HOME





Hohan Sōken
was an Okinawan martial arts master who founded the Shōrin-ryū Matsumura Seito Okinawa Karate Kobudo Association. Biography He was born May 25, 1889 (although at least one text puts his birth year as 1891) in Nishihara, Okinawa. He was the nephew of Nabe Matsumura (who was the grandson of Matsumura Sōkon). He began karate training at 13 under his uncle. Matsumura taught him several kata, including Naihanchi Shodan, Naihanchi Nidan, Pinan Shodan, Pinan Nidan, Passai Sho, Passai Dai, Chinto, Kusanku, Gojushiho, Sanchin, Rohai Jo, Rohai Chu, Rohai Ge, and finally at age 23, Hakutsuru. Soken has said in interviews that Kusanku is the most important kata to the style. In 1924, Sōken emigrated to Argentina. While in Argentina, he worked as a photographer and clothes cleaner. He also taught karate to Japanese and Okinawan ex-pats in Buenos Aires. In 1952, he returned to Okinawa and started to teach karate, first to family members. Then he opened a small dojo to the public. At f ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Nishihara, Okinawa
is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Nakagami District, Okinawa, Nakagami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. In the Okinawan language, ''nishi'' means "north" (in standard Japanese, however, it means "west"), as Nishihara was north of the historical Ryukyu Kingdom, Ryukyuan capital of Shuri, Okinawa, Shuri. As of October 2016, the town had an estimated population of 34,463 and a population density, density of 2,200 persons per km2. The total area is . Situated northeast of the city hall of Naha, Okinawa, Naha, Nishihara is surrounded by the cities, towns, and villages of Naha, Okinawa, Naha, Urasoe, Okinawa, Urasoe, Ginowan, Okinawa, Ginowan, Haebaru, Okinawa, Haebaru, Yonabaru, Okinawa, Yonabaru, and Nakagusuku, Okinawa, Nakagusuku. Because both the University of the Ryukyus and the Okinawa Christian Junior College are located in Nishihara, and the Okinawa International University is located nearby, Nishihara's municipal slogan is "Education Town". Geography The n ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Okinawa Prefecture
is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west and 400 kilometers north to south. Despite a modest land area of 2,281 km² (880 sq mi), Okinawa’s territorial extent over surrounding seas makes its total area nearly half the combined size of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Of its 160 Island, islands, 49 are inhabited. The largest and most populous island is Okinawa Island, which hosts the capital city, Naha, as well as major urban centers such as Okinawa (city), Okinawa, Uruma, and Urasoe, Okinawa, Urasoe. The prefecture has a subtropical climate, characterized by warm temperatures and high rainfall throughout the year. People from the Ryukyu Islands, Nansei Islands, including Okinawa Island, Okinawa, the Sakishima Islands, and parts of Kagoshima Prefecture, are often collectively referred ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


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" and "forest" respectively and pronounced "shōrin" in Japanese, are also used in the Chinese and Japanese words for Shaolin. " Ryū" means "school". Shōrin-ryū combines elements of the traditional Okinawan fighting styles of Shuri-te. History Chōshin Chibana was a top student of the great master of shuri-te, Ankō Itosu. Ankō Itosu was the top student of Matsumura Sōkon, who was a renowned warrior in his time; bodyguard to three kings of Okinawa, he has been called the Miyamoto Musashi of Okinawa and was dubbed '' bushi'', or warrior, by his king. However, while Sōkon is often referred to as the "founder" of Shuri-te, he did not invent all of its components. Chōshin Chibana never practiced kobudo. In 1933, Chōshin Chibana c ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Nabe Matsumura
, was an Okinawan martial arts master who helped to continue the Matsumura family style of Shōrin-ryū karate-do. History Nabe Mastsumura, born 1860, was the grandson of Matsumura Sōkon, who founded the Shōrin-ryū style of karate. Being related to Sōkon meant that Nabe was privileged to extremely thorough training from his grandfather in the family's style, as well as the secret White Crane system that was only taught to immediate family members. In his martial arts career as a sensei, Nabe had only one student: his nephew, Hohan Sōken. Upon his death in 1930, he passed his Menkyo Kaiden is a Japanese term meaning "license." It refers to the license to teach used by practitioners of various Japanese classical arts and martial arts certifying some license within the school or ryū. The ''menkyo'' system dates back to the 8th ce ... to Hohan Sōken, who continued the Matsumura family tradition by solidifying the Shōrin-ryū style of Matsumura Seito karate-do. Referen ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Roy Suenaka
Roy Yukio Suenaka (June 25, 1940 in Honolulu – February 8, 2020) was an American martial arts practitioner, author, and founder of the Wadokai Aikido.Suenaka, R. & Watson, C. ''Complete Aikido,'' Tuttle Publishing, 1998.Suenaka, R. & Watson, C. "Spiritual Versus Martial Aikido – Explanation & Reconciliation," ''Journal of Asian Martial Arts'', Vol. 5 # 1, 1996. Early life As a child in Hawaii, Suenaka suffered from severe asthma, which was treated by his grandfather with reiki. He began martial arts training with his father, Warren Suenaka, from an early age, learning the family styles of jiujitsu and kenjitsu. Suenaka credits this training with the remission of his asthma. As well as training with his father, Suenaka also studied under Henry Okazaki and James Mitose. He also studied judo. Suenaka attended Koichi Tohei's aikido demonstrations in 1953, and at his father's behest began training primarily in that art. He also took up the study of kendo in 1955. Military caree ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Chokei Kishaba
