Southern Defense Martial Arts

Teacher of Yomitan Yara. A master of Xing Yi Quan (Qigong) gung fu and kobudo. His dojo was located in the Foochaw Harbor of the Fukein providence of China. Here is a quote from Sensei Chung-Yon

Teacher of Takahara Peichin. He was born in Chantan Village. His Teachers were Wong Chung-Yon and Kusanku. He is credited as the first to bring te to Okinawa. At the age of 12 he was sent to China to learn the Martial Arts and language by his parents and uncle. He picked up the Chinese Qigong (Life Energy Cultivation) well from his teachers and was well adept in Xing-Yi Quan gung fu. He is known for adapting the Yara no Kusanku kata from his teacher and is rumored to have possibly less modified the teachings than Sakugawa. In this version the joint technical pressure on vital points is still supposed to be still set within the kata. Matsubayshi Shorin-Ryu’s Sensei Nagamine’s version of this kata is supposed to be the closest to the original still taught today. He was also known to teach the White Crane kata called Hakusturu. He was also known as a Kobudo master and influenced a lot of the Kobudo kata. Under the instruction of Wong Chung-Yong he mastered the bo staff and Butterfly Swords, which was translated to the use of the sai. After returning home from China he is said to have confronted a samurai attacking a woman and evading the sword attacks he picked up a boat oar and skillfully defeated the samurai. When the local officials heard of this they quickly recruited him to teach the community self-defense.

A great warrior Takahara (Peichin is a title or translated "lord") is know to have set the principles of the way. Takahara is said to have been a Shaolin Buddist monk. Takahara was also a great kobudo and calligraphy master. With this he is credited as the person to create the first map of okinawa. Below is the principles of Karate-do:

Also Known as Kwang Shang Fu. Kusanku was a master of White Crane Shaolin and was beleived to be adept at the 6 shoalin boxing styles. It is believed he influenced the way the hand pulls back to the body when striking & the corkscrew method of the punch so widely known in karate today. Some beleive the sailor story of Chinto to have been Kusanku, but Matsumara would have had to been born earlier for this. The story of how Sakugawa met Kusanku is said to be written in the book "The Weaponless Warrior" by Richard Kim.

Nicknamed "Tode"(Chinese Hand) Sakugawa was a great martial artist. It is said that his father was killed by bandits and it pushed him to wish to be a martial arts master. He is said to have developed Kusanku in honor of his teacher. He is also credited with creating the tradition of dojo rules and being a master of The Art of Tea. Below is a story of Sakugawa meeting Kusanku:

According to legend Chinto was a Chinese sailor, sometimes referred to as Annan, whose ship crashed on the Okinawan coast. To survive, Chinto stole from the crops of the local people. Matsumura Sôkon, a Karate master and chief bodyguard to the Okinawan king, was sent to defeat Chintô. In the ensuing fight, however, Matsumura found himself equally matched by the stranger, and consequently sought to learn his techniques. Matsumura designed a kata based his kata by the same name on what he learned.

A practitioner of Jigen-ryu kenjutsu. A teacher of Soke Matsamura. Lived in Satsuma.

Matsumara is widely known for his skill in karate and kobudo and the most famous student of Sakugawa. Because of this he was the head of the bodyguards of the Ryukyu king and trained all of the other guards. He was even givin the title "Bushi" (Warrior) by the king for his service to the king and the martial arts and was the last to receive this honor. Because of his position he was able to travel and train. While in china he studied Shaolin Boxing. He is credited as the one who brought White Crane Shaolin to Okinawa. With the knowledge he gained he redeveloped his art and started the transformation which is now Shorin-ryu. He is credited with creating the katas Naihanchi, Passai, Chinto, Seisan, and Gojushiho. It is said that Masamura never lost a fight.

Teruya Kishin (also called Teruya Ki), was also one of the most important teachers of Tomari te of the first generation. The Kata he liked best were Passai and Wanshu. There are sources, that claim Teruya to have been in China to learn martial arts.

