I previously read in Bruce Clayton's book, "Shotokan's Secret", that "Unante", written by John Sells, illustrates Master Anko Itosu's letter to the Japanese Ministry of Education. Specifically, in "Unante", it is apparently highlighted that Master Itosu wrote "Shorin Ryu" with the characters which mean "Enlightened-forest Style", rather than those meaning "Shao-forest Style". The first ideogram, "enlightened", is also used by Master Itosu for "Shorei-ryu", which is common. "Unante" is rather expensive these days, so I have not yet been able to purchase a copy. However, I recently bought Mario McKenna's translation of Genwa Nakasone's "An Overview of Karate-Do". In this invaluable text, Itosu's letter is wholly presented, and it can indeed clearly be seen that Itosu did in fact write "Shorin Ryu" (or "Shorin-ryu", depending) with the symbol for "enlightened" when penning "Sho". This, then, surely proves that it was at least considered by Master Itosu (possibly first) that "Shorin-ryu" (Shao-forest Style) and "Shorin Ryu" were different in that Shorin Ryu karate kenpo was a style that combined northern and southern Chinese martial arts, therefore meaning that a combination of the names for northern and southern Chinese "boxing" was appropriate to the end of highlighting the differing, Okinawan, style. As a result, I call Shorin Ryu karate "Enlightened-forest Style Chinese-hands", with such historical support, as I have previously noted in some of my work. It is its own "style" of Okinawan karate, separate to the styles of Shorin-ryu and Shorei-ryu.
Now, breaking down the styles for different body-types is true, because there are pure Chinese references of such a practice, for example in Sifu Wong Kiew Kit's text, "The Art Of Shaolin Kung Fu", on page 38, in the first paragraph under the sub-title "The Spread of Southern Shaolin Kung Fu". The descriptions are precise with respect to those outlined by Master Gichin Funakoshi, for instance.
As I similarly explained in one article, entitled "The Okinawan Origins of Japanese Shotokan Karate", published in issue 120, in July 2014, of Shotokan Karate Magazine, there are Chinese and Okinawan versions of kenpo (northern-Chinese Shaolinquan, and southern-Chinese Shaolin which is Zhaolingquan; in Okinawa there is Ryukyu kenpo which is karate or karate kenpo, and the various kata (quan) relate to the relevant styles of Chinese origin, except that pure Shorin-ryu would be northern Shaolin-liu, and that does not exist in an entirely comparable Okinawan version). Therefore, there is Okinawan Shorin Ryu which is a combination of principles found in the northern and southern Chinese styles, though, overall, appears to lean slightly further to northern Shaolin, hence calling it Shorin Ryu (it is usually described as being northern Shaolin, but this is clearly not precise, upon examination). Okinawan Shorei-ryu is southern Shaolin (Zhaoling-liu), and is more purely of the southern style, as can be seen by comparison between southern Chinese martial arts and the Okinawan schools of Goju Ryu and Uechi Ryu, as well as the Higaonna side of Mabuni Shito Ryu.
However, as I described in the article I referenced, there are further necessary details. Shorin Ryu is overall. It consists of both Shorin-ryu and Shorei-ryu origins. Some kata appear more as Shorin-ryu, so they are "southern-Chinese Shorin-ryu" kata. Whereas Shorei-ryu kata in Shorin Ryu are not the same as Okinawan Shorei-ryu, so they are "northern-Chinese Shorei-ryu" kata. That results in Shorin Ryu being much more different to simply saying Shorin-ryu as opposed to Shorei-ryu, as if there are only two styles in Okinawa (completely besides "udundi" - the other karate). You have to look closely at the kata to find the detailed, and therefore more true and whole, origins of the overall styles. And actually, that supports the notion of being able to study just one or a few kata to learn karate, because clearly you would in fact be studying their respective styles, and so would actually be learning, for example, Okinawan Shorei-ryu with the kata seiyunchin, southern-style Shorin-ryu with the kata passai, and northern-style Shorei-ryu with the kata naihanchi. And in the process of studying the latter two, you would also learn the overall style linked with those two, being Shorin Ryu, which should perhaps be called Okinawan Shorin Ryu for definite distinction.
