Shorin-Ryu Karate

As of August, 2023, we have 3 openings for adults to learn Shorin-Ryu Karate at our private dojo in Mesa, AZ.  Just contact Soke  and tell us about yourself and why you would like to train. NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY. 

Classes are in Mesa, Arizona near the crossroads of E. Southern & S. 24th street in a private dojo. After we have some communication with you, you will likely be invited to train with us in traditional Okinawa karate, kobudo and kobujutsu. 

Soke has been training for several decades and taught at ASU, UNM, U of U, U of Wyoming.and Golds Gyms, and has taught clinics to senior citizens, church groups, girl scouts, university faculty and students, Air Force cadets, Lutheran groups, LDS, science groups, and more, and is an active member of Juko Kai International, and the world head of Seiyo Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo.

The focus in traditional karate schools is on 'imi' or the meaning of kata - something that is ignored by most Japanese sensei. The meaning of kata is very important in Okinawa karate rather than execution of kata. In Okinawan karate, the student is taught what each move in every kata is used for, and each kata is broken down into self-defense applications that are practiced to insure the student can defend themselves. There is no concern for winning: contests are not part of most traditional Okinawan karate schools, and students are taught to develop as much power and focus as possible for self-defense and karate taught as a dangerous weapon.

Keep in mind that karate is a unique martial art that evolved on Okinawa over hundreds of years, and Okinawa is part of an island chain that lies between China and Japan. Karate, an indigenous Okinawan art, was not introduced to Japan until 1917 and not accepted until 1922. It was introduced to Hawaii in the 1930s and later to the US (Phoenix, Arizona) in 1946. Prior to its introduction to Japan, karate was not practiced as sport.

It was not until the 1960s that people in the US began to recognize karate as different from judo. When karate was introduced to Japan by Gichin Funakoshi in 1917, it was touch and go as to whether or not it would be accepted by the Japanese. The Japanese thought of Okinawan people as country bumpkins - in other words - peasants with little social grace. Gichin Funakoshi had to modify karate, rename each kata to give them Japanese names; and, most importantly, establish a positive working relationship with Japanese judo founder, Dr. Jigoro Kano, before the Japanese would accept karate. The Japanese were so nationalistic that individuals like Mas Oyama had to change their names to receive recognition. Oyama was Korean by birth, and created a Japanese style of karate known as kyokushin in 1957. This type of backwards thinking by the Japanese still pervades, and is one of the primary reasons Japanese karate took a different path than Okinawan karate.

In 2015, our nephew worked on Hawaii transporting patients from their homes to various medical facilities, when he picked up one, old, Japanese man (Hawaii has a large community of Japanese). While driving to a medical facility through a neighborhood known for high crime, Jeremy attempted to strike up a conversation without realizing there was such a strong nationalism with many Japanese people. Jeremy said, “Hey, you look like my Okinawan friend …”.  The Japanese man responded, “What a terrible thing to say that I look like an Okinawan,” and demanded Jeremy stop the vehicle so he could get out and walk! 

Most are unaware that there is a difference between Okinawa and Japanese karate, but there is a significant difference in how kata is practiced and perceived and the philosophical purpose of karate. In a Japanese dojo, kata must be exact with no room for variance in stances, there are distinct breaks in timing, and slow techniques are mixed with fast. In Japanese dojo, students are constantly held in stances during both kihon (basics) and kata practice while the sensei walks around from student to student making minor adjustments to the position of feet, shoulders, knees, wrists, weight distribution, etc. There is also considerable emphasis on deep stances. 

I still remember one evening as a teenager. On this evening, our class squatted, duck-walked around the dojo, did dozens of squat-kicks, squatted in kiba dachi (horse riding stance) with a partner standing on our thighs while placing their hands on our shoulders to add weight to our squats. We did a few hundred kicks - it was a tremendously hard workout for a young teenager with no previous experience in formal exercise prior to joining the Black Eagle Federation Karate dojo. Eight years later, I found basic training in the US Army to be a breeze after karate training. When the class ended, I had to walk home through Fairmont Park (in 1964, the park was an unfriendly place populated by older teens called greasers who looked-forward to harassing younger teens). The distance to my home was 1.5 miles: not much of a distance today, but for a 14-year-old, it was a challenge. I had no strength left in my legs and had to walk stiff-legged all the way. Periodically I relaxed a knee and collapsed. When this happened, I crawled to a tree, telephone pole, park bench, etc, to pull myself up. I don’t remember being harassed while walking through the park on this night, probably because the greasers felt pity on a handicapped teen.

