There are may kinds of Oriental fighting arts, and some can be traced back over 2,000 years. For various historical and geographical reasons the Japanese island of Okinawa, half way between Japan and Formosa, came into contact with many of these combat systems, especially with those of China. Some of their features were added to a native Okinawan fighting art.
In 1609, the Japanese invaded Okinawa and banned the carrying of weapons, so the warrior class secretly trained themselves in unarmed self-defense, using and improving the ancient techniques. Since they were preparing to fight armed men, they developed techniques which could dispose of the opponent in one move -- even if he was wearing samurai armor.
In time two rather different styles developed, Shuri Te and Naha Te (also known as, respectively, Shorin Ryu and Shorei Ryu). The former put more emphasis on quick, natural movements, the latter on power and tension.
Perhaps the greatest Karate master of the last two centuries was Yasutsune ITOSU, of the Shuri Te style. He was the first master of the ITOSU-KAI (School of Itosu) style. The second master was Kenwa MABUNI and he added to ITOSU-KAI Karate from the other branch, Naha Te, which he had also studied.
Karate remained in Okinawa until 1917, when Gichin Funakoshi demonstrated it in Japan. He eventually settled there and founded Shotokan Karate. Several Okinawan masters followed during the 1920's including MABUNI of ITOSU-KAI. About 1930 Sensei Mabuni founded the final version of our style, SHITO-RYU.
WHAT DOES ITOSU-KAI MEAN?
"ITOSU-KAI" indicates our following of the master Itosu, and therefore of the old Shuri Te karate. The word "Shito" is formed from parts of the names of Sensei Itosu and Sensei Higashionna, the latter being the teacher of Mabuni in Shorei Ryu karate, and a great master in his own right. ("Kai" and "Ryu" both mean "style" or "school"). Therefore the name "Shito-Ryu Itosu-Kai" shows that our karate combines the features of the two great traditions of Okinawan-Japanese Karate. Often our style is called simply "Shito-Ryu".
The present leader of our style is Sadaaki SAKAGAMI, 9th Dan, son of Ryusho SAKAGAMI, 10th Dan, the third master of Itosu-Kai. Born in Japan in 1915, Ryusho Sakagami studied many martial arts, and from 1937 was a follower of Sensei Mabuni, whom he succeeded in 1952 as head of Shito-Ryu Itosu-Kai.
Shito-Ryu is one of the four major karate styles of Japan, the others being Shotokan, Wado-Ryu and Goju-Ryu. In 1964, these four formed the All Japan Karate-do Federation, the most authoritative karate organization in the world. Each style retains its unique qualities and its own headquarters, but the Federation enables them to formulate high standards for karate throughout the world.
