Shitō-ryū


Shitō-ryū is a form of karate that was founded in 1934 by Kenwa Mabuni. A synthesis of various different Okinawan schools of martial arts, the Shitō-ryū is primarily practiced in Osaka. Due to both controversies in Kenwa Mabuni's line of succession and Mabuni's extensive efforts to popularize the martial art form in Japan, there exist many successor karate schools that claim Shitō-ryū as an influence.

History

Kenwa Mabuni was born in Shuri, Okinawa in 1889. Mabuni was a 17th generation descendant of the famous warrior Uni Ufugusuku Kenyu. Perhaps because of his disillusionment, he began his instruction in his home town in the art of Shuri-te at the age of 13, under the tutelage of the legendary Ankō Itosu. He trained diligently for several years, learning many kata from this great master. It was Itosu who first developed the Pinan kata, which were possibly derived from the Kusanku form.
One of his close friends, Chōjun Miyagi introduced Mabuni to another great of that period, Higaonna Kanryo. Mabuni began to learn Naha-te under him. While both Itosu and Higaonna taught a "hard-soft" style of Okinawan "Te", their methods and emphases were quite distinct: the Itosu syllabus included straight and powerful techniques as exemplified in the Naihanchi and Bassai kata; the Higaonna syllabus stressed circular motion and shorter fighting methods as seen in the kata Seipai and Kururunfa. Shitō-ryū focuses on both hard and soft techniques to this day.
Although he remained true to the teachings of these two great masters, Mabuni sought instruction from a number of other teachers, including Seishō Arakaki, Tawada Shimboku, Sueyoshi Jino and Wu Xiangui. In fact, Mabuni was legendary for his encyclopaedic knowledge of kata and their bunkai applications. By the 1920s, he was regarded as the foremost authority on Okinawan kata and their history and was much sought after as a teacher by his contemporaries. There is even some evidence that his expertise was sought out in China, as well as in Okinawa and mainland Japan. As a police officer, he taught local law enforcement officers and at the behest of his teacher Itosu, began instruction in the various grammar schools in Shuri and Naha.
In an effort to popularize karate in mainland Japan, Mabuni made several trips to Tokyo in 1917 and 1928. Although much that was known as Te or karate had been passed down through many generations with jealous secrecy, it was his view that it should be taught to anyone who sought knowledge with honesty and integrity. In fact, many masters of his generation held similar views on the future of Karate: Gichin Funakoshi, another contemporary, had moved to Tokyo in the 1920s to promote his art on the mainland as well.
By 1929, Mabuni had moved to Osaka on the mainland, to become a full-time karate instructor of a style he originally called Hanko-ryū, or "half-hard style". The name of the style changed to Shitō-ryū, in honor of its main influences. Mabuni derived the name for his new style from the first kanji character from the names of his two primary teachers, Itosu and Higaonna. With the support of Ryusho Sakagami, he opened a number of Shitō-ryū dojo in the Osaka area, including one at Kansai University and the Japan Karatedō-kai dojo. To this day, the largest contingent of Shitō-ryū practitioners in Japan is centered in the Osaka area.
Mabuni published a number of books on the subject and continued to systematize his instruction method. In his latter years, he developed a number of formal kata, such as Aoyagi, for example, which was designed specifically for women's self-defense. Perhaps more than any other master in the last century, Mabuni was steeped in the traditions and history of Karate-dō, yet forward thinking enough to realize that it could spread throughout the world. To this day, Shitō-ryū recognizes the influences of Itosu and Higaonna: the kata syllabus of Shitō-ryū is still often listed in such a way as to show the two lineages.

Succession

Kenwa Mabuni died on May 23, 1952, and the lineage of the style was disputed between his two sons, Kenzo and Kenei. Currently, the Shitō-ryū International Karate-dō Kai lists Kenzō Mabuni as the second Sōke of Shitō-ryū, while the World Shitō-ryū Karate-dō Federation lists Kenei Mabuni. According to Japanese tradition, the eldest son is deemed the successor and inheritor of everything his father owned, including the title of Soke.

Characteristics

Shitō-ryū is a combination style, which attempts to unite the diverse roots of karate. On one hand, Shitō-ryū has the physical strength and long powerful stances of Shuri-te derived styles, such as Shorin-ryū and Shotokan ; on the other hand, Shitō-ryū also
has the circular and eight-directional movements, breathing power, and hard and soft characteristics of Naha-te styles such as Uechi-ryū and Gōjū-ryū. Shitō-ryū is extremely fast, but still can be artistic and powerful. In addition, Shitō-ryū formalizes and emphasizes the five rules of defense, developed by Kenwa Mabuni, and known as Uke no go gensoku, Uke no go genri, or Uke no go ho :
Modern Shitō-ryū styles also place a strong emphasis on sparring. Shitō-ryū stresses speed and economy of movement, and fighting is generally initiated from a higher, more upright stance than Shotokan employs. On the other hand, because the style has so many kata, a great deal of time is spent perfecting any one of its 40 to 60 forms.

Branches

Other schools of Shitō-ryū developed after the death of Kenwa Mabuni, both because the death of a founder typically results in a dispute as to who will succeed him as the leader of a given school and because many prominent Karate teachers choose to modify the style, thereby creating new branches.
Major existing schools of Shitō-ryū include:
List of techniques, used in Shitō-ryū style of Karate. Blocks, kicks and strikes can be jōdan, chūdan or gedan and related to migi or hidari.

Tachi (stances)

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