Matsumura O'sensei Soken O'sensei Akamine sensei
A Not So Official Shorin Ryu Matsumura Seito History
Matsumura Sokon, also known as Matsumura Bushi (Warrior) or Matsumura Shuri (1797-1889), was one of the most renowned martial artists of his time. He was known as a master, organizer and founder of Shorin Ryu Karate. Matsumura is responsible for carrying on the teachings of the old Shuri-Te martial arts. He chose the name Shorin Ryu (Shaolin in Chinese) as the name of his Ryu because it is related back to the Shaolin Temple in China, renowned for its fighters. Although some authorities believe that Anko Itosu (1830-1915), Matsumura's student, is actually responsible for adopting the name Shorin Ryu.
Matsumura was recruited into the service of the Sho family (Royal family of Okinawa) and eventually became the chief martial arts instructor and bodyguard for the Okinawan King. At some point in his career, approximately 1830, he went to China and studied the Shaolin style of Chinese Kenpo (fist method) and weaponry (Kobudo). It is also known that he traveled to the Fukien province in China on numerous occasions as an envoy for the Okinawan King. After his return from China he organized and refined the Shorin Ryu system of Okinawan Karate.
Matsumura is credited with passing on the kata or formal patterned exercises of Shorin Ryu Karate known as Naihanchi Ichi & Ni, Passai Dai (Matsumura no Passai), Seisan, Chinto, Gojushiho (fifty-four steps of the Black Tiger), Kusanku (the embodiment of Kusanku's teaching as passed on to Sakugawa Tode) and Hakutsuru (white crane). The Hakutsuru kata contains the elements of the white crane system taught within the Shaolin system of Chinese Kenpo. Another set of kata, known as Channan in Matsumura's time, is said to have been devised by Matsumura himself and was the basis for Pinan Shodan and Pinan Nidan. Matsumura's Ryu has endured to the present day and the above-mentioned kata are the core of Shorin Ryu Matsumura Karate today.
According to Soken Hohan (1889-1982), the purest teaching of Matsumura's Shorin Ryu was taught to and carried on by his uncle Matsumura Nabe (1860-1930). Nabe received training in the family style of Shorin Ryu Matsumura, which also included the secret techniques of the white crane. The white crane system was reputed to be a secret family style that was only taught to immediate family members. In his later years, Matsumura Nabe was referred to as Nabe Tanme or "old man" Nabe. He was known to be a stern and disciplined teacher.
The next successor in the lineage of Shorin Ryu Matsumura was Soken Hohan (1889-1982). He began training at the age of thirteen under his uncle, Matsumura Nabe. Soken had to work in the fields as a youth in spite of his long samurai heritage. This was due to a political reorganization in the Ryukyu Islands and all of Japan as a result of the Meiji restoration.
In 1912, after ten years of basic training under Matsumura Nabe, Soken began learning the techniques of the white crane or Hakutsuru. He was twenty-three years old. According to Soken, Hakutsuru was a secret technique or training methodology, which was confined to the Matsumura family. Matsumura Bushi had learned the white crane system in China. Soken's instruction in the white crane technique emphasized balance training. One training method that he practiced was to perform the Hakutsuru kata on a board floating in a pond. The board was just large enough to support his weight.
The Hakutsuru kata, which was erroneously referred as the "White Swan" technique in a 1967 Black Belt magazine article, is the advanced level of Shorin Ryu Matsumura Seito. The Hakutsuru technique is the main part of the style. It manifests the Chinese concept of the soft (defensive) fist and balance training while imitating the delicate movements of the white crane. In fact, this concept is inherent and woven throughout all the kata of Shorin Ryu Matsumura Seito. For example, Chinto uses the one legged stance of the crane extensively, Gojushiho uses the movements of the neck and beak of the crane in its technique and Hakutsuru uses the wing of the crane.
Soken also trained for a while with Mabuni Kenwa (1889-1953), Chibana Chosin, and Gokenki, a Chinese tea merchant living in Okinawa. Soken, Mabuni, Chibana, Gokenki and other Okinawans all trained together as a study group. Mabuni developed the Shito Ryu karate system. Gokenki's style was Hakutsuru Kenpo (white crane fist style) and he was from the Fukien coast of China.
Up until the 1950's Soken sensei referred to his martial art as Matsumura Shuri-Te and later began calling his style Shorin Ryu Matsumura Seito (Orthodox) Karate Do. The empty hand kata of the style included those passed on by Matsumura Bushi. Soken later added to his system's repertoire Rohai Ichi, Ni, & San. Rohai means vision of a crane and was originally a Tomari-Te kata dating back to the 1600's.
Soken Hohan was a highly respected master in Okinawa. He had many dedicated and talented students over the years. One of these students was Akamine Yoshimatsu. Akamine trained with Soken for over two decades in Shorin Ryu Matsumura Seito and Kobujutsu (weapon arts) starting in 1959 and continued until Soken’s death in 1982.