THE SHORINJI-RYU KARATE OF SHIMABUKURO ZENRYO · THE SHORINJI-RYU KARATE OF SHIMABUKURO ZENRYO...

Shimabukuro Zenryo(Nov. 14, 1908 - Oct. 14,1969)

Shimabukuro Zenryo(Nov. 14, 1908 - Oct. 14,1969)

By John Sells

Shorin-ryu karateis l ike a stouttree with many

branches. Its base is firmlyrooted in the karate thatdeveloped in Okinawa’s oldShuri City and Tomari Villageover a century ago. Whilemechanical ly sharing thesame foundation, eachbranch points in a different direction, having been guided by

varied influences. One of the largestbranches, really an elemental division ofthe main trunk itself, is that l inerepresented by the Shorin-ryu styles thattrace their lineage to Kyan Chotoku (1870-1945), one of the founders of Okinawankarate as it is known today. And it isdirectly from Kyan that the karate ofShimabukuro Zenryo (Nov. 14, 1908 - Oct.14, 1969) comes.

Any explanation of Seibukan must startwith Kyan Chotoku, who was the son ofKyan Chofu, a high-ranking official in theOkinawan royal court. Chofu was a royalsteward, attending to the Okinawan king,Sho Tai, personally. Though by the time ofChotoku’s birth in Gibo Village, Shuri, theOkinawan kingdom was already intransition. Although the Satsuma samuraifrom Kyushu, Japan, had completelysubjugated the Ryukyu archipelago in1609, its monarchy and internaladministrative bureaucracy (including its

Kyan Chotoku

Kyan Chofu

SEIBUKAN

THE SHORINJI-RYUKARATE OF

SHIMABUKUROZENRYO

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This article is reproduced from Bugeisha Magazineissue#5. Printed in the spring of 1998. Publisher: Walter DaileyEditor/Creative Director: Angel Lemus

BUGEISHA: Traditional Martial Artist 15

civil police and royal garrison) had beenallowed to continue as a puppet state.However, even this pretense wasabandoned in 1872, when the monarchywas dissolved by a Japanese Governmentthat had itself moved out of the feudal eraunder Emperor Meiji's leadership in 1868.The now former king and his family weresubsequently taken to Japan, where theycontinued for some t ime to l ive anaristocratic life. Accompanying the kingwere some of his old retainers, includingKyan Chofu, who brought his twelve-year-old son to be educated in Tokyo. However,Chofu’s service to the former king endedwhen Chotoku was sixteen and the Kyanfamily moved back to Okinawa to a landwhere much of the gentry class, the peoplewho developed karate, had fallen on hardtimes -- their feudal largess having endedwhen Okinawa was made a prefecture ofJapan and the kingdom period ended.

Still, young Kyan Chotoku was to receivea remarkable martial arts education fromsome of Okinawa's most prominentkarateka. Though he was a small, slightindividual -- Shimabukuro Zenryo said hewas only 4'10", he overcame his physicalsize by training arduously, often devisingtechniques that enhanced the art itself.Techniques that he perfected under theguidance of such men as his grandfather,Kyan Oyakata (who was his first martial artsteacher); Matsumura Sokon, the old leadingkarateka of Shuri from whom he learned theold karate training routines (kata) Seisan,Naifanchi, and Gojushiho; Oyadomari Kokanof Tomari-te, another former high-rankingofficial, who taught him Passai kata; andMatsumora Kosaku, known as Tomari-te’sleading exponent, taught Kyan Chinto kata.These men had been secured by Chotoku’s

father to teach his son from the age oftwenty. By the time Chotoku was thirty, hehad become well known as a ski l ledkarateka himself. He also sought out otherswhose knowledge and expertise he couldbenefit from. These included Maeda,another former official from whomhe learned the Wanshu kata; Yaraof Yomitan Village (a descendantof Chatan Yara, who wascontemporary with Matsumura’sal leged teacher, TodeSakugawa), from whom helearned a beautiful longversion of Kusankukata; and Tokumine,the banished Shuriofficer who is said tohave taught Kyan hisbo kata, Tokumine noKon (though Tokuminemay have been deadby the t ime Kyanvisited Yaeyama Island,south of OkinawaIsland, where the oldregime had banishedTokumine).

