Tag Archives: Itosu Anko

How Miyake Sango was identified

Posted on August 12, 2023 by Andreas Quast

Here I would like to shortly explain how Miyake Sango was identified as the person in the alleged Itosu photo. It began on January 10, 2018, when my good fellow researcher Thomas Feldmann (herinafter abbreviated to TF) sent me a … Continue reading →

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The alleged photos of Itosu Ankō actually show Miyake Sango

Posted on August 12, 2023 by Andreas Quast

I have written about three different photos allegeldy showing Itosu Anko, the father of modern karate (1, 2, and 3). Then, I provided a translation of an article from the Okinawa Times which stated that the person is not Itosu, … Continue reading →

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The 2nd Okinawa Karate Academy — An unknown group of early modern Karate persons (3) — Yonamine Isshun

Posted on December 1, 2019 by Andreas Quast

Usually kobujutsu is spared from being accused of going through the process of technical sanitation that is typically believed to have been the case for karate in school education. As a result, kobujutsu is also believed to have been less charged with nationalistic and militaristic ideology. However, the following research results necessitate to reconsider the notion that modern Okinawan kobujutsu was an original warrior martial arts from the kingdom times. Instead, modern Okinawan kobujutsu was probably spawned by the same momenta as karate. Continue reading →

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The 2nd Okinawa Karate Academy — An unknown group of early modern Karate persons (2) — Matsuda Seiei

Posted on December 1, 2019 by Andreas Quast

On Monday, November 25, from 2-4 pm, the “2nd Okinawa Karate Academy” was held at the Auditorium on the 4th floor of the Okinawa Prefectural Office. The topic was new findings regarding “An unknown group of early modern Karate persons.” … Continue reading →

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The 2nd Okinawa Karate Academy — An unknown group of early modern Karate persons (1) — Haraguni Seishō

Posted on December 1, 2019 by Andreas Quast

“This prefecture’s usage of fists is what the martial arts of fencing (gekken) and the spear (sōjutsu) are for the other prefectures. It is also called karate and its techniques have names like “Passai,” “Kūsankun,” “Naihanchin,” and the like. Certain educated Ryūkyūans formerly all trained this method, by means of which one can prepare for emergencies.”

From: The Odd Accident of this Party’s Member, Harakuni Seishō. Ryūkyū Kyōiku, issue 4, 1896. Continue reading →

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“Karate Kumite” 1905

Posted on November 23, 2019 by Andreas Quast

In 2016, my new discovery of a photo of Hanashiro Chōmo was featured on the website of the Okinawa Traditional Karate Liaison Bureau. Then, in 2018 I translated and published the Genealogy of Hanashiro. Today I add an overview of … Continue reading →

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Does the photo of Itosu Ankō show a different person?

Posted on March 2, 2019 by Andreas Quast

[Here follows my translation of the newspaper article: Arakaki Ryōko: “Does the photo of Itosu Ankō show a different person?” In: Okinawa Times, March 2, 2019, Saturday, No. 25159 (daily issue). Many thanks to Motobu Naoki Shihan of the Motobu-ryu for … Continue reading →

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The Invention of Karate

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Andreas Quast

The last and probably most important book by Kinjō Hiroshi (2011) has the clear tenor of an “Invention of Karate”. Yes, I just said that. It is about as follows: In 1904, Itosu Ankō (1831–1915), commissioned by and under the … Continue reading →

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On a Third Alleged Itosu Photo

Posted on February 23, 2018 by Andreas Quast

Recently, I wrote about a first and a second photo allegedly showing a man considered to be Itosu Ankō (1831–1915), the father of modern Karate. Some weeks ago my colleague Thomas Feldmann of Hoploblog dug out another photo which we … Continue reading →

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On the Second Alleged Itosu Photo

Posted on December 31, 2017 by Andreas Quast

Yesterday, I wrote On the First Alleged Itosu Photo. Since the publication of that photo, a decade of further research passed and – not least due to corresponding activities by various stakeholders of Okinawan history and research on the internet – … Continue reading →

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