Kenwa Mabuni was born in Shuri on Okinawa in 1889, Mabuni Sensei was a
descendant of the famous Onigusukini Samurai family. Perhaps because of his
weak constitution, he began his instruction in his home town in the art of
Shuri-Te (首里手) at the age of 13, under the tutelage of the legendary Anko
Yasutsune Itosu (糸州安恒) (1813-1915). He trained diligently for several years,
learning many kata from this great master. It was Itosu who first developed
the Pinan kata, which were most probably derived from the 'Kusanku' form.
One of his close friends, Sensei Chogun Miyagi (宮城長順) (founder of
Goju-ryu) introduced Mabuni to another great of that period, Sensei Kanryo
Higashionna (東恩納寛量), and began to learn Naha-Te (那覇手) under him as well.
While both Itosu and Higashionna 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 Naifanchi
and Bassai kata; the Higashionna syllabus, on the other hand, stressed
circular motion and shorter fighting methods as seen in the popular Seipai
and Kururunfa forms. Shito-ryu focuses on both hard and soft techniques to
this day.
Although he remained true to the teachings of these two great masters,
Mabuni sought instruction from a number of other teachers; including Seisho
Aragaki, Tawada Shimboku, Sueyoshi Jino and Wu Xianhui (a Chinese master
known as Go-Kenki). 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 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'
(Chinese Fist) 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: Sensei Gichin
Funakoshi (船越義珍) (founder of Shotokan (松濤館)), another contemporary, had
moved to Tokyo in the 1920s to promote their 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-ryu, or 'half-hard
style'. In an effort to gain acceptance in the Japanese Butokukai, the
governing body for all officially recognized martial arts in that country,
he and his contemporaries decided to call their art 'Karate' or 'Empty
Hand', rather than 'Chinese Hand', perhaps to make it sound more Japanese.
Around the same time, perhaps when first introducing his style to the
Butokukai, is when it's believed the name of the style changed to Shito-ryu,
in honour of its main influences. Mabuni derived the name for his new style
from the first Kanji character in their names, Itosu and Higashionna. With
the support of Sensei Ryusho Sakagami (1915-1993), he opened a number of
Shito-ryu dojo in the Osaka area, including Kansai University and the Japan
Karatedo Kai dojo. To this day, the largest contingent of Shito-ryu
practitioners in Japan is centred in the Osaka area.
Mabuni published a number of books on the subject and continued to
systematize the 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. Perhaps more than any other Master in
the last century, Mabuni was steeped in the traditions and history of
Karate-do, yet forward thinking enough to realize that it could spread
throughout the world. To this day, Shito-ryu recognizes the influences of
Itosu and Higashionna: the kata syllabus of Shito Ryu is still often listed
in such a way as to show the two lineages.
Kenwa Mabuni died in 1952, and he is succeeded by his sons Kenei and
Kenzo. His son Kenzo Mabuni died in 26th June 2005 (at 14.45 Hrs).
A - C
Japan