It has also been saidmany t imes that Kyanwas a student ofMatsumura Sokon’s mostfamous protege, ItosuAnko. However, Kyan’s ownstudents and Chibana

Chosin, Itosu’s successor, steadfastlymaintained that Kyan never studied underItosu. Nonetheless, Kyan amassed a widearray of knowledge from some of the bestsources in old-style Okinawan karate. Withthis expertise and knowledge, Kyan becamea sought after and acknowledged master ofthe art. He was famous for his kicking skillsand fast and light but effective movements.He was supposedly challenged many timesand was able to emerge victoriousthroughout it all.

By the 1920's, karate was entering themodern era. Many of the old masterswho taught Kyan’s generation weredead, and times were difficult for

many who had belonged to the oldprivileged class. Quite a few of

them began to work out witheach other and givedemonstrat ions together.Along with others, Kyanbegan teaching at variousschools and institutions ofhigher learning. Newterritory was opened up bythe expansionist Japanese

Government, including theisland of Taiwan, where Kyanwent for a t imeaccompanied by at leasttwo other karateka, KuwaeRyusei and Kudaka Kori(AKA Hisataka). Uponreturning from Taiwan,Kyan began to teach anew kata called Ananku,which he had evidentlydevised as a basic katafrom techniquesdeveloped from or

Zenryo Shimabukuro and his son Zenpodemonstrating a “sukui uke” or scoopingblock with a kick counter. Photo by Walter Dailey The

SeibukanPatch

of these, and though he continued to ply histrade as a baker, he began to give lessonsto perpetuate his teacher’s karate to a fewschool-age students, who, by the 1950's,included his son, Zenpo, and nephew, Zenji.Like most Okinawan karateka of that era,their dojo was the open air, usually atZenryo’s house, but anywhere space couldbe found to train in would suffice. Gradually,Zenryo’s group grew as did his reputation asone of Kyan’s most senior survivingstudents, a position that he felt honor boundto continue his mentor’s karate just as it waspassed on to him. This meant that studentslearned Kyan’s curriculum, the kata Ananku,Wanshu, Seisan, Naifanchi, Passai, Chinto,Kusanku, and Gojushiho. It also meant thathe trained his students in hard, practicalkarate.

As the 1950's woreon, Shimabukuro was tobecome anacknowledged karateleader, though not astrident one. He wasgood friends with somevery prominent karatepeople such as ChibanaChosin, one of theisland’s most seniorleaders, and they hadoften demonstratedkarate together,S h i m a b u k u r orepresenting Kyan’s styleand Chibana, Itosu’s.Nakamura and

16 BUGEISHA: Traditional Martial Artist

Shimabukuro Sensei poses in a movementfrom the “Yara” Kusanku which he learnedfrom Chotoku Kyan.

Shimabukuro Sensei overlooking dojo activities. Sempai LarryHall sits next to him. Photo by Walter Dailey 1963

inspired by his Taiwan adventures. Kyanalso took part in the famous meeting in 1936that essentially decided the future course ofkarate and changed the art’s name from"China hand" to "empty hand."

It was during these times that the seedsof Seibukan were sown when ShimabukuroZenryo, who had moved to Chatan Villageand set up a bakery shop, became astudent of Kyan. In those days, not justanyone was admitted into a master’s courseof instruction. However, after a formalintroduction and much persuasion, Zenryobecame Kyan's student. He was to staywith Kyan for ten years until the devastationthat punctuated the final years of World WarTwo ended all training for some time. Notonly did training end, but also many of theold karate masters did not survive the war.According to Zenryo Sensei, Kyan died ofstarvation in 1945, after giving what littlefood there was to children, so that theymight survive.

After the war, karate as we now it todayreally began to take shape. Of course,karate instruction and training did notimmediately begin anew, but by 1947, a fewof the surviving instructors began to revivetheir classes. Shimabukuro Zenryo was one

Shimabukuro had been friends for most oftheir lives, each believed that karate shouldbe real and taught their studentsaccordingly. Both Shimabukuro andNakamura taught sparr ing, and hardsparring at that, something many of theother karate leaders did not agree with. Infact, when the original Okinawan KarateFederation was formed, Shimabukuro wasnot invited to become a member even thoughhis longtime friend, Chibana, was a leader ofthat group. This evidently did not sit well withChibana and would be one of the contributingfactors to Chibana withdrawing from theorganization within a few years.

