Shito-Ryu History 糸東流歴史
Master Kenwa Mabuni the founder of the Karate-Do style “Shito-Ryu” was born on November 14, 1889, in Shuri, Okinawa, Japan. He belonged to the 17th generation of one of the bravest warriors of the Ryukyu kingdom Kenio Oshiro. In his childhood, Kenwa Mabuni was a physically weak child and so his family members encouraged him to be strong like their ancestors. Even Kenwa Mabuni dreamed of becoming physically strong and at the age of 13, he was accepted as a student at the dojo of the famous Karate-Do master Yasutsune Itosu (Nicknamed Ankoh), who lived in Shuri city of Ryukyu island Okinawa. Kenwa Mabuni trained sincerely every day which made him learn the art of Shuri-Te (Martial arts from Shuri City) within 7 years.
At the age of 20 years, he began to study the art of Naha-Te (Martial arts from Naha City) under the guidance of Master Higaonna (Higashionna) Kanryo. Later he combined the teachings and knowledge that he received from both of his masters and formed the Shito-Ryu Karate-Do style. The word ‘Shito’ is the combination of ‘Shi’ 糸 and ‘to‘ 東, the two first characters of the names of Master Itosu?糸洲and Master Higaonna 東恩納.
After graduating Master, Kenwa Mabuni worked in the Army and later in the Police for nearly ten years. His job made him travel to different parts of the country and get an opportunity to study other forms of karate-do with local masters.
The proper Kata training also helps to explore the hidden techniques in Kata. This knowledge can be passed to the next generation through the means of Kata. Hence Kata is regarded as the soul of Karate-Do training and according to Kenwa Mabuni the student, ignoring Kata and practicing only Kumite will never progress in Karate-Do and will never understand its meaning. Shito-Ryu has the maximum Katas of all other karate-do styles.
After World War II, Master Kenwa Mabuni contributed to reconstructing Japan by devoting his life to the development of Shito-Ryu Karate-Do. Unfortunately, Kenwa Mabuni had no time to bring his dreams to reality since he died on May 23, 1952. Master Kenwa Mabuni left this noble art into the heart of every Shito-Ryu Karate-Do practitioner. Kenwa Mabuni concentrated more on Katas because he believed that Katas combine both attack and defense techniques and are the most important part of Karate-Do, hence it is necessary to understand the meaning of each and every movement in the Kata and to perform the Kata correctly. The concept of the Bunkai and Hokei Kumite was first introduced by Kenwa Mabuni who explained the meaning behind the waza and showed the correct use for each Kata.
