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Karate History
In 1392, 36 families immigrated from china (Fukien province) to Okinawa. In 1429, Okinawa was united under one king, Shohanshi, who confiscated all weapons from all people except his army. This was the initial boost to Okinawan karate and kobudo. In 1609 the Japanese Shimuzu invaded and conquered Okinawa with the permission of the Japanese Shogun. At that time all weapons were taken from the Okinawa ruling party, and all Okinawan people. The king was left in power to rule without weapons to enforce his rule and collect taxes to be paid to the Japanese. It was in this atmosphere that the art of karate and kobudo developed into the martial arts known today. Under the Japanese, all martial arts were illegal and karate was taught in secret. With the fall of the Shogun, Bushi Matsumura, who was the king's body guard, was the strongest karate man in Okinawa.
It was Bushi Matsumura's student, Sensei Anko Itosu whom first introduced karate to the Okinawan school system around 1900. Soon after that a Japanese doctor doing physical exams of Okinawa military draftees noticed that many of the Okinawan draftees were in superb physical condition and did an investigation. This was the first time the Japanese government learned about karate. Soon karate spread to Japan and around the world. A number of Anko Itosu's students went to Japan and taught karate, which eventually lead to the Japanese styles such as Shotokan, Wado-ryu, and Shito-ryu and others. Later their students made further changes creating styles such as Kyokushin, Ashihara, Tae Kwon Do and others. Meanwhile, on the island of Okinawa, Sensei Choshin Chibana decided to teach karate exactly as his teacher Sensei Anko Itosu taught and in 1933 coined the name Shorin-ryu for this style, to separate it from the others who choose to change karate. This style of karate, Shorin-ryu, has become the most popular style in Okinawa. Shidokan Shorin-ryu is the legitimate successor to Sensei Choshin Chibana's teachings.
Sensei Katsuya Miyahira took over as president of the Okinawan Shorin-ryu Karate-do Association from Sensei Choshin Chibana at his death and remains the president today. Sensei Seikichi Iha, as well as being Sensei Katsuya Miyahira's most senior student, studied karate under Sensei Shinpan Gusukuma and Sensei Choshin Chibana . In 1967, Sensei Seikichi Iha was sent to the United States to teach karate. Sensei Iha is head of The North American Beikoku Shido-kan Shorin-Ryu Association and teaches Shido-kan Shorin-Ryu in the United States and Europe and Australia.
For more information, visit www.ihadojo.com and/or Okinawa's webpage
http://www.wonder-okinawa.jp/023/eng/