THE BIRTH OF THE SEIBUKANBy the end of the 1950's, the various

karate groups who traced their lineagesback to Shuri-te and/or Tomari-te of theOkinawan kingdom period were knowngenerical ly as Shorin-ryu. The groupChibana headed used a different Chinesecharacter (kanji) for "sho" than the originalone, which represented the ChineseMandarin "shao" as in Shaolin Temple(Shorinji in Japanese; "Young Forest").However, many of the Kyan-derived groupswere using the term Shorinji-ryu to describetheir style. This was before Shorinji-ryubecame the official name of one factionunder Nakazato Joen, another student ofKyan’s who was junior to Shimabukuro.Therefore, the end of the 1950's sawseveral groups emerge as Shorin-ryu andShorinji-ryu, but these terms were often usedinterchangeably as the solidification of thevarious styles had not yet been completed.The Shorin-ryu of the Kyan-derived groupswas also known generical ly as"Sukunaihayashi," an Okinawan (Hogen)rendering of the same kanji.

Things began to change rapidly around1959, when a group of Americanservicemen stationed nearby heard ofShimabukuro’s reputation. They were fromthe 2/503 Airborne Battle group (whichbecame the 173rd Airborne, which saw

SEIBUKANTHE SHORINJI-RYU KARATE OF

SHIMABUKURO ZENRYO

Shorin-RyuSeibukan

Zenshu-HaThe Zenshu-Hapromotes andpreserves theKarate-Do andphilosophies ofSensei ZenryoShimabukuro.

For moreInformation

Please contact:

Walter DaileyZenshu-Ha HombuMorgantown, PA.

610-286-7771email:

[email protected]

heavy action in the Vietnamwar), paratroopers whowanted to learn theOkinawan’s karate. Rebuffedat first, the young trooperswere persistent and finallypersuaded Shimabukuro totake them on as students. Thiswas at a time when theAmerican forces who hadoccupied the island since 1945were increasing in number andU.S. service personnel werereally starting to explore theOkinawan martial arts. Beforethe late 1950's, karate waspretty much restricted toOkinawans only, though therehad been a few exceptions.Also, Okinawans as a rule werenot allowed onto the militarybases, thus there was not asmuch interaction with Americans as onemight think given their presence on the island.

It was due to the efforts of an influentialU.S. Army sergeant major named Fuller, thatthe GIs had access to Shimabukuro’skarate. Fuller secured permission for any GI

who wanted to, to train with Shimabukuro.Fuller also was able to secure, on occasion,empty barracks or other facilities on themilitary base that he could get for the purposeof karate training.

They were often left without a place to train

as other groups with higherpriority often bumped themout of on-base facil it ies.However, they did often trainat the field house, an on-base athletic facility for themilitary. Off base, theytrained wherever they could,Okinawans and Americanstogether, includinggraveyards. Included in thisfirst group of Americans wasWalter Dailey, who joinedShimabukuro’s karate at thefield house trainings in early1960.

By 1962, Shimabukurodecided to take a gamblethat would become part ofhis legacy. He arranged toborrow money, purchasedland in Chatan and had a

dojo built. Many of the students joined inthe construction efforts and contributedmuch time and energy toward the building ofthe new dojo. During construction,Shimabukuro’s mix of Okinawans and GIscontinued to train outside, usually in back of

Very rare photos of Shimabukuro Sensei actively teaching in a classat the Army Barracks in Mashisato, Okinawa. The Seibukan dojo wasnot yet built at this time. Photo by Walter Dailey 1961

Zenryo Shimabukuro (center) displaying his 10th degree certificate from theAll-Japan Karate-Do Federation in 1964. Seated to his right is ShigeruNakamura and to his left is Joen Nakazato and Seikichi Odo.

