The Karate Pursuit

Itosu Anko Sensei (1832-1915) is famous for creating the Pinan Kata (1-5) and introducing karate to the Okinawan school system. In 1908 Itosu sensei wrote a letter explaining why he thought that karate should be included in the school system. Inside this letter he listed his 10 precepts of karate. Here's a link to Jesse's Blog with more info on those:  The Ten Lessons of Grandmaster Itosu By teaching karate in schools Itosu changed his karate to make it suitable for children to learn, you can’t teach children to attack eyes and the groin and so his precepts focused on physical fitness and training the body. Maybe he thought that after learning the basics and the kata and becoming fit in school when they were young, that he could then take on the young adults as students and start teaching them his ‘true’ secret karate which was probably a lot more vicious . Please Click the link below and Read the post before visiting any of the s...

Funakoshi Gichin (1868-1957) is well known for introducing Okinawan karate to mainland Japan. He became head of the Japan Karate Association when it was established in 1949. This memorial was moved from it’s previous location on the roadside (near the Tori gate to enter the Budokan) to inside the actual park. It’s not so hard to find- once inside the park get to the athletic running track (the orange foamy one that is just over a Km long in total.) Walk around it until you reach the 800m mark, then the memorial on the left. If i remember correctly it’s the section in between the Swimming Pool and the Tennis Courts. Inscribed on the largest stone in the middle it says ‘karate ni sente nashi’ which translates to ‘there is no first attack in karate’- one of the first principles students of traditional Okinawan Karate learn (but a principle which has many many different interpretations). For me, it is one that radiates the island attitude of peace which is one of t...

I'll kick off the blog with one of the most well known memorials in the karate world here in Okinawa. Dedicated to Miyagi Chojun Sensei (1888-1953) the founder of Goju Ryu Karate and his Sensei Kanryo Higashionna Sensei. Miyagi Sensei created the Matsubayashi and Goju Ryu Kata Fukyugata Ni/ Gekisai. He spent some time in China studying the fighting arts from  Higashionna’s sensei and so the park opposite the Chinese Gardens in Naha seems a perfect place for his memorial. Opposite the Fukushuen Chinese Gardens there is a park named Matsuyama Koen, Inside this park- Opposite the children's play area, there is the memorial to Chojun Miyagi and Kanryo Higashionna Sensei. (Matsuyama Koen- 1 Chrome 17, Matsuyama, Naha Shi) https://www.google.co.jp/maps/place/Matsuyama+Park/@26.2181562,127.674627, 17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x34e5699cb115c58d:0xc817a8721208952b!8m2!3d26. 2181562!4d127.6768157?hl=en ‘When your temper rises, lower your fist...

The Karate Pursuit We have decided to make this blog to help others find what we have spent years slowly tracking down and documenting, Hopefully it will save you some time, and take your karate adventures to another level- making them more fun and educational. If you come to Okinawa then you are almost certainly going to end up at one or more of the places on this list. I have written as if you are completely new to the island and what is obvious to some is new to others. Also because we study Matsubayashi Shorin Ryu Karate the locations are more orientated towards this because this is where we started six years ago. Since then we have branched out to include everything Karate and Martial Arts related. I believe and have been taught that history is a really important part in Karate and understanding how it all began. Okinawa is the ‘birthplace’ of Karate and so has many many karate related sites and memorials dedicated to the master...