Category Archives: Prewar Okinawa Karate

Shushi no Kon (old-style) 3 – Nejiru

Posted on February 13, 2022 by Andreas Quast

This is about Shushi no Kon (old-style) as I have described here in text and illustration as well as in video here. In his 1930 description, which is the earliest description of a Bō kata, Miki uses the term nejiru on … Continue reading →

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Shushi no Kon (old-style) 2 – A Video of the Kata

Posted on February 13, 2022 by Andreas Quast

This is the video of Shushi no Kon (old-style) as I have described here. I have learned this kata from various sources. First of all, I have learned it as “Koryū Shūshi no Kon” from Akamine Hiroshi Sensei of Shimbukan … Continue reading →

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Shushi no Kon (old-style) 1 – The 1930 Description by Miki Jisaburō

Posted on February 13, 2022 by Andreas Quast

This post is my 2009 translation of “Shūshi no Kon” as published in 1930 by Miki Jisaburō. Miki had learned it from Ōshiro Chōjo in 1929. I have shortened, simplified and renumbered the description to make it easier to follow … Continue reading →

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Yamanni-ryu – Is the founder’s name Sanrā, Sanda, Masanrā, or Saburō?

Posted on February 6, 2022 by Andreas Quast

Chinen Masami (1898–1976) was an Okinawan bōjutsu expert. He taught privately at his home in Shuri Tōbaru, Okinawa. He named his style Yamannī-ryū after his grandfather Chinen Sanrā 知念三良 (1842–1925). There is some confusion about the first name of Chinen Sanrā. For instance, various … Continue reading →

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Taihojutsu, then and then

Posted on January 6, 2022 by Andreas Quast

In the fall of 1931, Nagamine Shōshin took the police entry examination. Nearly one hundred people had applied, but there were only twenty positions open. Only eighteen persons passed, among them Shōshin. Two years since he had returned from military … Continue reading →

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The Customary Laws (Naihō)

Posted on January 6, 2022 by Andreas Quast

[Originally published in: Quast, Andreas: Karate 1.0 – Parameter of an Ancient Martial Art. 2013.] The decisions made by the community meetings and semiofficial groups of regional authority were made under extensive use of so-called customary laws. On the basis … Continue reading →

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The Depravity of a Stipend-holding, Samurai-Family’s Sons (1898)

Posted on January 6, 2022 by Andreas Quast

(From a newspaper article of the year 1898) The Depravity of a Stipend-holding, Samurai-Family’s Sons In February of this year, the third son [Kyan Chōtoku] of the stipend-holding samurai-class member Kyan [Chōfu] from Gibo district in Shuri, together with four … Continue reading →

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Preservation of Old Customs

Posted on January 6, 2022 by Andreas Quast

[Originally published in: Quast, Andreas: Karate 1.0 – Parameter of an Ancient Martial Art. 2013.] A major administrative tool for stabilizing newly established Okinawa Prefecture from early on was a policy called “Preservation of Old Customs” (Kyūkan onzon seisaku), in … Continue reading →

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Torite (continued)

Posted on December 1, 2021 by Andreas Quast

As has been noted previously, it was no less than Itosu Ankō who “said that karate was introduced by Chin Genpin.” As regards the art taught in Japan by Chin Genpin, it has been described as the “art of torite” … 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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