Students of Shimabukuro Sensei would often take him to theKadena Air Force Base Officer’s Club for dinner. This picture wastaken in 1963 in front of the newly built Seibukan dojo pryor to anevening dinner at the club. Sensei would always dress up and wearhis favorite hat. Photo by Walter Dailey 1963

Shimabukuro Sensei and members from the 2/503 Airborne Battlegroup (which became the 173rd Airborne). The master’s son Zenpois seated to the far left. Photo by Walter Dailey 1961


Shimabukuro Zenryo Sensei awarding a rank diploma to Mike Richardson in September1962. Mike Richardson returned to the USA and opened up a dojo in Texas. Unfortunatelyhe died in a car accident in the early 70s. Photo by Walter Dailey 1962

The flag for the “All Japan Karate DoFederation”. The bottom kanji reads“Okinawa regional special headquarters”reffering to the Seibukan dojo.

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Shorin-Ryu Senseis gather at the Seibukan dojo to honor it’s grand opening. L-R: third fromleft: Chozo Nakama, Shigeru Nakamura, Choshin Chibana, Zenryo Shimabukuro, and JoenNakazato . Photo by Walter Dailey

his house. They often did kata near a graveor tomb that was right in the middle of theirtraining area. After the dojo was built, theycontinued to train outside on weekends and atnight. At that time, Shimabukuro’s dojo wasone of the biggest in all of Okinawa. Henamed it the "Seibukan," "Hall of the Holy Art."

POLITICS AND ORGANIZATIONSHowever, more changes were to occur in

the first couple of years of the 1960's. Onechange was represented by Tamotsu Isamu,a former Shimabukuro student who hadbeen l iv ing in Japan. Tamotsu wasrepresenting a mainland group called the All-Japan Karate Federation, an organizationheaded by Toyama Kanken and ChitoseTsuyoshi, two Okinawans who had migratedto Japan decades before and establishedinfluential karate styles there. Originally, theAll-Japan Karate Federation (AJKF) hadincluded Funakoshi Gichin of Shotokan,Mabuni Kenwa of Shito-ryu and Higa Seikoof Goju-ryu. But by 1960, it was primarily aToyama and Chitose group.

Tamotsu wanted to organize karate inOkinawa under the AJKF banner inOkinawa. He held a series of meetings withvarious Okinawan karate leaders includingShimabukuro, whom he persuaded to take aleading role. Out of this, the AJKF/OkinawaBranch was chartered in May 1960. Itsoff icers were Shimabukuro Zenryo aspresident, fel low Kyan style teacher,Nakazato Joen as vice president, and theactive participation of Nakamura Shigeru,Kaneshima Shinsuke of Tozan-ryu (a stylemore related to Shuri-te), and SeigyuYonamine of Shorin-ryu. These karateka,along with some of their senior students whohad become karate instructors themselves,

made up the bulk of the AJKF/Okinawa,though many others had been invited to join.

It was a somewhat amorphous group assome Okinawan karateka only participatedinitially but did not continue the relationshipfor long. All of the Okinawans were invited toJapan proper by Toyama Kanken topart icipa te in a con fe rence to be"cer t i f i ed" and to cement re la t ions .However, only Shimabukuro Eizo wentand was awarded a 10th dan (10thdegree b lack be l t ) by Toyama. Theorganization soon became embroiled inpolitics and only lasted a few years.

Many of the Okinawans distrusted themotives of the mainland-sponsored initiativeand the AJKF competed with the alreadyestabl ished OKF, which made for an

unstable situation. However, one of thetechnical results of the relationship was thatsome of the Okinawans adopted the use offull body protective gear for sparring (bogu),which had been made popular in the schoolsof southern Japan. Shimabukuro and hisfriend Nakamura especially liked the gear andadapted it for use in their schools. By 1962,Shimabukuro and Nakamura formed theirown training group, the Okinawa KenpoFederation. Not a style, but a trainingorganization that concentrated on thesparring aspect of karate with bogu gear.

