, also Sakugawa Satunushi and Tode Sakugawa, was a Ryūkyūan

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

master and major contributor to the development of Te, the precursor to modern

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) un ...

Karate-do

Kanga "Tode" Sakugawa trained under his father Kangi Sakugawa. Kangi Sakugawa began his training as a student of a Ryūkyūan

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

Peichin Takahara was an early karate practitioner. was a social class of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. The principles of the ''dō'' ("way"), as explained by Takahara Pēchin, are: 1) ''ijō'', the way-compassion, humility, and love. 2) ''katsu'', the laws-complete un ...

. After six years of training, Takahara suggested that Kangi Sakugawa train under Kusanku, a Chinese master in

Ch'uan Fa Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with 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 c ...

. Kangi Sakugawa spent six years training with Kusanku, and began to teach his son Kanga. Kanga became such an expert that people gave him the nickname ''Tōde'' ("Chinese Hand"). Kanga Sakugawa then spread what he learned to Ryūkyū in the 1810s. Kanga Sakugawa's most famous student,

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 math ...

, went on to develop the

Shuri-te Okinawan martial arts refers to the martial arts, such as karate, tegumi and Okinawan kobudō, kobudō, which originated among the indigenous people of Okinawa Island. Due to its location (between "Mainland Japan" and Taiwan), Okinawa was influenc ...

which later develop into a number of karate styles including

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" thro ...

, Shito-ryu, and

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 "scan ...

Meeting with Kusanku

Oral tradition describes Sakugawa as a mischievous youth, some stories say that he was walking near a river one day when he saw an older Chinese gentleman gazing upon the water. As a prank, he went to push the man into the river and instead was grabbed by that man in an iron grip. The man turned out to be the Chinese martial artist Kusanku. Kusanku chastised the youth but then a student of Kusanku introduced him to Tode Sakugawa, then Kusanku offered to instruct him further in Chinese martial arts. Sakugawa consulted with his instructor at the time, Takahara, who encouraged him to learn from the Chinese master.

Influences on modern Karate

Kanga Sakugawa's most famous student, Matsumura Sōkon, went on to develop Shuri-te which later develop into a number of karate styles including Shotokan, Shito-ryu, and Shōrin-ryū. Kanga Sakugawa might have also taught another Bujin by the name Tachimura, he like Matsumura worked for the king. Bushi Tachimura went on to teach Kishimoto Soko who taught Higa Seitoku who founded the Bugeikan in Okinawa. Bushi Tachimura passed on his version of Naihanchi, Passai and Kusanku to Kishimoto. Bushi Tachimura's shuri te remains preserved at the Bugeikan and contains many techniques that are not found in modern systems. Bushi Tachimura's most famous story was of his "island incident". While he was on a mission to inspect a village's worth, he was attacked by 20 of the village males. Eye witnesses recalled Tachimura fighting them off and that occasionally his leg would sweep up and scuff his attackers head, the attacker would run away clutching his head in an attempt to cover up a flap of hair and scalp. This story has been passed down orally via Higa Seitoku and featured in Mark Bishops book "Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and Secret Techniques"

References

Okinawan male karateka 1786 births 1867 deaths People from Naha Ryukyuan people 18th-century martial artists {{Japan-karate-bio-stub