby boat and successfully disarmed and killed the samurai. Soon after this rescue, he was recruited by local officials to teach his martial art to the local community for the purpose of

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

. Chatan Yara is credited as the originator of the popular (Chatan) Yara Kusanku, Chatan Yara no Sai (iron truncheon), and Chatan Yara no Kon (6 foot staff) kata that are commonly found in Okinawan martial arts. His son, known as Yara Guwa ("Little Yara") is the developer of the well-known Yara Guwa no Tonfa kata. Conversations with Devorah Yoshiko Dometrich, president of Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinkokai USA.