Gradually, because of bickering and adistrust of the mainland Japanese, the AllJapan Karatedo Federation, OkinawaBranch withered. However, not before itsboard of directors conferred the 10th dan onZenryo Shimabukuro as one of it’s leadingexponents. While the organization declinedon Okinawa, it continued on in Japan underToyama and Chitose. Tamotsu Isamu, whohad lead the organization effort on Okinawa,


SHIMABUKURO ZENRYO

However, he was highly respected in his owntime, even by those who originally ignoredhim in the old Okinawa Karate Federation.After the demise of the AJKF on Okinawa,Shimabukuro began to quietly lobby for theformation of a new, more inclusiveorganization to unify Okinawan karate. Inthe interim, he maintained his relationshipwith Nakamura as part of the somewhatinformal Okinawa Kenpo Federation, but by1967, Shimabukuro and many of the island’smainstream karate leaders formed the newAll-Okinawa Karatedo Federation (AOKF)and Shimabukuro was named as one of itsvice presidents. This was a significant eventas the AOKF became the leadingorganization of the so-called "mainstream"Okinawan karate styles and includedrepresentation from Kobayashi Shorin-ryu,Uechi-ryu, Sukunaihayashi Shorin-ryu, Goju-

Sensei Uragami seated in front. Behind him(l-r) are Zenpo Shimabukuro, Walter Daileyand Zenji Shimabukuro. Uragami and Zenjifounded the Renshinkan Dojo in Osaka,Japan in 1961. Uragami was the All-Japan fullcontact (Bogu) Karate champion during thelate 50s and early 60s. Photo by Walter Dailey

Sensei Yoshimitsu Takenouchi controls a fullcontact “Bogu” match at the Seibukan inthe early 60s. Photo by Walter Dailey


organized what he called the Shorinji-ryuRenshinkan in Kyushu, billing Nakazato Joenas his instructor rather than Shimabukuro.Of course, Tamotsu had trained underShimabukuro, but Zenryo had sent him toNakazato to learn the bo kata, Tokumine noKon, which Nakazato had taken pains topreserve exactly as Kyan taught it to him.

This was also the era that saw the riseand normalization of many familiar groupnames. While all of the groups descendedfrom Kyan still looked virtually identical, andmost still used the general name of Shorinji-ryu to label their style, each group began tospin off on its own and adopt new names. Bythe mid-1960's, Nakazato had taken thename Shorinji-ryu as his own andShimabukuro’s group was sometimes referredto as Sukunaihayashi-ryu. However, by 1966,Shimabukuro’s school was known as Shorin-ryu Seibukan, by which it is still called.

Shimabukuro has been described as aquiet man, not one to call attention tohimself. And for that reason, not much hasbeen published about him in the West.

ryu, and related groups. In this affair,Shimabukuro showed the strength of hislow-keyed leadership style. Zenryo Senseireceived his 10th dan from the AOKF,making it his second such award.

As part of this AOKF, Shimabukuro alsoled another effort to form smaller, constituentgroups within the AOKF consisting of thevarious Shorin-ryu groups. At first twogeographically organized associationscoalesced: the Nambu (Southern Okinawa)Shorin-ryu Association, headed by JoenNakazato and the Chubu (Central Okinawa)Shorin-ryu Association, headed byShimabukuro himself. These were politicalconstructions involving---at first---all thedifferent kinds of Shorin-ryu, not just Kyan style.

Eventually, the Nambu and Chubu groupsmerged into the Chubu Shorin-ryu KaratedoRengokai ("confederation"), but predictably,this was not to last. It's history is ratherconvoluted, but essential ly this ChubuShorin-ryu group would, after Zenryopassing, evolve into a federation of fiveaffiliated Shorin-ryu schools that included theSeibukan and would be headed byKatsuhide Kochi, who traced his own lineageultimately to Zenryo-sensei. EventuallyKochi's school would simply be called theChubu-Shorin-ryu Karatedo Kyokai(Association), teaching the Shorin-ryu ofZenryo-sensei.

SEIBUKAN IS EXPORTED TO THEOUTSIDE WORLD

Seibukan began to grow by the mid-1960's. This era saw Shimabukuro adoptingthe off icial emblem or patch of hisorganization that is known today. It wasdevised in Japan by a fr iend ofShimabukuro’s who was part of a dojo

A typical “Kampai Party” at the Seibukan dojo. This one took place in 1962 to celebrate the grand opening of the dojo. This photo clearlyillustrates a strong camaraderie and that there was also a time to let your hair down and have a “good time”. Back row far left: BenSchwartz, Walter Dailey, Zenryo Shimabukuro, Shigeru Nakamura and Joen Nakazato . Front row seated: second from left Chozo Nakama,third from left Zenpo Shimabukuro and fifth from left a very young Fusei Kise. Photo by Walter Dailey

