Dojo Info

Karate was born in Okinawa, Japan There are more than 400 Karate Dojos in Okinawa. It is a sacred place where people from all over the world come to learn Karate. There are three exclusive elements that you can learn here. 1. You can learn the original form of Karate Okinawan Karate is completely different from mainstream Karate. It is an original martial art form which contains many practical techniques and personality formation as its fundamentalism. It includes rigid physical and mental daily training. Karate learned in Okinawa will not only improve your physical condition but also your mental strength. 2. You can learn from Okinawan Karate masters There are more than 400 Karate Dojos in Okinawa, and Karate masters you have seen only in videos exist here. Okinawan Karate is a lifetime martial arts. Some masters are even over 70 or 80 years old but still have incredible skills. You can learn Karate techniques and philosophy from those masters. Real Okinawan Karate Masters Karate Workshops Karate Camps 3. You can feel the Okinawan culture that created Karate Karate is not aimed at attacking or harming your opponent; it is the contrast, it is about discipline and defense. This philosophy…

The empty hand of self-defense of the Ryukyu Kingdom was transmitted from China. Seminal martial arts via the Silk Road into China, found their way to Ryukyu. In 1429, the three kingdoms on Okinawa unified to form the Ryukyu Kingdom. When the Ryukyu King came into power in 1477, traning of martial arts was forbidden. Tō-te and Ryukyu Kobudo continued to be taught in secret. The ban training of martial arts continued in 1609 after Okinawa was invaded by the Satsuma Domain of Japan. The ban contributed to the development of Kobudō which uses common household and farming implements as weaponry. The Okinawans combined Chinese martial arts with the existing local variants to form Tō-te (唐手 Tuudii), also sometimes called Okinawa-Te (沖縄手 Uchinaa-dii). By the 18th century, different types of Te had developed in three different villages–Shuri, Naha and Tomari in different forms. The styles were named Shuri-Te, Naha-Te, and Tomari-Te. Well into the 20th century, the martial arts of Okinawa were generally referred to as te and tii (手) in Japanese and Okinawan for “hand”. Te often varied from one town to another, so to distinguish among the various types of te, the word was often prefaced with its area of origin;…

前 次 Okinawan martial arts refers to martial arts, such as karate, tegumi and Okinawan kobudō, which originated among the indigenous people of Okinawa. Due to its central location, Okinawa was influenced by various cultures with a long history of trade and cultural exchange, including Japan, China and Southeast Asia, that greatly influenced the development of martial arts on Okinawa. We would like to introduce you to five main styles: Goju-ryu, Uechi-ryu, Shorin-ryu (小林流&少林流), and Matsubayashi-ryu. Below you will find a short introduction to each style. Goju-ryu Goju-ryu (剛柔流) is one of the main traditional style of Okinawan Karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Kanryo Higaonna (1853-1915) was known as the highest authority of Naha Te. He and his successor Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953) made several basics. Go means hard, refers to closed hand techniques or straight linear attacks, Ju means soft, refers to open hand techniques and circular movements. Goju-ryu incorporates both circular and linear movements into its basic method, combining hard striking attacks such as kicks and close hand punches with softer open hand circular techniques for attacking, blocking, and controlling the opponent, including locks, grappling, takedowns, and throws. Breathing method is also very important. Please click here for a list of Goju-ryu dojos we offer training at. Uechi-ryu…

Chojyun Miyagi Chojun Miyagi (宮城 長順) is the founder of Goju-ryu(剛柔流) Karate. He was Okinawan martial artist who founded the school of karate by blending Okinawan and Chinese influences. He studied under the Naha-te master Kanryo Higaonna. After Kanryo Higaonna’s death, Chojun Miyagi learned some local Chinese martial arts in China. He traveled to Fujian and Shanghai to train and research southern Chinese Boxing. Kanryo Higaonna Kanryo Higaonna(東恩納 寛量) also known as the Ryukyuan martial artist who founded a fighting style known at the time as Naha-te. He went to study martial arts in China Fuzhou from 1876 to 1888. He returned to Okinawa with those skills. His student, Chojun Miyagi, would later found Goju-ryu Karate(剛柔流). Several of Kanryo’s students went on to become influential masters of what came to be called karate, He has the greatest influence on masters who include Chojun Miyagi, Kenwa Mabuni, Kyoda Shigehatsu, Koki Shiroma, Higa Seiko, Tsuyoshi Chitose and Gusukuma Shinpan. Kenwa Mabuni Kenwa Mabuni(摩文仁 賢和) was the founder of Shito-ryu(糸東流). He was one of the first karateka to teach karate on mainland Japan, and was credited for developing this style. Born in Shuri on Okinawa in 1889, he studied and reserched both Shuri-te(首里手)…