At the time, I was training in kyokushin Japanese karate. Much emphasis was placed on kiba dachi as a fighting stance and zenkutsu dachi (front stance). These were found throughout our kata. When I later trained in Wado-Ryu karate (Japanese) at the University of Utah, we focused considerably on neko-ashi dachi (cat stance). In Shotokan karate (Japanese variety of Shorin-Ryu), the emphasis was on front and back stances (kokutsu dachi) with great emphasis on deep and perfect stances. In Kempo Karate (Japanese) the emphasis was again on kiba dachi.

Kata were performed like a military drill team in Japanese dojo and designed for tournaments. All Japanese systems taught kata with no explanation of application. Thus, controversy developed as to the use and purpose of kata. Sometimes, in a Japanese dojo, we practiced kata with one person performing kata surrounded by three to four attackers along embussen lines. The attackers were required to kick or punch as we moved from one technique to the next. It didn’t seem realistic and applications were designed for competition sparring. 

Periodically our sensei in kyokushin karate taught general self-defense, but the applications were never linked to kata. Much time was spent on sparring due to the sport emphasis and general lack of understanding kata. It didn't take long, but we all became bored as we were not learning anything new. None of my Japanese sensei had much background in self-defense and none had background in kobudo. In the final analysis, the Japanese martial arts were military-like with little room for interpretation. They were in conflict to philosophies of well-known Okinawan practitioners. Gichin Funakoshi, the father of modern karate, stated, “The purpose of Karate lies not in victory of defeat, but in the perfection of its participants”. Okinawan karate was all about improving the practitioner, not winning competitions. 

In the Shorin-Ryu karate schools, kata were taught for muscle memory, balance, power and self-defense. Bunkai (pragmatic self-defense) was the focus of kata and used to practice defending all sorts of attacks and taught to develop power, focus and body hardening. This is the reason why those who study Japanese karate constantly ponder at the purpose of kata, but those who study traditional Okinawa karate continually practice kata along with self-defense and understand the importance of kata. In Japanese karate, kata has little purpose other than to please an audience. In Okinawa karate, kata and karate are the same, as stated by the late Grandmaster Shoshin Nagame.

Each kata is broken down into a group of self-defense applications that are practiced individually to insure the student can defend themselves. Individual applications can be referred to as mini-kata, sometimes referred to as Shinken Shobu no Kata also Kime no Kata.

In Okinawa karate, students learn relatively deep stances to build muscle strength, but as the student gains expertise, higher and more natural stances replace deeper stances. The Okinawan karate stances are meant to be practical for self-defense by being natural and quick. Whereas the very deep Japanese stances are designed for competition. In the past, Okinawa martial artists did not trust Japanese and would not teach the Japanese bunkai. 

Kime is very important in traditional karate - Kime is about power and focus in both strikes and blocks. Every block should be as powerful as every strike. I remember attending clinics in the past where another sensei sent his students to train with me so they could experience blocking power. These power blocks were taught in kyokushin kai karate and I still use them today. In addition to kime, all strikes and blocks need chinkuchi! Chinkuchi is an Okinawa term that applies to explosive full-body power. If you ever have a chance to watch Tadashi Yamashita, you will see a visual explanation of this explosive power. Chinkuchi is similar to kime, which is a focused strike, but includes the entire body in striking and blocking - hip rotation, focused punch or block, last-second tensing of all muscles and joints followed by a quick relaxation of the muscles.

Japanese karate schools kick low, medium and high (similar to taekwondo). High kicks are good in competition; however, Okinawan kicks are designed for knees, kidneys, stomach, groin, ribs, shins, ankles - in other words - below the neck and mostly below the belt. In addition, the Okinawan kicks employ kekomi geri (thrust kicks) as well as toe kicks. To develop a toe kick, one must train the big toe to build toe strength. There are stories about Goju-Ryu’s Chojun Miyagi who periodically demonstrated his powerful tsumasaki geri by penetrating gas cans with his big toe! One of our martial art students, Dr. Bergkamp, traveled to Okinawa a few years ago to tour dojo and returned to Arizona with a very impressive bruise on his stomach outlining a big Okinawan toe with a couple of smaller toes. One must wonder how practical such kicks are in our culture. Unless you are a beach bum, it is unlikely you would ever use such a kick. So in our dojo in Arizona we will introduce this kick to our students, but it is not a main focus. 