The first Seibukan dojo in the UnitedStates was founded by Walter Dailey in

1962 at Norwood, PA. Photo by Walter Dailey

Walter Dailey and Zenpo Shimabukuro in the summerof 1965 at the Dailey residence in Pennsylvania. Photoby Walter Dailey


organization run by someone affiliated withTamotsu. Another member of Tamotsu’sgroup was Uragami, who ran the OsakaRenshinkan and was the 1960 All-Japan full-contact (using bogu) kumite champion.Uragami also maintained strong ties toShimabukuro and hosted Walter Dailey in1962 when the latter had been sent toOsaka with Zenryo Shimabukuro's sonZenpo as Seibukan representatives.

The Seibukan emblem is steeped insymbolism and has significant meaning tothe "old timers" of the organization.

Dailey actually received his black belt fromthe AJKF in Japan. Shortly afterward, Daileyreturned to the States and opened up thefirst Seibukan school outside of Okinawa inPennsylvania. It was to remain the only otherschool for years afterward. Dailey returnedto Okinawa in 1966 and found that the termsShorinji-ryu and Sukunaihayashi had beensupplanted by Seibukan Shorin-ryu.

In 1963, Shimabukuro Zenryo sent a giftto Dailey, whom he had given the adoptedname of Yoshihide (also pronouncedZenshu) -- Dailey also now representedShimabukuro and was the East Coast U.S.Headquarters of the AJKF. This "gift" was

Shimabukuru’s 19-year-old son, Zenpo.Zenpo was to live with Dailey for three years,helping to organize and teach his father’skarate. During his stay in the United States,Zenpo also successfully competed in severalkarate tournaments, including the 1964Pennsylvania State Championship, the 1964National Kata Championship, and the 1965Canadian International Championship.Finally, after a highly successful stay in theUS, Zenpo returned to Okinawa in 1966 to

help his father run the Seibukan dojo. Another American who was training in

Okinawa at this time was Edward Takae,originally from Hawaii. Significantly, Takaewon the All-Okinawan Karate Championshipheld in Nago on May 17, 1964. This eventwas a rough affair and showcased bogusparring. Takae went on to serve multipletours of duty with the American ArmySpecial Forces in Vietnam and laterestablished another Seibukan branch in theUnited States.

By 1969, Shimabukuro Zenryo and hisSeibukan karate were continuing to gainrecognition and influence. In October1969, Zenryo Sensei was invited to theJapanese main land to g ive ademonstrat ion of his karate. He wasscheduled to perform Seisan kata. However,on the ship from Okinawa, Shimabukuro wassuddenly stricken with appendicitis, and onOctober 14, 1969 he died. He was buried inan old-style Okinawan tomb in Jagaru,Okinawa, near his dojo. Succeeded by hisyoung son and the senior members ofSeibukan, the sty le has f lour ishedworldwide ever since. Zenpo became notonly the leader of the style, but a successfulreal estate developer and leader within theOkinawan karate community.


SHIMABUKURO ZENRYO

Edward Takae bows at the grave of ZenryoShimabukuro which is located near the dojoin Jagaru, Okinawa. Photo by Angel Lemus 1993.

Okinawa Shorinji-Ryu Zentokukai Karate-Do

The Zentokukai is a Karate-do Associationcreated for the sole purpose of preservingand promoting the teachings passed downto us by Kyan Chotoku and Shimabukuro

Zenryo. This association provides a mediumto unite dojos as a family, to practice and

share the same beliefs, common interests.

TM

•Kyan Style Karate(Shorinji-Ryu/Sukunaihayashi)

•Advanced Training

•Dojo Accreditation

•Bunkai Analysis

•Power Generation &Body Dynamics

•Okinawan Kobudo

•Instructor’s Yearly Gashuku

For more information:East Coast:

Saichian KanSensei Tim Rodgers

305-623-3352West Coast:

Nincho KanSensei Angel Lemus

Kyan Chotoku

ShimabukuroZenryo

Chartered Zentokukai Dojos & SenseisSensei Tim Rodgers

Miami, FLSensei Angel Lemus

Los Angeles, CASensei Jim PiziiWestchester, PA

Sensei Lola Hammer

Morristown, TNSensei Steve Hammer

Morristown, TNSensei Jay Setser

Morristown, TN

Sensei Greg DillonDunbar, WV

Sensei Keith A. PrewittAustin, TX

Sensei Eric StewartAtlanta, GA

Shidoin Chad GracyOrlando, FL

http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/pagoda/3460

under the Zenshu-ha rubric. This branch ofSeibukan has maintained the integrity of notonly the physical aspects of the art but thespiritual ones, which were paramount toZenryo Sensei over and beyond the physicalones. Walter Dai ley is st i l l active andteaching out of Morgantown, Pennsylvania.

