was a karate master in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, and was among the first people to demonstrate karate in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. Yabu learned Shuri-te from

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 ...

and

Ankō Itosu is considered by many the father of modern karate. This title is also often given to Gichin Funakoshi because of the latter spreading karate throughout Japan, but only after Ankō sensei had introduced the art of Okinawate to the country. Bi ...

and

Tomari-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 hi ...

from Kōsaku Matsumora. He is often considered Itosu's top student.

History

Yabu was born in Shuri, Okinawa, on September 23, 1866. He was the oldest son of Yabu Kenten and Shun Morinaga. He had three brothers, three sisters, and three half-sisters. On March 19, 1886, he married Takahara Oto (1868-1940). As a young man, Yabu learned Shuri-te from Matsumura Sōkon and Ankō Itosu. Around 1889, he, together with

Motobu Chōyū was an Okinawan martial artist and the 11th ''sōke'' of Motobu Udundī. He was also Ryukyuan royalty and the 11th head of the ''Motobu Udun'', a branch of the Ryukyuan royal family. His younger brother was a karate master, Motobu Chōki. Li ...

and

Motobu Chōki was an Okinawan karate master and founder of Motobu-ryū. He was born into a branch of the Ryukyuan royal family, and at the age of 12, he and his older brother Motobu Chōyū invited Ankō Itosu to learn karate. Chōyū was also a noted marti ...

, learned Tomari-te from Kōsaku Matsumora. In those days, there was no distinction between different styles of karate, and Yabu did not call himself by the name of his school for the rest of his life. Yabu joined the Japanese Army in December 1890. He served in the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...

of 1894-1895. He received promotion to lieutenant, but to subsequent students, he was often known as ''gunso'', or sergeant.Svinth, Joseph R. (2003) "Karate Pioneer Kentsu Yabu, 1866-1937."
/ref> Following separation from the service, Yabu became a teacher at Okinawa Prefectural Normal School in 1904. In 1908, Yabu's oldest son, Kenden, went to Hawaii. In 1912, Kenden went to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In the USA, Yabu Kenden became known as Kenden Yabe, after a method of

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

then being used on Japanese passports.''History of the Okinawans in North America'', translation of ''Hokubei Okinawajin shi,'' translated by Ben Kobashigawa. Los Angeles: University of California and the Okinawan Club of America, 1988. In 1919, Kenden Yabe married, and in 1921, his wife became pregnant. Yabu Kentsu went to California in 1919 to visit his son (and, hopefully, grandson). However, Kenden Yabe and his wife only had daughters. Thus, Yabu Kentsu went back to Okinawa disappointed. Yabu stayed in the United States from 1919 until 1927. He returned to Okinawa via

. He spent about nine months in the Territory. He spent most of his time on

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

, but he also visited other islands. In

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, he gave two public demonstrations of karate at the Nuuanu

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

. In 1936, Yabu visited Tokyo. While there, he visited the young

Shōshin Nagamine was an Okinawa karate master as well as a soldier, police superintendent, mayor of Naha City, play director and author. Early life and karate-do Nagamine was born in Tomari, in Naha, Okinawa. He was a small and sickly child, and he contracte ...

, who later became another well-known karate teacher. Yabu died at Shuri, Okinawa, on August 27, 1937.

Influence on Karate

As a former soldier, Yabu has been credited with helping make Okinawan karate training more militaristic. That is, students were expected to line up in rows, and respond by the numbers. If so, this was probably part of the general militarization of Japanese athletics common during the early 20th century.Abe, Ikuo, Kiyohara, Yasuharu, and Nakajima, Ken. "Sport and Physical Education under Fascistization in Japan," ''Bulletin of Health & Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba'', 13, 1990, pp. 25-4

/ref> However, there is no doubt that his methods involved much rote repetition..Noble, Graham, with McLaren, Ian and Karasawa, N. (1988). "Masters of the Shōrin-ryū, Part II," ''Fighting Arts International'', 51, 9:3, 1988, pp. 32-3

His favorite

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 ...

reportedly included

Gojūshiho is a ''kata'' practiced in karate. Gojushiho was developed by Sokon Matsumura, one of the key founders of Okinawan martial arts and named it "Uesheishi", which literally means 54 methods in Chinese. In some styles of karate, there are two versio ...

and

naihanchi (or , ) is a karate Kata, performed in straddle stance ( / ). It translates to 'internal divided conflict'. The form makes use of in-fighting techniques (i.e. tai sabaki (whole body movement)) and grappling. In Shorin-Ryu and Matsubayashi-ryū N ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yabu, Kentsu Okinawan male karateka 1937 deaths 1866 births Shōrin-ryū practitioners People from the Ryukyu Kingdom