history of shito ryu karate

Martial arts including Karate were developed over a  thousand of years ago and was brought to Japan from Okinawa, China and Taiwan.

Many of the famous bushi or karateka as they were known in Okinawa, experimented with different Karate skills and developed them in such provinces as Naha, Shuri and Tomari. Unlike kendo and judo, karate was a secret art, not known to the public at large. There was no fixed or defining system until about 1907 when Kaneryo Higaonna of Naha and Yastune Itosu of Shuri, 2 of the most respected teachers of Okinawan karate, gathered a strong following for both of their own unique styles. Instructor Itosu taught the Nai-Huan-Chi form and Higaonna taught Sanchin that was later developed into the modern GOJU-RYU style of karate by Chojyn Miyagi.

The SHITO-RYU martial art was developed by Kenwa Mabuni who had studied the art under both Higaonna and Itosu . Mabuni was born in 1893 and was the Seventeenth generation son of a famous Samurai named Onigusuki. Mabuni was acutely aware of the accomplishments of his forebears and began intensive karate training at the age of Thirteen to improve his health. He also studied weapon techniques of the Tonfa, Bo, Sai, Kama, and Nunchaku from Master Aragaki. By blending the teachings of Higaonna and Itosu and, using their initials he developed a new system of Karate and called it SHITO-RYU. He instructed the secrets of his art to Okinawa’s self-defense forces and police force and also made many trips to Japan before 1920 to teach the art. In 1929 Mabuni moved permanently to Osaka to teach at colleges and police departments. He died in May, 1957, at the age of Sixty-four, but his system remains one of the 4 major styles of karate in Japan.

The defining characteristics of Shito-ryu karate are its large number of kata, the versatility of its fighting techniques and the inclusion of Okinawan weapons in its instruction.