Kobudo is a another example of differences between Japanese and Okinawan dojo. In all of the Japanese dojo I trained in, no weapons were introduced or practiced. This part of karate is ignored by most Japanese karate schools. However, kobudo is a major part of Okinawa karate. It has been said that “Karate and Kobudo can be likened to the tires of a bicycle. Both are needed to make the bike move”.

In many Okinawa dojo, tools are available to build strength, endurance and callous. They are designed for the whole body, and include tools for strengthening wrists, fingers, toes and knuckles. In a book by Michael Clarke entitled The Art of Hojo Undo, many exercises are described with descriptions of traditional Okinawan strength training tools and how they are made. Hojo undo translates as supplementary exercises. For those who are serious traditional practitioners, these tools are a must, although there are many modern equivalents that can be used. Some tools used in hojo undo include: makiwara, chi-ishi (strength stones), nigiri game (sand-filled ceramic jars), ishisashi (stone lock), tan (bar bell), kongoken (sand-filled ring), tou (bamboo bundle), kakite bikei (blocking post), makiagi (wrist roller), ude kitae (blocking posts), and jari bako (sand jars).

Okinawa Karate sketch by Soke

Another difference between Okinawan and Japanese karate is the practice of toide in Okinawan schools. Toide is an Okinawan art that includes joint locks, throws, grappling, etc, similar to traditional jujutsu. Many toide techniques are hidden in Okinawan karate kata and practice in bunkai.

Japanese karate is tailored for large groups; whereas Okinawan karate is designed for small groups. This is one reason many Okinawan commercial dojo fail outside of Okinawa as they are not conducive to large groups needed to finance a karate school. Such dojo rely on the generosity of their students and do not set high fees, and many are supported by donations - this is a problem as donations never come from Western students who do not see the value that Okinawan students see. However, when Okinawan schools are attached to and supported by a university, they often draw large groups because of educational value. In Japanese dojo, the atmosphere is martial and there is often intimidation by senior students. However, Okinawan dojo are more family friendly and members are encouraged to become friends.

Seiyo Kai Karate and Kobudo - A Powerful Martial Art

Seiyo no Shorin-Ryu Karate Kobudo Kai(TM)

In the 1984 movie "The Karate Kid", two types of karate schools were depicted: (1) Sport Karate represented by Cobra Kai and (2) Traditional Karate represented by Miyagi-Ryu Karate. At the Arizona School of Traditional Karate (Arizona Hombu) we teach traditional karate.

Hopefully, you caught the subtleties as explained by Mr. Miyagi. Sport karate is about winning trophies at any cost, while traditional karate is about fighting for one's life - in other words, karate for self-defense and as a weapon - both empty handed (kara-te) and weapons (kobu-do).

So, where did karate come from? According to legend, a Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma introduced martial arts from India. In the legend, Bodhidharma traveled from India through the Himalayan Mountains to the Henan Province of China in order to introduce Zen Buddhism to the Shaolin Temple. This event is thought to have occurred around 525 AD. When Bodhidharma arrived at the Shaolin-si (small forest) temple he began teaching meditation but found the Shaolin monks to be unfit, lazy and periodically fell asleep during meditation. To remedy the situation, he added a group of physical combat exercises known as 'Shi Pa Lohan Sho' also known as the '18 hands of Lohan'. The blending of combat with philosophy - the blending of the body with the mind, resulted in the first martial 'art'.

To be an art, there must be intrinsic value for the mind and spirit - this is what differentiates martial art from street fighting, and karate from MMA. Thus, the combining of combat with meditation resulted in an esoteric art - the first of its kind in the world. Today, there are many things that are called martial arts that have no esoteric value that cannot be a martial art such as MMA and many sport martial arts. 

Pencil sketch of Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Karate
Master Gichin Funakoshi by Soke.

The father of modern karate - master Gichin Funakoshi, a Shorin-Ryu practitioner from Okinawa stated, "the Purpose of Karate lies not in Victory or Defeat, but in the Perfection of its Participants". This supports karate is a martial art as it is all about perfection of character. It has little to do with victory or defeat. 