He was known for his teaching of the Katas Passai, Wanshu and Rohai. Kosaku Matsumara described Teruya as his real teacher although he was learning three years before with Sensei Karyu Uku . The story of the vision from Kosaku Matsumara actually starts at the family tomb of Teruya Kishin. Teruya was so impressed by the enthusiasm of Kosaku, that he invited him to train with him at his family tomb, which was a very big honour.

Kosaku Matsumora was an Okinawan karate master. He studied Tomari-te under Karyu Uku and Kishin Teruya. It is said he also trained with Sakugawa and Chinto. He also studied Jigen-ryu. Among Matsumora's students, who went on to influence new generations through students of their own, were Choki Motobu and Chotoku Kyan.

Kosaku Matsumora became famous at the age of 20 when he stole a sword out of the hands of an angry Satsuma overlord using only a "wet towel" as a weapon. Matsumora hit the astonished samurai with the wet towel and grabbed the sword. In the process, Matsumora lost a thumb. He threw the thumb and the sword in the nearby Asato River. The official story comes from Nagamine. This event was so insulting to the hated Japanese overlords that Matsumora became an Okinawan folk hero overnight. After this he was said to have done other great deeds to fight off injustice in the area and was nicknamed "Fist Saint."

Some quotes him as saying "There is no first strike in karate." Another quote of insight states he had a revelation after being given a note after a person spied him training. This insight is quoted as "The essence of budo is to denounce immoral consideration, understand humanity, follow a virtuous path, and devote your life to cultivating peace in Okinawa."

One of the Masters of Shuri-te

A practitioner of Karate. Teacher of Kenwa Mabuni. Was very skilled with the sai. He was known to teach a different version of the Matsumora Passai kata. His teaching of Passai looks very closely to Tomari no Passai. This version has been known to be called Tawata-shi Passai.

Tokumine Peichin was a Karate & Bo Staff Master, he was also the teacher of Motobu Choki and the creator of the Bo kata Tokumine-no-kun, though I beleive it was his student Kyan that named the kata. There is a story that Tokumine loved to drink liquor. One day got into a drunken brawl in which he injured 20 to 30 constables to the point where they could not even stand up. For this being a constable himself, he was striped of his position and was exiled to Yaeyama Island. It is stated that he is the main influence of Tomari-te karate on some styles of Shorin-ryu.

Itosu was the Secretary of the administrative office of the Ryukye kingdom. He wrote the 10 articles of karate petitioning the addition of karate in the public school curriculum. When karate was introduce into the public system, Itosu found that the traditional katas were too hard for the children, so he developed the 5 Pinan katas. Though research seems to suggest that he adapted the first 4 Pinan katas, and created the 5th. Itosu also developed the Rohai kata. He got the nickname "Anko" (iron horse) because of his ability to dig into his stances becoming unmoveable. Below is the 10 articles of karate:

gusakuma was a teacher and an acupuncturist as well as a martial artist. Because of this he was a very scientific person when it came to technique. gusakuma was a quiet person but he had intense focus. He could hyperfocus for hours at a time. It was his belief if you wanted to be good at a technique that someone else was, watch the way they practiced. Then practice the same but 10 times more. gusakuma would practice his knife hand technique on bundles of bamboo so much that his fingernails would fall off.Even on the day of his death he was still practicing. Students under him would learn one thing at a time. Practice, deep thought, and then demostration was required before moving on to the next. Patience and practice were most important in learning. gusakuma was also a Traditionalist when it came to his teaching, he would teach the top students and they passed it down to the others. When students started at his dojo they would be appretice students, they could watch and cleaned but couldn't participate in the training. gusakuma's memory was excellent, when a student demostrated a kata, he would wait till they were finished and then tell them where they needed work. Students were to train hard, if not they would be dismissed until they were ready to train hard. gusakuma believed a person should be able to strike with power three times their body weight. To develop this kind of power the makiwara was essential.

Motobu Choki was a Japanese karateka from Akahira Village in Shuri, Okinawa, capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom when he was born. His father, Lord Motobu Aji Choshin was a descendant of the sixth son of the Okinawan King, Sho Shitsu. Choki was the third son of Motobu Motobu Palace, one of the cadet branches of the royal Okinawan Sho family.

