is a style of

Okinawa is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi). ...

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

and is one of the two oldest karate styles, alongside

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 "scanty ...

. It was developed at the end of the 19th century by Higaonna Kanryō in

Naha, Okinawa is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area is ...

Etymology

''Shōrei-ryū'' means "the style of inspiration" and certain martial arts scholars believe that the term ''Shōrei'' is derived from the Shoreiji Temple located in either

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...

or Mount Jiulian of

Longnan, Jiangxi Longnan () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Ganzhou Municipality, in the far southwest of Jiangxi province, China, bordering Guangdong province to the south. Administrative divisions In the present, Longnan City has 8 towns and 5 ...

Origin

Little is known about the origins of Shōrei-ryū, but it was influenced in its early development by ''Shuri-te''. Kanryo Higashionna originally studied Shuri-te with Sokon Matsumura and learnt

quanfa Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

from Chinese ''Wai Xinxian'' (assistant of Xie Zhongxiang). Higaonna later traveled to China to perfect his skills, which he probably succeeded in because he learned many new kata from

, the home of Baihequan (Chinese 白鶴拳, Pinyin báihèquán) and adopted it in his style. The teachings of this temple provided the basis for the ''

Naha-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 ...

'' style of Okinawan karate. Following passing of Higaonna Kanryo, the style began to take a new direction and became a purely "internal" combat style. This was due in large part to the influence of

Choki Motobu Chōki or Choki is a Japanese name that may refer to: *, was a prince of the Ryukyu Kingdom *, a martial artist *, Japanese artist *, aka Momokawa Chōki, a designer of ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints *, a prince of Ryukyu Kingdom *, a prince o ...

. Although Motobu's sensei style is still considered Naha-te, it actually had nothing to do with Higashionna. When Motobu became the leader of Shōrei-ryū, he began to guide his development in another direction, mainly because he trained with Anko Itosu of the Shuri-te style, a disciple of the great Sokon Matsumura.

Features of style

The main features of Shōrei-ryū are the use of open hands, circular block techniques, and kicks to the ''gedan'' (lower-level) area. In addition, the use of short and hard techniques in close combat in combination with throwing techniques is a specialty, especially from the ''sanchin'' and ''shiko-dachi'' stances. Great importance is also attached to training on the ''makiwara''. Another peculiarity is that the handling of

Kobudō is a collective term for Japanese traditional techniques for the use of armour, blades, firearms, and techniques related to combat and horse riding. The ''kanji'' 古流武術 (old-school martial arts) and 古武術 (old martial arts) are othe ...

weapons such as ''bo'', ''tonfa'' or ''sai'' is also very practiced.

Shōrei-ryū Kata

Shōrei-ryū originates various kata that would be used in descendant styles like ''Gōjū-ryū'' and others.

Further development

Modern descendants of Shōrei-ryū include styles such as

Gōjū-ryū , Japanese for "hard-soft style", is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book used by Okinawan masters du ...

and '' Ryūei-ryū''. Gōjū-ryū is considered the direct evolution of Shōrei-ryū. The ''

Shitō-ryū is a form of karate that was founded in 1934 by . Shitō-ryū is synthesis of the Okinawan Shuri-te and Naha-te schools of karate and today is considered one of the four main styles of the art. History Kenwa Mabuni (Mabuni Kenwa 摩文� ...

'' style also contains many elements of Shōrei-ryū, since

Mabuni Kenwa was one of the first karateka to teach karate in mainland Japan and is credited as developing the style known as Shitō-ryū. Originally, he chose the name Hanko-ryu, literally "half-hard style", to imply that the style used both hard and so ...

was a student of Higoanna, and even the ''

Shōtōkan 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" throug ...

'' style contains kata from Shōrei-ryū, which, however, did not get there directly, but were passed on to Funakoshi Gichin and his students via Mabuni Kenwa. The Shōrei-ryū name (alternatively, Goju-Shorei-Ryu and later, Shorei-Goju Ryu) was also used for the style of karate brought to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

by Robert Trias.Black Belt Magazine, December 1982 issue, p.36 https://books.google.fi/books?id=cdIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36&dq=shorei-ryu&hl=fi&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjRqY26kvbuAhUIx4sKHRXCD1wQ6AEwAHoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=shorei-ryu&f=false Later, Trias used the name Shuri-Ryu, although some lineages still use the Shorei Ryu name. This style should not be confused with traditional Shōrei-ryū. Trias's karate incorporated elements from Naha-te, Shuri-te, ''Tomari-te'', and others.

References

External links

Trias Karate

Vic Moore

International Shōrei Martial Arts Academy

Fourways Martial Arts Academy

Shorei Ryu Karate Studios
• https://kondonoshokai.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Shorei-Ryu Okinawan karate Traditional karate Japanese martial arts