Kyokushin kaikan

Kyokushin kaikan (極真会館) is a style of stand-up, full contact karate, founded in 1964 by Masutatsu Oyama (大山倍達) who was born under the name Choi Yong-I (최영의). Kyokushinkai is Japanese for "the society of the ultimate truth." Kyokushin is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline and hard training. Its full contact style has had international appeal (practitioners have over the last 40+ years numbered more than 12 million).

Kyokushin has influenced many of the "full-contact" schools of karate, emphasizing realistic combat, physical toughness, and practicality in its training curriculum. Many other martial arts organizations have "spun-off" from Kyokushin over the years, with some adding additional techniques, such as grappling, but continuing with the same philosophy of realistic and practical training methods.The new techniques of the grappling are still only a back up. Most fighters prefer to stand.

History - Origin
The following is a brief overview of the early life of Masutatsu "Mas" Oyama.
The founder of Kyokushin, Masutatsu Oyama, was born Choi Yong-i on 27 July 1923 in Il-Loong, Korea, during the long period of Japanese occupation. As a young child, Oyama enjoyed fighting and watching others fight. This eventually led him to study the Korean martial art Taekkyon.[citation needed] In 1938, he emigrated to Japan and studied Okinawan Karate under Gichin Funakoshi, eventually gaining 2nd dan. Later, Oyama also trained under Yoshida Kotaro, a famous Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu/Yanagi-ryu Aiki-jujutsu master (from whom he received his menkyo kaiden - an older form of grade, a scroll signifying mastery, from Kotaro. This scroll is still on display at the Honbu dojo in Tokyo.

Also, upon the advice of his mentor and well-known Member of the National Diet, Matsuhei Mori, around this time the young master took his Japanese name, Masutatsu Oyama, the name he would use for the rest of his life. After World War II, Oyama began his training in Goju Ryu karate under a Korean master in Japan, So Nei Chu, who ran a dojo in Tokyo along with the renowned Goju teacher, Gogen Yamaguchi. He would finally attain 8th Dan in Goju Ryu Karate. Another influential master he met whilst training at the Goju school was Masahiko Kimura, the renowned champion of judo who defeated Hélio Gracie. Kimura encouraged Oyama to take up judo so that he would have an understanding of the art's powerful ground skills. Kimura introduced Oyama to the Sone Dojo in Nakano, Tokyo, where he trained regularly for four years, eventually gaining his 4th Dan.

It was after this time that Oyama first retreated into the mountains for one of his well-known solitary training periods, yamagomori. He completed two such retreats for a total of almost three years of solitary training in accord with the ascetic traditions of many of the great warriors of Japan through the centuries. During this period of isolated training, Oyama engaged in intense shugyo, or spiritual discipline.
In the early 1950s, Oyama traveled to the USA, visiting 32 states and demonstrating the power of his karate against all comers.

In 1953, Oyama opened his own karate dojo, named "Oyama Dojo," in Tokyo but continued to travel around Japan and the world giving martial arts demonstrations, including bare-handed challenges. His first 'dojo' was a vacant lot in Mejiro, Tokyo. In 1956, Oyama moved the dojo into the ballet studio attached to Rikkyo University. Oyama's own curriculum soon developed a reputation as a tough, intense, hard-hitting, and practical style which he named "Kyokushin" in a ceremony in 1957. As the reputation of the dojo grew, students were attracted to come to train there from Japan and beyond and numbers grew.

In 1964, Oyama moved the dojo into a building he refurbished not far from the ballet studio at Rikkyo. Oyama also formally founded the "International Karate Organization Kyokushinkaikan" (commonly abbreviated to IKO or IKOK), to organize the many schools that were by then teaching the Kyokushin style. This dojo at 3-3-9 Nishi-Ikebukuro, in the Toshima area of Tokyo, remains the world headquarters to this day.

1964 to 1994
After formally establishing the Kyokushinkaikan, Oyama directed the organization through a period of expansion. Oyama hand-picked instructors who displayed ability in marketing the style and gaining new members. Oyama would choose an instructor to open a dojo in another town or city in Japan. The instructor would move to that town and usually demonstrate his karate skills in public places, such as at the civic gymnasium, the local police gym (where many judo students would practice), a local park, or conduct martial arts demonstrations at local festivals or school events. In this way, the instructor would soon gain students for his new dojo. After that, word of mouth would spread through the local area until the dojo had a dedicated core of students. Oyama also sent instructors to other countries such as the Netherlands (Kenji Kurosaki), Australia (Shigeo Kato), the United States of America (Tadashi Nakamura, Shigeru Oyama and Yasuhiko Oyama, Miyuki Miura) and Brazil (Seiji Isobe) to spread Kyokushin in the same way. In 1969, Oyama staged the First All Japan Full Contact Championships which took Japan by storm and Terutomo Yamazaki has become the first champion. Also in 1975, the First Open Full Contact World Karate Championships. From that time, world championships have been held at four-yearly intervals, although under the current confusion of self-proclaimed representative organizations, there are up to five so-called "world championships" claiming to represent Kyokushin.

Upon Oyama's death, the International Karate Organization (IKO) splintered into several groups, primarily due to conflict over who would succeed Oyama as Chairman and the future structure and philosophy of the organization. Currently, the issue remains unresolved, although a series of court cases over the last 13 years appears to be coming to an end with a result finally due in the near future. Based on what was quickly proved to be a false and invalid will, Shokei (Akiyoshi) Matsui was named as his successor, even though Matsui was junior to many others in the IKO organization. Matsui claimed that he personally owned the intellectual rights to all Kyokushin trademarks, symbols, and even the name Kyokushin. However, the Japanese legal system subsequently ruled against Matsui in this matter, returning the ownership of Oyama's intellectual property to his family.