3) North American Branch. EdwardTakae runs the "North American Branch"of the ISKA. This was the original USbranch from the time the association wasformed in 1978 in Philadelphia (Takae wasthe f i rst president of this branch andShimabukuro Zenpo was the supremeinstructor under the ISKA). In 1992, Takaetook over complete control of the NorthAmerican Branch and became supremeinstructor. At this t ime, ShimabukuroZenpo assumed the position of "chairman"and no longer has any controlling powerover it, other than at the ceremonial level.Takae now runs his organization fromTampa, Florida.

4) Zentokukai. TheZentokukai is anindependent, Seibukan-based organization formedby T im Rogers (a formerstudent of Ed Takae) andAngel Lemus (student of TimRodgers). The name"Zentokukai" comes fromborrowing elements from thenames of ShimabukuroZenryo and Kyan Chotoku.Tim Rogers (president) runsthe Zentokukai Hombu Dojolocated in Miami, Florida.Angel Lemus is theassociation’s vice president

Edward Takae and Zenryo Shimabukuro after Takaewon the All-Okinawan Karate Championship in1964.

SENSEI SHIMABUKURO ZENPO 1998 VISIT TO THE USA

Shimabukuro sensei will be teaching at the USANKF National Championships inNew Orleans on July 29th and then will be giving a demonstration at the finals on

Sunday August 2nd. He will also be in the USA forthe Seibukan World Cup Championships October 9,10 & 11. He will teach a seminar on the 9th for allSeibukan people. The event will be in Atlanta. We arehaving our 4th Seibukan National Championships onthe 10th. The world cup will be hosting nine foreigncountries with black belt teams. All Seibukan peopleare invited to attend.

If anyone is interested in more information orspecific details they can contact Dan Smith at 770-844-0999, or e-mail (ussska@aol orwww.seibukan.org)

Sensei Shimabukuro will be teaching in thefollowing cities during July and August.

L-R: Tim Rodgers, Walter Dailey (Zenshu-Ha) and AngelLemus during 1st annual Zentokukai training in 1997.

Zenryo Shimabukuro and Choshin Chibanaat Chibana’s backyard in October 1966.They were always very close friends. Thisphoto was taken after Chibana Senseiunderwent cancer treatment in Japan forthe mouth and throat.Photo by Walter Dailey


SEIBUKAN TODAY ANDTOMORROW

Organizationally, the modern Seibukan"movement" is dominated by four groups.These groups are representative of three"ha" (from ryu/ha -- style/branch) or stylistic-branches and one independent branch:

1) Seibukan International KaratedoAssociation. The hombu (headquarters)dojo located in Jagaru (Chatan) Okinawa, isheaded by the late master’s son,Shimabukuro Zenpo. Zenpo is also thehead and supreme instructor of theSeibukan Internat ional Karate-doAssociation (ISKA), which has branch dojoin over sixteen foreign countries, includingtwo separate branches in the UnitedStates, one run by Edward Takae and oneby Dan Smith, who is the president of theUS branch.

2) Zenshu-Ha. Since 1962, WalterDailey, the most senior sensei in the UnitedStates, has taught O-Sensei’s teachings

and runs his dojo in Los Angeles, California.Of the four modern branches of Seibukan,

only the Zenshu-ha and the Zentokukaiexclude sport karate and modern

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Zenpo Shimabukuro

JULYAtlanta, GA July 17 & 18Witchita, KS July 19 & 20Huntsville, AL July 22nd Jacksonville, FLA July 23rd Vero Beach, FLA July 24 & 25Jackson, MS July 26 & 27

AUGUSTGrand Junction, CO Aug 5 & 6 Denver, CO Aug 8 &9,Portland, OR Aug 12 & 13Seattle, WA Aug 15 & 16

A treasured historical photo of Shorin-Ryu Senseis at the Seibukan dojo. Front row left toright: Shinsuke Kaneshima, Tatsuo Shimabukuro, Zenryo Shimabukuro and Chozo Nakama.Back row left to right: Zenji Shimabukuro, Isamu Tamotsu and Joen Nakazato.

