Category Archives: Postwar Okinawa Karate

Kyan Chōtoku book on public display at the Karate Kaikan for the first time

Posted on April 11, 2021 by Andreas Quast

A panel exhibition sponsored by Okinawa Prefecture that introduces the history of Okinawa karate during the early Shōwa period (started 1926) began on April 8 in the lobby of the Okinawa Karate Kaikan Exhibition Room in Tomigusuku City. The kumite … Continue reading →

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Traditional Ryūkyū kumi-odori, karate … 165 prewar Okinawan photographs discovered (2)

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Andreas Quast

Okinawa Karate, not to be defeated by discrimination A strong-muscled man receives a thrust from a big man wearing a haramaki (bellyband). The photo is considered to have been taken around 1933 at the Ōsaka City Sports Ground (the current … Continue reading →

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Traditional Ryūkyū kumi-odori, karate … 165 prewar Okinawan photographs discovered (1)

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Andreas Quast

165 photographs of people and landscapes of Okinawa before the war were discovered at the headquarter of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper in Ōsaka City. Previously, a negative of Okinawa in 1935 was found also at the Asahi Shimbun and introduced … Continue reading →

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Soeishi no Kon

Posted on January 12, 2021 by Andreas Quast

A number of recent articles about Soeishi-ryū bōjutsu raised a lot of interest in bōjutsu circles. One of the schools which have a kata by the name of Soeishi is the Matayoshi Kobudō. The following is a written description of … Continue reading →

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Clues from the short entry about “Ānankū”

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Andreas Quast

Is there an old and a new version of Ānankū? In his book on kata, Nagamine Shōshin included a short paragraph about the original creator and the characteristics of each kata. Below is my English translation of the short Japanese … Continue reading →

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Nagamine Shoshin performed Chatan Yara no Kusanku in 1969

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Andreas Quast

On October 10, 1969, a National Special Invitational Kata Demonstration was presented at the Nippon Budōkan in Tōkyō. There, a number of Okinawan karate masters were invited to present Okinawa karate kata in front of a nationwide audience. The occasion … Continue reading →

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Nakamura Shigeru: “Karate is also to be unified”

Posted on March 22, 2020 by Andreas Quast

“Karate is also to be unified”“Unification with wearing protective gear” Nakamura Shigeru, Chairman of the Okinawa Kenpō Karate-dō Renmei Born on January 20, 1893, he entered the Karate Club of the Shuri Prefectural Middle School in Shuri at the age … Continue reading →

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The ti of Chatan Yara, and the kenpō of Tōdī Sakugawa

Posted on January 11, 2020 by Andreas Quast

When was the term tī started to be used? During a roundtable discussion with Nagamine Shōshin, Chibana Chōshin explained as follows: Nagamine: Well, karate existed even before it got handed down from China. Chibana: About this, according to conversations with … Continue reading →

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Sakugawa, Matsumura, and the “Illustration of the Arm’s Minor Yin Heart Meridian”

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Andreas Quast

A few years back Patrick McCarthy and Tuttle were planning to publish a new edition of the “Bubishi.” At that time, I had been asked if I’d like to contribute a little extra info, which I gladly did. My article … Continue reading →

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Two Karateka Served as Chairmen of Naha City Assembly

Posted on November 23, 2019 by Andreas Quast

Two well-respected Karateka served as leaders of the Naha City Assembly. Nagamine Shōshin, founder of Matsubayashi(Shorin)-ryu, served as Vice-chairman of the Naha City Assembly (1954/10 – 1955/08; 1955/11 – 1957/06). Higa Yūchoku of Kobayashi(Shorin)-ryu served as chairman of the Naha … Continue reading →

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