Furthermore, Shoshin Naginame, a grandmaster of Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Karate wrote, "If there is no kata, there is no karate, just kicking and punching" . This relates to the fact that kata, which has considerable esoteric value as well as extraordinary combat techniques, is what makes karate and important martial art. He also concluded that "Karate begins and ends with the study of kata".

It is clear that kata is a living encyclopedia of martial arts techniques containing all the necessary elements for blocking, striking, kicking, restraining, body hardening (shitai kori), meditation, self-defense, weapons techniques and much more. What could be more esoteric and more combat oriented?

I'm intrigued by an Indian martial art known as Kalarippayattu taught in southern India. It is a primitive combat form possibly descended from 'Shi Po Lohan Sho' with its circular blocks, open hand techniques and acrobatic movements similar to Kung Fu. Possibly, this or a similar combat exercise was introduced to the Shaolin Temple. Whatever was introduced became a major martial art all through China and was introduced to Okinawa sometime in the past. Kung Fu may have been introduced to Okinawa with the 36 Chinese artisan families that moved to Okinawa in 1392. It is thought these people introduced a book entitled 'Bubishi' - a book about White Crane Kung Fu.

Ever watch a white crane in a pond? One female kung fu 
Martial artists observed white cranes for years to learn how to 
mimic movement such as beak strikes, thrusts, one-legged 
stances, and even crane wing blocks. Here, University of Wyoming 
faculty and students learn white crane Shorin-Ryu karate at one
of many university clinics.

The White Crane martial art from China was tweaked by Okinawan martial artists. 

OKINAWA KARATE.

Nearly a century after the 36 Chinese families made their home on Okinawa, King Sho Shin proclaimed a weapons ban on Okinawa. In 1480 AD, King Sho Shin was fearful of a revolution an banned the possession of bladed weapons on Okinawa.

Some Okinawan's began to develop  kobudo. It is suggested the development of kobudo was left up to the warrior class (Pechin), which is unlikely as they were still able to carry swords. But no matter who developed this ancient art - whether Pechin or peasants, the tools of the Okinawa farmer, fisherman and merchant were practiced as weapons - thus kata were developed along with many waza (techniques).

Karate was associated with three different villages known as Shuri, Naha and Tomari. Master Gichin Funakoshi suggested that two primary karate styles were based on different physical requirements. Shorin-Ryu was quick and linear with natural breathing and Shorei-Ryu (later Goju-Ryu) had steady, rooted movements with synchronous breathing with each movement.

At some time, do was added to kara-te, making it karate do. Do was used to imply that there was a path to take with the practice of karate. The 'do' was used early on as it implied a philosophy to the study of karate. Okinawan scholar Teijunsoku (circa 1600s) stated, "No matter how you excel in the art of te and in your scholastic endeavors, nothing is more important than your behavior and your humanity as observed in your daily life". Here he mentions te and implies there was a path to follow with its training!

It is reported that the first public demonstrations of the secret art of karate were performed by the Grandfather of modern karate - Anko Itosu and the father of modern karate - Gichin Funakoshi. Funakoshi's demonstration occurred on mainland Japan in 1917 at the Butokuden in Kyoto.

In 1922, Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, invited Funakoshi to demonstrate karate at his Kodokan dojo. It is thought that this sponsorship by Dr. Kano allowed for the spread of karate though out Japan. Without the sponsorship, karate would likely be uncommon on Japan because it was viewed as a peasant art. As such, some styles of karate were developed with Japanese roots that included Shotokan, Goju-Ryu, Wado-Ryu, Shito-Ryu, Kyokushinkai.

The original Shorin-Ryu remained predominately Okinawan. Some of the more prominent branches of Shorin-Ryu include Kobayashi Shorin-Ryu, Shobayashi Shorin-Ryu, Matsubayashi Shorin-Ryu, Matsumura Seito Shorin-Ryu.

Many Matsumura's students started their own branches that included Sukunaihyashi Shorin-Ryu, Ryukyu Hon Kempo, Kodokai Shorin-Ryu, Seidokan Shorin-Ryu, Chubu Shorin-Ryu, and Ryukyu Shorin-Ryu. Others that have recently evolved include Yamashita Shorin-Ryu and Seiyo Shorin-Ryu.

Seiyo Shorin-Ryu (Seiyo No Shorin-Ryu Karate Kobudo Kai) was created in 1999 after Dai Soke Sacharnoski certified Sensei Hausel as the sokeshodai (first generation grandmaster). Soke had trained under a number of martial artists over the years beginning in 1964.