is a style of

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 ...

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 ...

founded by Juhatsu Kyoda. entered the

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 ...

Higaonna Kanryō , also known as Higashionna West, was a Ryukyuan martial artist who founded a fighting style known at the time as Naha-te. He is recognized as one of the first students of Fujian White Crane Kung Fu masters, namely Ryū Ryū Ko, in the Fuzhou r ...

in 1902 and continued studying with him until Kanryō's death in 1915. One month after Kyoda started,

Miyagi Chōjun Miyagi may refer to: Places * Miyagi Prefecture, one of the 47 major divisions of Japan * Miyagi, Gunma, a village in Japan, merged into Maebashi in 2004 *Miyagi District, Miyagi, a district in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan Other uses * Miyagi (surname ...

(co-founder of

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 dur ...

) entered the dojo. In 1908,

Kenwa Mabuni 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 soft ...

(founder of

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 摩文仁 ...

) also joined the dojo of Higaonna Kanryō. In 1934 Kyoda received his Kyoshi license from the

Dai Nippon Butoku Kai ''Dai Nippon Butoku Kai'' (DNBK, ja, 大日本武徳会, en, "Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society") was a martial arts organization with strong ties to WWII-era Japanese government, originally established in 1895 in Kyoto. Following the end of ...

. Apparently Kyoda knew two versions of

Seisan The karate ''kata'' (alternate names ''Sesan'', ''Seishan'', ''Jusan'', Hangetsu) literally means '13'. Some people refer to the ''kata'' as '13 Hands', '13 Fists', '13 Techniques', '13 Steps' or even '13 killing positions'; however, these name ...

: one from

and one from

Higaonna Kan-yu Higaonna (written: ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, founder of Gojū Ryū karate-do *Higaonna Kanryu Higaonna Kanryu (1849-1922) was a Ryukyuan karateka well known for his calligraphy and Chinese studies ...

, but only passed on the Kan-yu version. He learned

Jion Ji'in, Jion, and Jitte form a group of kata used in Shotokan and other karate styles, beginning with the same characteristic kamae of the left hand covering the right, which apparently has roots in ancient Chinese boxing. Their origin is thought ...

from Kentsū Yabu and Nepai from Go Kenki. By far Higaonna Kanryō had the most profound impact on him as Kyoda devoted well over a decade of his life to learning Kanryō's karate. He ultimately named his style after him: Tō-on-ryū (literally 'Higaon astyle'). Tōon-ryū's curriculum includes Taiso — a set of preparatory exercises that includes warming up, stretching, push ups using knuckles and feet fingers, abs etc. and Kihon — a set of basic blocking, punching, kicking and striking as well as standing and in motion.

Katas

*Kihon 1: Kata made by Kyoda Juhatsu *Kihon 2: Kata made by Kyoda Juhatsu *

Sanchin is a kata of apparent Southern Chinese (Fujianese) origin that is considered to be the core of several styles, the most well-known being the Okinawan Karate styles of Uechi-Ryū and Gōjū-Ryū, as well as the Chinese martial arts of Fujian Whi ...

*Shiho-uke/Tsuki-uke: "Receiving from four directions" or "Punching & Blocking", kata made by Kanzaki Juwa, includes basic blocking, turning, punching and kicking, hard to be mastered, a starting point to learn advanced Tōon-ryū Kata; *Kan'yu

: Kata taught to Kyoda Juhatsu by Higaonna Kanryo's older cousin, Higaonna Kan'yu (differs from other Okinawan Seisan) *Sanseru: Kata of Kanryo Higaonna *Kowa (Kihon 3): Kata made by Kyoda Juko and Kanzaki Juwa senseis. Name comes from the Kanji of the names of Kyoda Juko (KO) and Kanzaki Juwa (WA) senseis. Kata includes multiple kicking techniques, namely mae geri, mawashi geri, yoko geri, ushiro geri and nidan geri. A kata embusen used to prepare karateka to learn Yabu no Jion Kata *Yabu

: Kata passed down by Yabu Kentsu sensei, adopted to Tōon-ryū *P/Becchurin: Kata of Kanryo Higaonna, verbatim "100 continuous steps" and differs from Goju-ryu Suparimpei "108" *Neipai: Kata retains Chinese flavour (possibly learned by Kyoda Juhatsu from Go Kenki but current soke doubts it because it differs a lot from Shito-Ryu's Nipaipo kata that was definitely learned from Go Kenki)

Kumite

Ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In Judo In Judo, an ippon may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the four ...

Kumite Kumite ( ja, 組手, literally "grappling hands") is one of the three main sections of karate training, along with kata and kihon. Kumite is the part of karate in which a person trains against an adversary. Kumite can be used to develop a partic ...

: one punch kumite *Nihon Kumite: two punch kumite *Sanbon kumite: three punch kumite *Kakede: Kumite starting from pushing hands *Bunkai: How to use a kata in a self defense situation

Kobudo Kata weapon list

*Tsuken Shitahaku no Sai: Kata for the weapon Sai *Chatan Yara no Sai: Kata for the weapon Sai *Sueyoshi no Kon: Kata as taught by Kyoda Juhatsu *

Nunchaku is a traditional Okinawan martial arts weapon consisting of two sticks (traditionally made of wood), connected to each other at their ends by a short metal chain or a rope. It is approximately 30 cm (sticks) and 1 inch (rope). A person wh ...

Additional exercises

*Rokkishu: A set of hand techniques similar to Goju-Ryu Tensho Kata and Uechi-Ryu Kanchin Kata. Opposite to the popular opinion it is not a kata; *Ten-i-happo: A set of evasions in eight directions, made by Kyoda Juhatsu, with receiving attacks, continued by counterattacks, includes pushing an opponent of balance followed by low circular foot sweep; *Ude Kitae: arms conditioning, preceding kumite *Ashi Kitae: legs conditioning, preceding kumite Kyoda's tradition was carried on by Iraha Choko (1901–1986), Kyoda Juko (3rd son; 1926–1983), Onishi Eizo (1932–), Murakami Katsumi (1927–) and Kanzaki Juwa (重和) (1928–2018). Kanzaki gave teaching licenses to Yoshino Jusei (重正) (1937–2017), Fujishima Jusho (重捷), and Ikeda Jusshu (重秀). Tōon-ryū have some dojo in Japan. Yoshino's branch Shido-kai in Fukuoka. Onishi's branch Kouei-kan in Tokyo. Murakami's branch Shorin-kan in Fukuoka. Ikeda Jusshu is the current Yondai Soke of Tōon-ryū (4th generation head of the school) still teaches karate in

Beppu, Ōita is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of March 31, 2017, the city had a population of 122,643

. Information about Tōon-ryū in the Western world appears mainly due to the efforts of the Karate researchers Pavel Demyanov (Russia). Pavel Demyanov studied under Ikeda Jusshu (Shigehide) and learned the entire Tōon-ryū curriculum, including Kobudo, and has permission to teach.

References

External links

* Tōon-ryū home page (Japanese)
Interview with the current Tōon-ryū Soke

Tōon-ryū Honbu Dojo Website
* Japanese Wikipedia page (Tōon-ryū) * Japanese Wikipedia page (kanzaki kazuya (kanzaki juuwa=Kanzaki Shigekazu))
The meeting of Okinawan karate masters in 1936
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toon-Ryu Okinawan karate Traditional karate Japanese martial arts Gōjū-ryū