At the Seibukan after a testing and promotion session. It was this day that Walter Dailey was awarded hisYondan (front row wearing a headband next to Zenryo Shimabukuro). Visiting that day and participating inthe testing panel was Shosei Kina 10th dan (a close friend of Shimabukuro). The wearing of the headbandhas a special meaning in Okinawa, it promises the sensei and everyone in the dojo that you are devotingyourself to train very hard. Photo by Walter Dailey


EDITOR'S NOTEIn an attempt to bring together

all the major branches active inSeibukan today and to contributein part to the writing of this articlein honor of the late ZenryoShimabukuro, all representativeswere contacted and invited toparticipate. Bugeisha did nothear from Zenpo Shimabukuro,and Edward Takae declined toparticipate.

competition from their core curriculum.Instead these two branches focus on old-style combative karate principles as well asintrospective and spiritual aspects.

THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OFSEIBUKAN

As a karate system, Seibukan representsthe Sukunaihayashi branch of Shorin-ryu: thekarate of Kyan Chotoku. As such the kataare a mix of Shuri-te and Tomari-te asinherited from Kyan directly to ZenryoShimabukuro. It is based on the katataught by Kyan: Ananku, Naifanchi, Passai,Seisan, Kusanku, Chinto, Wanshu,Gojushiho, and one bo staff form, Tokumineno Kon. These were the kata taught byZenryo-sensei from the late 1940s on.However, Zenryo-sensei did not emphasizethe Tokumine no Kon bo kata and wasknown to have sent students, includingTamotsu, to Nakazato Joen for advancedinstruction on that bo form. Kyan wasknown for his legendary kicking abilities andhis fluid Tai Sabaki (body movements). Hewas said to have been untouchable. Theseprinciples are in Seibukan as taught byZenryo Shimabukuro and are inherent in thekata’s Suri Ashi or foot sliding movement.Seibukan kata reflect their own unique flavorthat is quite different than other Shorin-ryubranches.

In 1962, Shimabukuro Zenryo gatheredprinciples that he’d learned from Kyan andplaced these into an or ig inal kata hecreated ca l led Wanchin. Th is kata

displays very advanced concepts, notseen in other kata such as blocking andstr ik ing, or punching and k ick ingsimultaneously. It is a very challengingkata to perform due to it’s unique timingand footwork. One can see Kyan’s karateand Shimabukuro’s own creative geniusblended into one. This kata is considereda family kata and is only taught within theSeibukan schools.

Shimabukuro devised this kata when theAJKF was just getting started and the oldOKF had not recognized. However, in theworld of the AOKF that Zenryo Shimabukurohelped organize, non-contact and light

sparring became the dominant influence.Shimabukuro had many, highly competent

friends who were leaders in their own right,such as the aforementioned Chibana Chosinand old time Chibana student and associateNakama Chozo, who was a very close,family fr iend of Zenryo Sensei. FromNakama, Shimabukuro Zenpo adopted thePinan, Passai-gua, Naifanchi 2 and 3, and asai kata. These kata were added to theSeibukan curriculum in the years just beforeZenryo-sensei died.

However, regardless of branch or faction,the Seibukan sti l l holds to Zenryo'sprinciples. This very quiet, humble, and self-effacing man was a proponent of strong

karate developed through solid basics;an attention to the detai l of kata(practiced with an emphasis on eachindividual movement and hard, sharp,and powerful execution); and hard,strong, power-oriented, head-to-headfighting. In stature, Shimabukuro was asmall man, but in character andtoughness, he was a giant in the karateworld.


SHIMABUKURO ZENRYO

THE SHORINJI-RYU KARATE OF SHIMABUKURO ZENRYO · THE SHORINJI-RYU KARATE OF SHIMABUKURO ZENRYO...

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