HISTORY OF OKINAWAN KARATE
The oldest form of martial arts on Okinawa was called te. It was Okinawa's original art that was influenced by Chinese martial artist. In 1392, thirty-six (36) families immigrated from China to Okinawa. Among these immigrants were experts in Chinese Kempo. The government of Okinawa outlawed the use of weapons, so the people had to practice Te in secret. Three (3) areas on Okinawa were primarily responsible for proliferating the arts of Te. They were: the towns of Shuri (the residence of the King and Nobles); Naha (people of commercial and business interests); and Tomari (the country people, farmers and fisherman). Gradually, each area developed its own unique self-defense techniques associated with each particular town. Hence, Shuri-te, Naha-te, and Tomari-te developed.
Shuri-te - developed into Shorin-ryu. Shorin is a Japanese word for the Chinese term Shaolin. Shorin-ryu is known for its straight, fast, quick lightening strikes, and foot movements.
Naha-te - under more Chinese influence, developed into a harder style of karate with more circular than straight movements with emphasis on strength and breathing techniques. Goju-Ryu Karate developed from this area. Also from Naha developed Uechi-Ryu and some Okinawan Kempo.
Tomari-te - A lower class of people that were scorned by the people of Shuri and Naha. They had their own self-defense that was influenced by Chinese martial artists that came into its ports. Regretfully, few kata remain from Tomari. However, as far as we are concerned in Isshinryu, we have to remember that a great Tomari Karate-Ka, Oyadomari, taught Chotoku Kyan (1870-1948), who later went on to create a branch of Shorin-ryu Karate (Shobayashi Shorin Ryu). (However, Kyan never named it Shorin Ryu. It was called Chan Migwha-te [small eyed Kyan, style].) Wansu is one of only three remaining katas from Tomari-te.
There are Masters of the different styles of Karate that are on Okinawa. Each has its own roots and history. But for our purposes, we have to remember only a few important points of how and of where karate originated on the Island of Okinawa. First, the Okinawan people had their own unique martial art or self-defense system (te). Secondly, Chinese martial artists, through trading with Okinawa, influenced the development of Okinawa-te tremendously. There is no evidence that karate or te existed on the other Ryu-Kyu islands. However, China traded with these other islands. If Okinawan's martial art came directly from China, it would be reasonable that te would be on these other Ryu Kyu islands, also. We also see the Chinese influence because so many Okinawan kata have Chinese names.
No history can be complete without the
mentioning of Bohhidharma. He was a missionary from India, who went to the
Shaolin Temple in China and developed and improved their physical condition and
meditation skills. He had a tremendous influence on the Chinese martial arts.