Shitō-ryū


Shitō-ryū is a form of karate that was founded in 1934 by Kenwa Mabuni. Shitō-ryū is synthesis of the Okinawan Shuri-te and Naha-te schools of karate and today is considered one of the four main styles of the art.

History

Kenwa Mabuni was born in Shuri, Okinawa in 1889. Mabuni was a 17th generation descendant of the warrior Uni Ufugusuku Kenyu. He began his instruction in his home town in the art of Shuri-te at the age of 13, under the tutelage of Ankō Itosu. He trained diligently for several years, learning many kata. 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 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. 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. Kenei Mabuni was succeeded by his son, Kenyu Mabuni, as the third Soke of Shito-Ryu. Kenyu was anointed the next Soke of the system in an inauguration ceremony held on February 28, 2016, in Osaka, continuing his father's and his grandfather's work which is the spread of the original Shito ryu Karate do worldwide. Additionally, Tsukasa Mabuni, daughter of Kenzo Mabuni, is the 3rd Soke of Seito Shito Ryu, inheriting the title from her father. Her organization is Shito Ryu International Karate Do Kai.

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 :
  • 落花. The art of blocking with such force and precision as to completely destroy the opponent's attacking motion. Examples of rakka are the most well-known blocks, such as gedan-barai or soto-uke.
  • 流水. The art of flowing around the attacker's motion, and through it, soft blocking. Examples are nagashi-uke and osae-uke.
  • 屈伸. This is the art of bouncing back, storing energy while recoiling from the opponent's attack, changing or lowering stance only to immediately unwind and counterattack. Classic examples are stance transitions zenkutsu to kōkutsu and moto-dachi to nekoashi-dachi.
  • 転位. Ten'i is the utilization of all eight directions of movement, most importantly stepping away from the line of attack.
  • 反撃. A hangeki defense is an attack which at the same time deflects the opponent's attack before it can reach the defender. Examples of this are various kinds of tsuki-uke, including yama-tsuki.
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 a relatively high number of kata, a significant of time is spent perfecting forms.

Style branches

Many derivative styles of Shitō-ryū developed after the death of Kenwa Mabuni. Notable branches started by his sons and students are:
  • Sons
  • Students
;* Japan Karatedo Shobukan was created by Kyoshin Kayo, a student of Kenwa Mabuni. This style is known as Shito-ryu Shobukan
;* Japan Karatedo Nobukawa-ha Shito-Ryu Kai. style founded by Kuniaki Nobukawa.

Techniques

List of techniques, used in the Shitō-ryū style of karate. Blocks, kicks and strikes can be jōdan, chūdan or gedan and related to migi or hidari.

Tachi (stances)

Source:
  • Heisoku dachi: Toes & heels together,, at "attention".
  • Musubi dachi: Heels together, & toes apart, "knot" shape.
  • Heiko dachi: Feet apart, parallel.
  • Hachiji dachi: Feet apart, toes pointing OUT at 45 degrees.
  • Uchi-Hachiji dachi : Feet apart, toes pointing IN at 45 degrees.
  • Shiko dachi: Straddle leg, "Sumo" stance.
  • Moto dachi: Front knee partially bent, forward stance.
  • Han-Zenkutsu Dachi : Little Bigger than moto dachi and shorter than Zenkutsu Dachi.
  • Heiko Sanchin Dachi : Little longer than Sanchin Dachi
  • Soei Ashi Dachi : Front Leg bend with back leg heel raise. Reverse of Neko Ashi Dachi
  • Zawan Dachi : Wider than Kosa Dachi
  • Zenkutsu dachi: Front knee bent, long forward stance.
  • Nekoashi dachi: "Cat foot" stance.
  • Sanchin dachi: Inward tension stance.
  • Kōkutsu dachi: "Looking back" stance.
  • Renoji dachi: Stance resembling the letter "L".
  • "Tee"-ji dachi: Stance resembling the letter "T" upside down.
  • Kosa dachi: "Hooked leg" stance.
  • Sagiashi dachi: "Heron foot" stance.
  • Ukiashi dachi: Stance resembling Nekoashi dachi, but more upright in a loose floating leg stance.

    Uke-waza (blocking techniques)

  • Gedan barai uke : Low-level, downward block / sweeping block.
  • Yoko uke : Block from inside, towards outside.
  • Yoko uchi : Block from outside, towards inside.
  • Age uke: Rising, upper-level block.
  • Yoko Barai uke: Side, sweeping block.
  • Uchi Otoshi uke: Circular, inside drop block.
  • Tsuki uke: Simultaneous punching block.
  • Te Kubi Sasae uke: Augmented wrist block.
  • Sukui uke: Scoop block.
  • Shuto uke: "Knife-hand" block.
  • Kosa uke: "X" block.
  • Hijisasae uke: Augmented elbow block.
  • Osae uke: Pressing down block.
  • Kakewake uke: Reverse-wedge block.
  • Nagashi uke: Cross-body open-hand flowing/sweeping block.
  • Shiuko uke : Open-hand, back-hand block.
  • Shotei uke : Palm-heel block.

    Uchi-waza (striking techniques)

  • Seiken tsuki: Fore fist, straight punch.
  • Oi tsuki: Lunge punch.
  • Gyaku tsuki: Reverse hand punch.
  • Furi tsuki: Circular/swinging punch.
  • Age tsuki: Rising punch.
  • Kagi tsuki: Hook punch.
  • Mae Te tsuki: Lead-hand jab-punch.
  • Ura tsuki: Inverted, close punch.
  • Morote tsuki: U-shape punch.
  • Tate tsuki: Vertical fist punch.
  • Nihon tsuki: Double punch.
  • Shuto uchi: "Knife" hand strike.
  • Ura uchi: Back fist punch.
  • Kentsui uchi: Bottom fist strike.
  • Shotei uchi: Palm-heel strike.
  • Haito uchi: Ridge-hand strike.
  • Haishu uchi: Open back-hand strike.
  • Hiji ate uchi: Elbow strike.
  • Koken uchi: Bent wrist-hand strike.

    Keri-waza (kicking techniques)

  • Mae geri: Front kick.
  • Oi geri: Stepping kick.
  • Yoko sokuto geri: Side kick.
  • Mawashi geri: Roundhouse kick.
  • Gyaku Mawashi geri: Reverse direction roundhouse kick.
  • Ura Mawashi geri: Back leg, hook kick to front.
  • Ushiro geri: Straight-back kick.
  • Ushiro Mawashi geri: Spinning, back-roundhouse kick to front.
  • Mae-ashi geri: Forward leg, front kick.
  • Fumikomi geri: Stamping/thrusting kick.
  • Hiza Geri: Knee cap kick.
  • Ushiro-ura-mawashi geri: Spinning-back, roundhouse kick.
  • Gyaku geri: Reverse roundhouse kick.
  • Mae-tobi geri: Front kick.
  • Yoko-tobi geri: Side kick.