So, Shorin Ryu is descended from Chinese martial arts, and is related to Shaolin, like Wudang taijiquan is. Thus, the writings in the Bubishi are related to Shaolin, with perhaps some closer than others. But they are also closely related to southern-Chinese martial arts (Zhaoling-liu or Shorei-ryu, both using the same characters meaning "Enlightened-spirit Style", and more so representing a style rather than a temple, though temples were/are "involved" in the southern Chinese arts, too).
The "six ji hands" explained in the Bubishi, are found in both northern and southern Chinese martial arts. They are not just of northern Shaolin, though their origins do relate to the Shaolin Temple.
But all this separation starts to give me a headache, after a while. It is all just kenpo, or karate kenpo; Chinese kenpo, or Ryukyu kenpo karate. There are differences between styles, but all are just versions of kenpo/quanfa. That is why it is alternatively called Ryukyu kenpo.
Kaigen
Now, breaking down the styles for different body-types is true, because there are pure Chinese references of such a practice, for example in Sifu Wong Kiew Kit's text, "The Art Of Shaolin Kung Fu", on page 38, in the first paragraph under the sub-title "The Spread of Southern Shaolin Kung Fu". The descriptions are precise with respect to those outlined by Master Gichin Funakoshi, for instance.
As I similarly explained in one article, entitled "The Okinawan Origins of Japanese Shotokan Karate", published in issue 120, in July 2014, of Shotokan Karate Magazine, there are Chinese and Okinawan versions of kenpo (northern-Chinese Shaolinquan, and southern-Chinese Shaolin which is Zhaolingquan; in Okinawa there is Ryukyu kenpo which is karate or karate kenpo, and the various kata (quan) relate to the relevant styles of Chinese origin, except that pure Shorin-ryu would be northern Shaolin-liu, and that does not exist in an entirely comparable Okinawan version). Therefore, there is Okinawan Shorin Ryu which is a combination of principles found in the northern and southern Chinese styles, though, overall, appears to lean slightly further to northern Shaolin, hence calling it Shorin Ryu (it is usually described as being northern Shaolin, but this is clearly not precise, upon examination). Okinawan Shorei-ryu is southern Shaolin (Zhaoling-liu), and is more purely of the southern style, as can be seen by comparison between southern Chinese martial arts and the Okinawan schools of Goju Ryu and Uechi Ryu, as well as the Higaonna side of Mabuni Shito Ryu.
However, as I described in the article I referenced, there are further necessary details. Shorin Ryu is overall. It consists of both Shorin-ryu and Shorei-ryu origins. Some kata appear more as Shorin-ryu, so they are "southern-Chinese Shorin-ryu" kata. Whereas Shorei-ryu kata in Shorin Ryu are not the same as Okinawan Shorei-ryu, so they are "northern-Chinese Shorei-ryu" kata. That results in Shorin Ryu being much more different to simply saying Shorin-ryu as opposed to Shorei-ryu, as if there are only two styles in Okinawa (completely besides "udundi" - the other karate). You have to look closely at the kata to find the detailed, and therefore more true and whole, origins of the overall styles. And actually, that supports the notion of being able to study just one or a few kata to learn karate, because clearly you would in fact be studying their respective styles, and so would actually be learning, for example, Okinawan Shorei-ryu with the kata seiyunchin, southern-style Shorin-ryu with the kata passai, and northern-style Shorei-ryu with the kata naihanchi. And in the process of studying the latter two, you would also learn the overall style linked with those two, being Shorin Ryu, which should perhaps be called Okinawan Shorin Ryu for definite distinction.
So, Shorin Ryu is descended from Chinese martial arts, and is related to Shaolin, like Wudang taijiquan is. Thus, the writings in the Bubishi are related to Shaolin, with perhaps some closer than others. But they are also closely related to southern-Chinese martial arts (Zhaoling-liu or Shorei-ryu, both using the same characters meaning "Enlightened-spirit Style", and more so representing a style rather than a temple, though temples were/are "involved" in the southern Chinese arts, too).
The "six ji hands" explained in the Bubishi, are found in both northern and southern Chinese martial arts. They are not just of northern Shaolin, though their origins do relate to the Shaolin Temple.
But all this separation starts to give me a headache, after a while. It is all just kenpo, or karate kenpo; Chinese kenpo, or Ryukyu kenpo karate. There are differences between styles, but all are just versions of kenpo/quanfa. That is why it is alternatively called Ryukyu kenpo.
Kaigen