As the last of three sons, Motobu Choki was not entitled to an education in his family's style of karate. Despite this Motobu was very interested in the art, spending much of his youth training on his own, hitting the makiwara, pushing and lifting heavy stones to increase his strength. He is reported to have been very agile, which gained him the nickname Motobu no Saru, or "Motobu the Monkey." He began practicing karate under Matsumura Sokon and continued under Anko Itosu, Sakuma Pechin and Kosaku Matsumora.

Many teachers found his habit of testing his fighting prowess via street fights in the red light district undesirable, but his noble birth may have made it hard for them to refuse. Motobu favored the Naihanchi Shodan kata but he also made comments on the practice of Passai, Chinto, and Rohai, Sanchin, Kusanku, and Ueseishi as being part of his repertoire. He apparently developed his own kata, Shiro Kuma (White Bear). Motobu lived and taught karate in Japan from 1921 to 1941, and reportedly had an ongoing rivalry with a man by the name of Gichin Funakoshi over the use and teachings of Karate. when he returned to Okinawa, dying shortly thereafter. Prior to this, he had made several trips there to study orthodox kata and kobudo in an effort to preserve the traditional forms of the art. Sensei Motobu also created a two person set of drills called yakusoku kumite. The Primary difference it seems between Sensei Motobu and Sensei Gichin is that Sensei Gichin strongly beleived in teaching by kata, where Sensei Motobu beleived free sparring was essential in a karatekas development.

Motobu Choki's third son, Chosei Motobu (1925- ), still teaches the style that his father passed on to him. Marks of his style were the two man drills and heavy emphasis on Naihanchi Shodan kata, Which he believed was the basics of karate and puts you in a sideways stance during a fight, which he believed was more of the actual way a person fights. He also believed in blocking and countering at the same time and said that a blocking hand should be able to become the attacking hand in an instant.

Motobu published two books on karate, Okinawa Kenpo Karate-jutsu Kumite-hen (1926) and Watashi no Karate Jutsu (1933).

Born in Shuri's Sakiyama village, Tokuda Anbun was a student of Itosu Anko. About 55 at the time of the special committee to introduce Karate to the school system, he was a school teacher at Shrui's junior high school where he also taught karate. He was listed as a karate instructor teaching in Okinawa in Miyagi's 1936 Karate-Do Gaisetsu. Tokudo died during the war. Tokuda Sensei & Chibana Sensei were among the best students of Anko Itosu. Anbun was once quoted as saying that the Pinan kata's Anko Itosu Developed came from a kata call Channan.

Known as the "Last Warrior of Shuri." Chibana was the first to establish a ryu name for an Okinawan style. He gave the name of his style Shorin-ryu. Over his lifetime he received multiple awards for his study, teaching, & dedication to the martial arts. He was also the 1st president of the Okinawan Karate-Do Association. It was through diligence that he was allowed to start his study in the martial arts. He was known to have stated the most important thing for a martial artist is honor and virtue. Kata was a major teaching tool for Chibana, and he believed in it greatly. He believed in the philosophy to train for every strike to be a deadly blow. In this regard he believed sport karate as a hindrance to training. He also believed in a balance, to little and you would not improve, to much and you would harm yourself. He prefered Masamura Passai over his teachers, and did it so well Itosu told him he should preserve it. His stances were higher than normal which may have helped in his mobility. He was also a master of the soft blocks, and was known to knock an attacker off balance no matter how strong the punch. Chibana also believed in the old ways that a warrior should not concern himself with money. Chibana was strong all through his years and believed that training daily helps circumvent the bodies natural deterioration as you age. In this mind set, as was Chibana's, you will always be learning. It is also proper to mention that he called it Karate-jutsu instead of Karate-do. During his time it was still an art of survival more than an art of Philosophy. Below are some of his most important principles:

