was an Okinawa

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 ...

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 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 ...

. He was a small and sickly child, and he contracted a gastroenteric disorder in 1926, his second year of

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. He began a self-imposed diet and took up

under the watchful eye of his next-door neighbour, Chojin Kuba. Nagamine soon became a picture of good health, crediting his recovery to "hard work both at school and training of Karat

His health improved to such an extent that he became a leader of the school's karate club, and his friends dubbed him ''Chippaii Matsu'', a nickname meaning "tenacious

pine tree A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

Career in the army

After graduation in March 1928, he began to study martial arts full-time, moving to Shuri and training under Taro Shimabuku (島袋善良)and

Ankichi Arakaki born in 1899 in Shuri Okinawa became an Okinawan martial arts master who, despite dying at the age of 28 in 1927, is notable for aiding in the evolution of Shōrin-ryū karate. He was extremely important in the education of Shōshin Nagamine ...

. Later that year, he was conscripted into the

Japanese army The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

in the 47th

Infantry Regiment Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

, and fought in China for the Jinan incident before receiving an

honourable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...

in 1931. Leaving the army, Nagamine sought an area in which his martial arts abilities would be useful, eventually settling on the police force.

Career in the police force

During his time as a police officer, Nagamine received further instruction in karate from Chotoku Kyan and

Motobu Choki is a town located in Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of October 2016, the town has an estimated population of 13,441 and a density of 250 persons per km2. The total area is . Several islands can be accessed from Motobu, namely ...

, and achieved the title of

Renshi is a form of collaborative poetry pioneered by Makoto Ōoka in the 1980s.The Japan Foundation's profile of Makoto Ōoka It is a development of traditional Japanese renga and renku, but unlike these it does not adhere to traditional strictures on ...

in 1940. By 1951, Nagamine was a

Police Superintendent Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories ...

, of

Motobu is a town located in Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of October 2016, the town has an estimated population of 13,441 and a density of 250 persons per km2. The total area is . Several islands can be accessed from Motobu, namel ...

, and was training his own officers in karate. Nagamine retired as a policeman in 1952, and in 1953 he returned to Naha City and set up his own

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts, but has been seen increasingly in other fields, such as meditation and software development. The term literally means "place of the ...

, which he named "Matsubayashi-Ryu Kodokan Karate and Ancient Martial Arts Studies". From the dojo he taught Matsubayashi-ryu, a karate school he had founded in 1947, and named in honour of

Sokon Matsumura Sokon Group (officially Chongqing Sokon Industry Group Co., Ltd) is a Chinese company founded in September 1986 with headquarters in Chongqing, China. Born as a manufacturer of components for household appliances and shock absorbers, it currently ...

and Kosaku Matsumora. He continued to teach the discipline until his death in 1997. He was succeeded in 1997
/ref> by his son,

Takayoshi Nagamine was a prominent Okinawan karate master and also at times a Naha City Councilman and a Criminal Investigator for the United States Marine Corps.M. Bishop, Okinawan Karate Teachers, styles and secret techniques, Tuttle Publishing, p. 79, Early ...

, who returned to Okinawa after many years teaching in the US, and who was the head (

sōke , pronounced , is a Japanese term that means "the head family ouse" In the realm of Japanese traditional arts, it is used synonymously with the term ''iemoto''. Thus, it is often used to indicate "headmaster" (or sometimes translated as "head of t ...

) of Matsubayashi-ryu until his own death in 2012.

Author

Nagamine wrote two books in Japanese, ''The Essence of Okinawan Karate-Do'' and ''Tales of Okinawa's Great Masters''. ''The Essence of Okinawan Karate-Do'', which has been reprinted many times, was first published in the English language in 1976. This was translated into the English language by Nagamine's student Katsuhiko Shinzato. ''Tales of Okinawa's Great Masters'' received its first English translation in 2000; ubishi

References

Sources

Autobiographical article, written in 1992
Accessed 2005-09-23.
History
*https://okinawan-shorin-ryu-karate---midwest-honbu-dojo-54.webself.net/

External links

Shoshin Nagamines' books on sale at alibris.comOkinawan Shorin ryu Karate-do- Life and History of Soke Takayoshi Nagamine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagamine, Shoshin 1907 births 1997 deaths Okinawan male karateka Japanese police officers People from Naha Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Shōrin-ryū practitioners Imperial Japanese Army personnel