was an Okinawan martial arts master and founder of the Shōrin-ryū Kishaba Juku. He was born October 4, 1929, in Okinawa and died in the year 2000. Kishaba's younger brother Chogi Kishaba is also an Okinawan martial arts master. Shōrin-ryū Kishaba Juku Kishaba's senior student in Okinawa was Katsuhiko Shinzato who currently heads the Kishaba Juku. Dojos affiliated to the Kishaba Juku are located in Germany, Japan, and United States. Within the United States there are dojos in California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Oregon and Virginia. See also Okinawan martial arts Okinawan martial arts refers to the martial arts, such as karate, tegumi and kobudō, which originated among the indigenous people of Okinawa Island. Due to its location (between " Mainland Japan" and Taiwan), Okinawa was influenced by various c ... References Martial arts school founders Okinawan male karateka 1929 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Japanese ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Nishihira Kosei
was an Okinawan martial arts master of Shōrin-ryū Matsumura Seitō Karate and Kobudō. Biography Kosei Nishihira was born on the 10th of June 1942 in a small village close to Yonabaru, south of Okinawa, in Japan. From the age of fifteen, he studied the "orthodox" karate style known as Shōrinryū Matsumura Seitō Karate with Master Hohan Sōken. The style Nishihira was taught was very difficult, and only handed down to a very few, carefully selectedPaolo Vaccaro, "Shorin Ryu Matsumura Seito Karate – La vita dei maestri ieri e oggi", Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso Spa, 2011 - page 68http://suikenbugeikai.com/dojo.htm Suiken Bugei Kai - search for "Kosei Nishihira" in "History" "uchi-deshi" (internal students). Some external students from Japan and United States of America were also taught but without some of the techniques and training considered too dangerous for general use. At the age of thirty, he married the daughter of an Okinawan kobudō expert and had two sons. He ope ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Okinawan Martial Arts
Okinawan martial arts refers to the martial arts, such as karate, tegumi and kobudō, which originated among the indigenous people of Okinawa Island. Due to its location (between " Mainland Japan" and Taiwan), Okinawa was influenced by various cultures with a long history of trade and cultural exchange, including Japan, China and Southeast Asia, that greatly influenced the development of martial arts on Okinawa. History In 1429, the three kingdoms on Okinawa unified to form the Kingdom of Ryukyu. When King Shō Shin came into power in 1477, he banned the practice of martial arts, due to fears of the widespread teaching of the art of deception. Tō-te and Ryukyu kobudō (deception) continued to be taught in secret.Okinawan Masters
msisshinryu.com. Retrieved on 2011-06-20.
The ban was continued in 1609 after Okinawa was ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts. While modern karate is primarily a striking art that uses punches and kicks, traditional karate training also employs Throw (grappling), throwing and joint locking techniques. A karate practitioner is called a . Beginning in the 1300s, early Chinese martial arts, Chinese martial artists brought their techniques to Okinawa. Despite the Ryukyu Kingdom being turned into a puppet state by Japanese samurai in 1609, after the Invasion of Ryukyu, its cultural ties to China remained strong. Since Ryukyuans were banned from carrying swords under samurai rule, groups of young aristocrats created unarmed combat methods as a form of resistance, combining Chinese and local styles of martial arts. Training emph ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Okinawan Kobudō
, literally "old martial way of Okinawa", is the weapon systems of Okinawan martial arts. Etymology and definition Okinawan Kobudō is a Japanese term that can be translated as "''old martial way of Okinawa''". It is a generic term coined in the twentieth century.Donn F. Draeger, 1973. ''Classical Budo''. ., p. 135. Okinawan kobudō refers to the weapon systems of Okinawan martial arts. These systems can have from one to as many as a dozen weapons in their curriculum, among them Bō, kon (six foot staff), Sai (weapon), sai (short-handled trident), tonfa (handled club), Kama (weapon), kama (sickle), and nunchaku (two rope- or chain-connected sticks), but also the tekko (knuckledusters), tinbe-rochin (shield and spear), and surujin (weighted chain). Less common Okinawan weapons include the tambo (weapon), tambo (short stick), the hanbō (middle length staff) and the eku (boat oar of traditional Okinawan design). Okinawan kobudō is distinguished from the general term kobudō, whi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Matsumura Sōkon
Matsumura (written: lit. "pine tree village") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese handball player *, Japanese synchronized swimmer *, Japanese curler *, Japanese painter *, Japanese botanist *, Japanese mathematician *, Japanese singer and actor *, Japanese volleyball player *, Japanese film director and screenwriter *, Japanese comedian *, Japanese golfer *, Japanese figure skater and coach *, Japanese cross-country skier *, Japanese karateka *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese politician *, Japanese singer and actress *, Japanese entomologist *, Japanese karateka *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese composer and poet *, Japanese politician *, Japanese volleyball player *, Japanese actor *, Japanese curler *, Japanese professional footballer See also * 9105 Matsumura, a main-belt asteroid {{surname Japanese-language surnames ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− global city, according to the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, GaWC 2024 ranking. The city proper has a population of 3.1 million and its urban area 16.7 million, making it the List of metropolitan areas, twentieth largest metropolitan area in the world. It is known for its preserved eclecticism, eclectic European #Architecture, architecture and rich culture, cultural life. It is a multiculturalism, multicultural city that is home to multiple ethnic and religious groups, contributing to its culture as well as to the dialect spoken in the city and in some other parts of the country. This is because since the 19th century, the city, and the country in general, has been a major recipient of millions of Immigration to Argentina, im ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]