Miyahira was the President of the Okinawan Shorin-ryu Karate-do Association and honored by the Japan Martial Arts Association as a person who has contributed distinguished services to the martial arts. He trained in the traditional ways of Shuri-te such as hitting the makiwara boards daily 200 times with different techniques. His rules were few but inspirational. with the rules he made came his basis concepts for karate of "Following the reason and the law" and "coexisting and co-flourishing." MIyahira's beliefs on sparring were they were only for advanced students. Basic's, knowledge of the kata's and proficency in their bunkai were a must before any sparring was done. Most time not until sandan. He also beleived in correct additude. Wanting to excel, self-discipline and self-study were of greater value than any tournament. Better yourself before someone else. In the mid-70's he competed in the 1st Karate World Tournament and in the mid 80's lead a team in tournament to 1st place. With his passing another great candle of life is no more and will be missed. Below is the list of rules and quotes by Katsuya Miyahira:

Known as a teacher of teachers, his school is head of most of the shidokan dojo's in the US. He is also the US head of the Okinawa Shorin-ryu Karate-do Association from which his rank is certified as highest okinawan master in the US. Iha also has been a teacher not just to the US but also taught in Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina. Iha has respect all over the world for his teaching and knowledge of technique. It is his teaching that karate is about cooperation, learning, and life long friendships. he is actually quoted as saying "Friendship and cooperation are the most important part of karate." One of the teachings passed down to him and on to his students is conditioning through body contact and the makiwara board. His techinque of teaching include horizontal elbow strikes and punches, knife hand block moves in a windshield wiper motion, and all kicks use the toes for striking. Another thing Iha stresses is speed first. A discussion with him and a few other Martial Artists can be found in the April 1968 Edition of Black Belt Magazine. Here as some quotes from Iha:

Sensei Curtis is the head of Okinawan Karate of Alexandria, a Beikoku under Sensei Iha's Hombu. He teaches adult oriented self defense for violent attacks. With this in mind he created the Fearless Woman kata and a 2 hour self defense program for women that focuses on street attacks. Another creation of Sensei Curtis's is "No bullys, No bad guys" which is a self defense program for children and teenagers based on 7 techniques to help stop bullying. His classes emphasis is on Kata, Drills, & Bunkai. It is geared for self improvement through cooperation instead of competition. Sensei Curtis started his martial arts training in 1969 with Judo, Kung Fu, and Karate and has been a student of Sensei Iha's since 1979.

Traveled with Iha to guam and started his dojo there. He succeeded teaching until the the early 70's. He is still an authority over his dojo's.

National Executive Vice President of the World Organizer of Martial Arts Inc. Philippines and one of the co-founders of the World Okinawa Karate-do Organization. He was in his late seventies when he passed away.

Don Bitanga has kept his foundation of martial arts based on the Shidokan Shorin-Ryu Style. He has trained in a multitude of systems such as Boxing and kickboxing and has pushed beyond Shorin-ryu to more of a MMA approach. He has had many tournament victory's. He started his Shorin-ryu training under Sensei Santos and after Santos passed away he started studying under Sensei Shiroma.

Randy Wozin made his first pair of nunchucks when he was 10 or 12 years old. Sensei Wozin was one of the first black belts promoted by Sensei Bitanga. That is how dedicated he was to the art. Sensei Wozin was a Black Belt in both Okinawan Shorin-ryu & Korean Tang Soo Do systems. He won the East Coast Regional Championship at the Capital Center near DC in 1976 with a double Nunchaku form. He has also done a Half time show demonstration for a Redskins Game. He owned The Wozin Dojo in Laurel for many years and had many students. Cynthia Rothrock came down to do a seminar just before he died. He worked with people such as Steven Ho & Steve "Nasty" Anderson. Sensei Wozin was also known to host many tournaments & Seminars through his years, an ad for such can be found in the August edition of Black Belt Magazine 1996.

Larry "Viper" Mckenzie was born in 1946. In 1963 he joined the US Army and was in Vietnam for 3 years before being injured in battle being hit 13 times and honorably discharged in 1974. During this time he trained in martial arts with the military and even trained with the Green Beret. After being discharged he trained with Sensei Randy Wozin earning his sandan in Shorin-Ryu. He started teaching in 1991 and Retired in 1994. The school was named Southern Sport karate. His sparring and self defense were in excelled, as well as his flip of the hand break and crane beak breaking technique.