Shito-ryu
karate that was developed by Kenwa Mabuni in 1931. Any history of Shitoryu Karate, however, must begin and end with its founder, Kenwa Mabuni. Born in Shuri on Okinawa in 1893, Mabuni Sensei was a descendant of the famous Onigusukini Samurai family. Perhaps because of his weak constitution, he began his instruction in his home town in the art of Shuri-Te at the age of 13, under the tutelage of the legendary Anko Yasutsune Itosu (1813-1915). He trained diligently for several years, learning many kata from this great Master. It was Itosu who first developed the Pinan kata, which were most probably derived from the 'Kusanku' form.
One of his close friends, Sensei Chogun Miyagi (founder of Shotokan), another contemporary, had moved to Tokyo in the 1920s to promote their art on the mainland as well.
By 1929, Mabuni had moved to Osaka on the mainland, to become a full-time Karate instructor. With the support of Sensei Ryusho Sakagami (1915-1993), he opened a number of dojo in the Osaka area, including Kansai University and the Japan Karatedo Kai dojo. To this day, the largest contingent of Shito-ryu practitioners in Japan is centred in the Osaka area.
In an effort to gain acceptance in the Japanese Butokukai, the governing body for all officially recognized martial arts, he and his contemporaries decided to call their art 'Karate' or 'Empty Hand', rather than 'Chinese Hand'. He published a number of books on the subject and continued to systematize the instruction method. In his latter years, he developed a number of formal kata, such as Aoyagi, for example, which was designed specifically for women's self defence. Perhaps more than any other Master in the last century, Mabuni was steeped in the traditions and history of Karate-do, yet forward thinking enough to realize that it could spread throughout the world.
