Okinawan martial arts refers to the

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preser ...

, such as

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 ...

, tegumi and Okinawan kobudō, which originated among the indigenous people of

Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has an ...

. Due to its central location, Okinawa was influenced by various cultures with a long history of trade and cultural exchange, including

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

, 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 The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' was a kingdom in the ...

. When King

Shō Shin was a king of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the third ruler the second Shō dynasty. Shō Shin's long reign has been described as "the Great Days of Chūzan", a period of great peace and relative prosperity. He was the son of Shō En, the founder of the d ...

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 invaded by the

Satsuma Domain The , briefly known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1602 to 1871. The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of Kagoshima, l ...

of Japan. The bans contributed to the development of kobudō which uses common household and farming implements as weaponry. The Okinawans combined Chinese martial arts with the existing local variants to form , sometimes called . By the 18th century, different types of ''Te'' had developed in three different villages – Shuri,

Naha 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 ...

and Tomari. The styles were named Shuri-te, Naha-te, and Tomari-te, respectively. Well into the 20th century, the martial arts of Okinawa were generally referred to as ''te'' and ''tii'' 手 in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and Okinawan for "hand". ''Te'' often varied from one town to another, so to distinguish among the various types of ''te'', the word was often prefaced with its area of origin; for example, Naha-te, Shuri-te, or Tomari-te. Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te belong to a family of martial arts that were collectively defined as ''Tode-jutsu'' or ''To-de.'' Karate (''Okinawa-te'' or ''Karate-jutsu'') was systematically taught in Japan after the Taishō era (after 1926).Donn F. Draeger (1974). ''Modern Bujutsu & Budo''. Weatherhill, New York & Tokyo. Page 125.

Shuri-te

is a pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

term for a type of indigenous

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

to the area around Shuri, the old capital city of the

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' was a kingdom in the ...

. Important Okinawan masters of Shuri-te: * Sakukawa Kanga *

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 ...

* Itosu Ankō *

Asato Ankō Asato may refer to: *Asatō Line, a Japanese railway line * Asato Station, a railway station in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan * Kadjeto-Asato, a town in the Volta Region, Ghana People with the given name *, Japanese women's footballer People wi ...

* Chōyū Motobu *

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 ...

* Yabu Kentsū *

Chōmo Hanashiro was an Okinawan martial arts master who is notable for aiding in the evolution of Shōrin-ryū karate. Early in his childhood, he became a student of the renowned master Matsumura Sōkon, of the Shuri-te style. In addition to being a recognize ...

* Funakoshi Gichin * Kyan Chōtoku * Chibana Chōshin * Mabuni Kenwa * Tōyama Kanken *

Tatsuo Shimabuku was an Okinawan, Japanese martial artist. He is the founder of Isshin-ryū ("One Heart Style") style of karate.) From childhood until World War II Family Tatsuo Shimabukuro was born in Gushikawa village, Okinawa on September 19, 1908. He was ...

Important kata: *

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 ...

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 W ...

(shuri te) *

Pinan The ''kata'' are a series of five empty hand forms taught in many karate styles. The Pinan kata originated in Okinawa and were adapted by Anko Itosu from older kata such as Kusanku and Channan into forms suitable for teaching karate to yo ...

* Kūsankū * Passai * Jion *

Jitte A is a specialized weapon that was used by police in Edo period Japan (1603 – 1868). History In feudal Japan, it was a crime punishable by death to bring a sword into the ''shōgun''s palace. This law applied to almost everyone, including the ...

* Rohai * Chinto * Gojushiho The successor styles to Shuri-te include

Shotokan 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 ...

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� ...

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 "scant ...

, Shudokan,

Shuri-ryū karate, is an eclectic martial arts system developed by Robert Trias (1923–1989), reportedly the first Hispanic to teach a form of karate in the mainland United States, who opened his public first dojo in 1946 in Phoenix, Arizona. History ...

, Shōrinji-ryū, Shorei-Ryu, Goju-Ryu, Isshin-ryū, Gensei-ryu and

Motobu-ryū is a karate school founded in 1922 by Motobu Chōki from Okinawa. Its official name is ''Nihon Denryū Heihō Motobu Kenpō'' ("Japan Traditional Fighting Tactics Motobu Kenpō"), or Motobu Kenpō for short. Motobu-ryū has the characteristics ...

Tomari-te

refers to a tradition of martial arts originating from the village of

Tomari, Okinawa is a neighborhood in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, where the Tomari Terminal of the port of Naha is located. The terminal is used for ferries and passenger vessels which connect Naha and neighboring island Before the modern city of Naha was es ...

. Important Okinawan masters of Tomari-te: * Matsumora Kōsaku * Oyadomari Kokan *

* Kyan Chōtoku * Nakasone Seiyu Important kata: *

(Koshiki) * Eunibu * Rōhai * Wanduan * Passai (Tomari) * Chintō * Chinsu * Chinpu *

Wankan Wankan (王冠) (Japanese: "King's Crown" or "Emperor's Crown") (also called Okan) is a kata practiced in many styles of Karate. Not much is known about the history of this kata. It originates from the Tomari-te school and in modern karate is pr ...

* Wanshū *

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 names ...

* Jumu * Nichin * Juma * Ananku The successor styles to Tomari-te include Wado-ryu,

, Matsubayashi-ryu and Shōrinji-ryū

Naha-te

is a pre-

term for a type of

indigenous to the area around

, the old commercial city of the

and now the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture. Important Okinawan masters of Naha-te: *

Arakaki Seishō was a prominent Okinawan martial artist and master of Tōde who influenced the development of several major karate styles.Sato, S. (''c.'' 2005)Seisho Aragaki Retrieved on 17 March 2010.

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 ...

* Miyagi Chōjun * Kyoda Jūhatsu * Mabuni Kenwa * Uechi Kanbun Important kata: *

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 W ...

* Saifā * Seiunchin * Shisochin * Seipai *

* Sanseru * Tensho * Kururunfa * Suparinpei The successor styles to Naha-te include

Shōrei-ryū is a style of Okinawan karate and is one of the two oldest karate styles, alongside Shōrin-ryū. It was developed at the end of the 19th century by Higaonna Kanryō in Naha, Okinawa. Etymology ''Shōrei-ryū'' means "the style of inspiration ...

(earliest school),

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 ...

, Uechi-ryū, Ryūei-ryū, Shito-ryu and

Tōon-ryū is a style of Okinawan Karate founded by Juhatsu Kyoda. entered the dojo of Higaonna Kanryō in 1902 and continued studying with him until Kanryō's death in 1915. One month after Kyoda started, Miyagi Chōjun (co-founder of Gōjū-ryū) en ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okinawan Martial Arts Ryukyu Kingdom Japanese martial arts

History

Shuri-te

Tomari-te

Naha-te

See also

References