Shorin Ryu Masters

Wong Chung Yoh (1600's)

Very little is known about Wong Chung-yoh. He taught a style of martial arts known as Hsing-I (XingYi), in China in the late 1600's. His school was located in the Foochaw harbor, in the Fukein province of China. His most notable student, the produced the lineage for most modern martial arts, was Chatan Yara.

Chatan Yara (1668-1746)

He was one of first in the diffusion and education of karate in the island of Okinawa. Some historians locate their date of birth in year 1668 (and its death in 1746), in Shuri. Other investigators locate it in a later date. Anyway, he is to him to whom must among others, the development of our martial art in the island, and consequently, in the present world.

He was 12 years old when his uncle, a retailer, convinced the parents of Yara, to sent him to China to study the language and the Chinese culture in genera. As a son of a wealthy family good located in the cut, happens to also have an education in the route of the Martial Arts. In China studied with the teacher Wong Chung Yoh.

Then, Okinawa depended on the cut of China; nevertheless the Chinese had reached an agreement with the Japanese cut to deal in the island. This favored the influence of both nations.

In 1700, he returned to Shuri and began to teach. One of his students was Takahara Peichin who is most famous as the Sensei of the man who later became known as Tode or Karate Sakugawa.

Yara could read and write the Chinese perfectly, reason for which very was occupied working for retailers and officials of the government. He was very solicited by his ability to translate documents and letters.

It made his training in the first hours of the dawn. During the free short whiles, it pleased to walk by the beach. One day, in one of those long walks, heard a heart rendering shout and an order of aid. He saw how a samurai tried to put under a young person. Immediately the teacher took part helping the young person and united to fight the soldier. It was the first time who Yara had to fight by his life, and using an oar (eku-bo) killed the samurai.

After this episode, the young person who had been saved by Yara commented in the town the abilities of the single-breasted uniform jacket and Yara was contracted to teach martial arts to the children of the neighbors of the small village.

This was one of the aspects that lead to the development of karate. The fight to defend of the soldiers samurais who committed upsettings against the people of the okinawanese villages.

Takahara Peichin (1683-1762) 

Takahara, Peichin was born in the village of Akata Cho in Southern Shuri on the island of Okinawa in the year of 1683. He was of the upper class in Okinawan feudal society. One would then assume that he would be well educated as well as travelled.

Pechin means “senior”, honorary title of the feudales cuts of Japan. Very little are known for this teacher. It is known that he was Buddhist monk of the Shaolin Temple, expert in martial arts. He was known as an astronomer and mapmaker. His maps of Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands were used in 1797 in Japan’s plans to prevent further European intrusions into the region. The Ryukyus were looked upon as the first lines of defence from the south.

Takahara Peichin was a general practioner. His philosophy has been passed on through the lineage of such as Sakugawa, Matsumura, Itosu, Funakoshi and many others ... the master believed that, “Karate Jutsu is a way of life, the way to understand and preserve Karate Jutsu is through kata, and through kata actual fighting techniques can be taught.” This is the essence of Takahara Peichin’s legacy.

One of Takahara’s top students was Sakugawa, later to be known as Tode Sakugawa at his sensei’s final wish on his deathbed. He passed away in 1762 knowing that Sakugawa would fulfil his visions and set the course for the future of all of Karate Jutsu.

Among his achievements, receiving the title to be addressed “Peichin”, for distinguished service.

Tode Sakugawa (1733-1815)

Tode Sakugawa was one of the earliest known Okinawan Martial Arts teachers. He was born in 1733 and lived in Akata Cho, a town in the southern section of Shuri, Okinawa. Sakugawa began his Martial Arts training when he was very young. By the time he was in his twenties Sakugawa had become a very strong karate-ka (student), developing a propensity to test his martial skill in real fights.

 
In 1756 Sakugawa became a student of Kusanku and trained with the master for nine years (three of those in China). He became known as an expert in the Chinese style of fighting called tode—the basis for his nickname, Tode Sakugawa. When Sakugawa returned from China he passed on the Sakugawa Bo Kata and the Kusanku Karate Kata, and in doing so became credited as the first Okinawan karate teacher.

 
The formulation of the dojo kun has been attributed to Sakugawa as well. In modern dojos, these precepts are: character, sincerity, effort, etiquette, and self control. They are attributes one must constantly cultivate in the practice of martial arts. Sakugawa originally derived these precepts from Confucian ethics. He borrowed them to act as a dojo pledge to guarantee the correct behavior of his students.

Sokon Bushi Matsumura (1798-1889)

Bushi Matsumura was born in 1798, and died in 1889. According to some sources, Bushi's family name was Kiyo (Kayo). Matsumura grew up in Yamagawa village of the city of Shuri, Okinawa. He was partly Chinese. Sakugawa began training Bushi at Akata when he was 14 years old, in 1810. According to tradition, it was at Bushi's father's request that Sakugawa teach him. Some say that to train Bushi to block, Sakugawa tied to him to a tree so he could not move. Then he threw punches at him.