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| To understand the evolution of Shito
Ryu, take a look at the masters of Okinawa that helped shape
the style. The record concerning the evolution of Shito Ryu is,
fortunately, very well defined. One of the first great masters of
Okinawa was Satanuku "Tode" (Chinese Hand) Sakugawa.
Tode Sakugawa was born in Shuri in 1733 and
died in 1815. At the age of 17, Tode Sakugawa began his martial arts
training under an Okinawan monk named Peichin Takahara. At age 23,
Sakugawa was advised by Takahara to go and train under Kusanku, a
Chinese master in Kung Fu. For the next six years, Sakugawa learned all
that he could. Sakugawa learned valuable lessons from karate and became
a great master. Tode Sakugawa was an important factor in the development
of TE on the Okinawan Islands. Tode Sakugawa was credited with forming
several Bo katas which are still practiced today. In addition, Sakugawa
also created Dojo Kun which has become a tradition with many styles,
including our own. When Tode Sakugawa was 78 he taught his greatest
student, Sokon Matsumura the art of Te.
Sokon Matsumura was born on
Okinawa in 1796 and lived until 1893. During this time, Matsumura had
learned karate well and went on to become chief of the military for the
king of the Ryukyu Islands. Matsumura also was credited with the
formation of Shuri Te. This was the first time that someone had called
their style by something other than their own name. Among the many
students Matsumura taught, Yasutsune Itosu was one of his greatest! |
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Yasutsune Itosu, also named "Anko", was born in 1830 in Shuri and died
in 1915. It is Itosus' style of Shuri Te which was used to create Shito
Ryu in 1930 by Kenwa Mabuni. Itosu was a large indivdiual, well known
for his strength and power. He was the first Okinawan master to teach
karate in the public school systems. Itosu's hard, dynamic style was
influential to many others including Kenwa Mabuni, Gichin Funakoshi and
other important Okinawan masters. Another master who's style was
influential to the creation of Shito Ryu was
Kanyro Higashionna
(Higaonna).
Higashionna was born in Naha in 1845 and died in 1915. Higashionna is
credited with creating Naha Te in 1890. As a young boy, he traveled to
China and learned Kung Fu from a Chinese master. Higashionna was
instrumental in the introduction of Sanchin stance and kata. Naha Te
eventually became Gojo Ryu. The hard style of Shuri Te and the slower
more circular moves of Naha Te were critical to the formation of Shito
Ryu. |
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| The founder of Shito Ryu was Kenwa Mabuni. Mabuni
Sensei was born on
Okinawa in 1889 and died in 1957. Mabuni took the benefits of both
styles and created Shito Ryu in 1930. Kenwa Mabuni originally
named his style "HANKO RYU" meaning "Half-Hard Style", but, later
changed it to reflect the deep respect he felt towards his two great
masters, ITOSU and HIGAONNA. Using the alternative reading of the Kanji
for "ITO" from master ITOSUs’ name, (read as "SHI" ), and 'HIGA'
from master HIGAONNAs’ name, (read as "TO", Kenwa Mabuni created
the new name, "SHITO" for his style of Karate-do!
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Shito-Ryu has more than 50 katas combining Naha-Te (Higoanna),
Shuri-Te (Itosu) and Tomari-Te.
It also included kata of the white
crane teachings of Gokenki. Shito-Ryu is also one of the few Japanese
styles to maintain the practice of
kobudo (Okinawan weaponry). Modern Shito-Ryu is characterized by
fast, linear movement in kumite, and sharp, well-defined movement in
kata. Many current international champions practice the Shito-Ryu style
of karate. |
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Master Mabuni developed his system around five basic principles
of defense which he named “Uke no Gogensoku”. |
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Tenshin:
Avoiding your opponent's attack through body movement. |
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Ryusui: The
ability to flow with your opponent's movement in a way that is
controlling and which permits the defender to gain an advantage.
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Kushin: Control of an attack that utilizes body movement originating
in the knees and keeping the back straight so as to maintain balance and
strength. |
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Rakka: To
block in such a decisive manner that one's opponent is physically and
psychologically defeated with one blow. |
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Hangeki: To
counter an opponent with a decisive blow. Seen as the last resort on
the continuum of use of force to defend one's self. |
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| Shito Ryu has
become one of the largest practiced styles of karate. Shito Ryu is also
one of the four major systems of karate still practiced in
Japan today. Along with karate, Mabuni also incorporated Kobdo or
weapons in his system, learning from a weapons master named Aragaki.
Upon Mabuni's death, the top students formed several sub-styles of Shito
Ryu. The person responsible for creating our particular style of Shito
Ryu was Ryusho Sakagami.
Ryusho Sakagami was born on Okinawa in 1915 and
died in December of 1994. In 1953, sensei Sakagami established the Itosu
Kai Shito Ryu style in Yokohama, Japan. Sensei Sakagami was the Sensei
of our chief instructor, Sensei Fumio Demura. Sensei Sakagami was very
knowledgeable about various styles of karate and Kobudo. He became
senior supervisor of the Federation of All Japan Karate do Organizations
as well as being head of Itosu-Kai |
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| One of Sensei Sakagamai's best known students is
Sensei Fumio Demura.
Sensei Fumio Demura was invited to the United States of America in1965
by Dan Ivan. Since then Sensei Demura has established Shito-Ryu around
the world and taught thousands of students. In addition to promoting
karate, Sensei Demura had appeared in or supervised many movies
including: Mortal Combat, Rising Sun, Showdown in Little Tokyo as well
as his most famous role as Miyagi Sensei in the Karate Kid movies.
Sensei Demura has also been influential in the promotion of several
karate tournaments including: The International Goodwill Championships.
These tournaments have become large and well known over the years.
Sensei Demura's dynamic style has made him a leading figure in the world
of karate today. Many of his more well known students include: Bruce
Lee, Chuck Norris, Sho Kosugi, Steven Segal and many others. |
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| Sensei Demura is also highly regarded as a weapons expert with knowledge
in other areas such as Iaido, Batto, and Kendo. Sensei Demura is an 9th
degree black belt in Shito Ryu as well as having an extensive background
in Judo, Aikido and other karate styles. Sensei Demura was able to learn
weapons from one of the greatest weapons experts of his time,
Shinken
Taira. It is this quality of experience that has allowed Shito Ryu to
prosper and grow over the years. The variation of hand and leg
techniques as well as the extensive number of
Katas that this style has,
helped make Shito Ryu one of the most successful styles
known to the world today. |
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