Combining
the two styles of Shōrin-ryū and Shōrei-ryū, Master Funakoshi's karate is not
one-sided. He learnt from a variety of masters, including Ankō Shishū
(Yasutsune Itosu), Ankō Asato (Azato), Sōkon Matsumura (Machimura in Okinawan),
Seishō Aragaki (Niigaki), Tōonno, Kiyuna, a certain Pechin Anri (according to
Master Shōshin Nagamine), and another master indirectly, via his son Gigō, as
well as having learnt the gojūshiho (ūsēshi) kata of two of his Okinawan
friends, Kenwa Mabuni and Kanken Tōyama (Oyadomari). Furthermore, one of his
teachers, possibly listed, taught him Kudaka sōchin. While Master Funakoshi was
from Shuri, the idea, as mentioned on page 2 when briefly noting some
historical points, that the Okinawan styles of karate were or could be termed
as Shuri-te (Shui-tī in Okinawan), Tomari-te (Tuma'i-tī), etc. is not valid.
Practitioners learnt from a range of masters hailing from all over Ryūkyū and
elsewhere such as Fujian in the south of China. Hence, there is, broadly and
simply speaking, only really such a thing as Shōrei-ryū and Shōrin-ryū. They
are natural styles based on different body-types. Therefore, they are true
styles. Master Funakoshi's knowledge of the differences between them is
supported by Chinese boxing references such as 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 precisely the same as those outlined by Master Gichin
Funakoshi in his book "Karate Jutsu" ("Rentan Goshin Karate
Jutsu"), for example.
In the first edition of my research, Origins of Shotokan (2013, Marshalls' Art-Productions, now Marshall & Marshall Publications), I wrote more about the variations of the two broad styles of kara-te. I also wrote about the intricacies of the real karate-styles in an article for Shotokan Karate Magazine in 2014, entitled "The Okinawan Origins of Japanese Shotokan Karate". In addition, I published a short piece on the Funakoshi Okinawan Karate Kenpō Kenkyūkai web-page in 2015 that detailed some other information about Okinawan karate styles, including the proof in Genwa Nakasone's text, "An Overview of Karate-Dō", that Master Itosu wrote the "Shō" in "Shōrin-ryū" using the symbol meaning "enlightened" as in the "Shō" in "Shōrei-ryū".
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