, also Sakugawa Satunushi
and Tode Sakugawa,
was a
Ryūkyūan martial arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
master and major contributor to the development of
Te, the precursor to modern
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 ...
.
Karate-do
In 1750, Sakukawa (or Sakugawa) began his training as a student of a Ryūkyūan
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
,
Peichin Takahara
was an early karate practitioner. He was known as a great warrior and is attributed to have been the first to explain the aspects or principles of the ''dō'' ("way"). was a social class of the Ryūkyū Kingdom
The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle C ...
. After six years of training, Takahara suggested that Sakugawa train under
Kusanku, a Chinese master in
Ch'uan Fa. Sakugawa spent six years training with Kusanku, and began to spread what he learned to Ryūkyū in 1762. He became such an expert that people gave him the nickname ''Tōde'' ("Chinese Hand"). His most famous student,
Matsumura Sōkon
was one of the original karate masters of Okinawa. The years of his lifespan are reported variously as c.1809-1901 or 1798–1890 or 1809–1896 or 1800–1892. However, the dates on the plaque at Matsumura's tomb, put there by Matsumura's fam ...
, went on to develop the
Shuri-te
Okinawan martial arts refers to the martial arts, such as karate, tegumi and Okinawan kobudō, which originated among the indigenous people of Okinawa Island. Due to its central location, Okinawa was influenced by various cultures with a long hist ...
which later develop into a number of karate styles including
Shotokan
is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" throu ...
,
Shito-ryu, and
Shōrin-ryū
Shōrin-ryū (少林流) is one of the major modern Okinawan martial arts and is one of the oldest styles of karate. It was named by Choshin Chibana in 1933, but the system itself is much older. The characters 少林, meaning "sparse" or "scant ...
.
Evolution of Shito-Ryu
/ref>
References
External links
Biography of Tode Sakugawa
Okinawan male karateka
1733 births
1815 deaths
Ryukyuan people
{{Japan-karate-bio-stub