Kyokushin Today
Existing as a single organization under the leadership of the founder, Mas Oyama, the Kyokushin organization, after the Master's passing, broke down into various groups, each claiming their own authority as representing the original Honbu.
Various other organizations have stemmed from Kyokushin and teach similar techniques but go by different names. Also, numerous dojos throughout the world claim to teach a Kyokushin curriculum without formal connection to the organization. Although difficult to quantify, it is conjectured that the number of students and instructors involved in learning or teaching the style or one of its close variations around the world is significant and numbers in the millions.

Oyama's widow passed away in June 2006 after a long illness. According to the Japanese legal system the Custodian of Oyama's intellectual property and legacy is the youngest of his daughters, Kikuko (also known as Kuristina) who now operates the original IKO Honbu.

Gōjū-ryū

Gōjū-ryū (剛柔流), (Japanese for "hard-soft style") is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book Bubishi (Chinese: wu bei ji), used by Okinawan masters during the XIX and XX. Go which means hard, refers to closed hand techniques or straight linear attacks; Ju which means soft, refers to open hand techniques and circular movements.

Major emphasis is given to breathing correctly. Gōjū-ryū practices methods that include body strengthening and conditioning, its basic approach to fighting (distance, stickiness, power generation, etc.), and partner drills. Gōjū-ryū incorporates both circular and linear movements into its curriculum. Gōjū-ryū combines hard striking attacks such as kicks and close hand punches with softer open hand circular techniques for attacking, blocking, and controlling the opponent, including locks, grappling, takedowns and throws.

History
The history of Goju-ryu is controversial, due to the lack of documentation; however, we can try to summarize the main theories about its origins. What we know is that Goju-ryu did follow the same path of other martial arts due to the process of modernization in Japan: it changed from a fighting discipline into a general purpose educational discipline[citation needed]. Higaonna Morio noted that in 1905, Higashionna Kanryo sensei taught martial arts in two different ways, according to the type of student: At home, he taught Naha-te as a martial art whose ultimate goal was to kill the opponent; however, at the Naha Kuritsu Shogyo Koto Gakko (Naha Commercial High School), he taught karate as a form of physical, intellectual and moral education.

There are two years that define the way Goju-ryu has been considered by the Japanese establishment: the first, 1933, is the year Gōjū-ryū was officially recognized as a budo in Japan by Dai Nippon Butoku Kai, in other words, it was recognized as a modern martial art, or gendai budo. The second year, 1998, is the year the Dai Nippon Butoku kai recognized Goju-ryu Karatedo as an ancient form of martial art (koryu) and as a bujutsu.[1] This recognition as a koryu bujutsu shows a change in how Japanese society sees the relationships between Japan, Okinawa and China. Until 1998, only martial arts practiced in mainland Japan by samurai had been accepted as koryu bujutsu.

Koryu Bujutsu
The names "goju ryu" and "karate" are recent, but the art is older. The Okinawan name for their 19th century martial art was toudi, with to meaning "Tang" (a medieval Chinese dinasty) or "Chinese"; and te meaning "hand"[citation needed]. In Okinawa there were three main toudi variants: Naha-te (or nafadi), Tomari-te and Shuri-te. Goju-ryu comes from Naha-te.
As stated before, in 1998, the Dai Nippon Butoku kai recognized Goju-ryu Karatedo as an ancient form of martial art, or koryu, and Goju-ryu Karatedo was also the first Okinawa Martial Art to be recognized as Bujutsu 2. The origins of this art explain this recognition: there are three possible sources for the ancient Naha-te or Goju-ryu. The first source would be the old Okinawan fighting arts. The second source would be different Southern Chinese schools of martial arts known by Okinawan travelers such as Higashionna Kanryo sensei. The third source would be a Chinese school of martial arts established in Naha at the beginning of the 19th century. These sources may well complement each other.

Okinawan fighting arts
In Okinawa there were five old native fighting arts which, blended with Southern Chinese martial arts, gave birth to toudi. First, ti'gwa, a percussive art originated in Siam and imported to Okinawa during its early period of inter-cultural commerce. Second kata or hsing/xing from Southern/Fujian-based quanfa. Third, tuite (torite, chin na or qinna), or joint locks to seize or control opponents, used by law enforcement officials. Fourth, tegumi or Okinawan wrestling and grappling. Fifth, buki'gwa or weapons arts, which were severely limited after the weapons ban in 1609. One of the main components and sources of Okinawan karate is the above-mentioned native tradition called "tuite": grappling, joint locks and breaks, throws, sweeps, which often led to ground fighting. These techniques were widely practiced in Ryūkyū's small villages and were blended with Chinese martial arts to give birth to karate. In kata, usually low stances and/or hands in chambers are the signs of a technique of this kind.

The use of "soft" techniques in the Gōjū-ryū kata tensho reveals an influence from one or more White Crane schools. Traditionally,[citation needed] Goju-ryu is considered a descendant of the Fujian White Crane style (known as "Fujian Bai He" in Chinese). From White Crane, Gōjū-ryu takes the circular movements and fast strikes. From Tiger Style, Gōjū-ryu takes the strong linear attacks and the tiger claw pinching (especially in kyusho-jitsu). There are two theories about how these Chinese influences contributed to the birth of Goju-ryu:

Southern Chinese arts studied in China

The late 19th century saw the great karate masters going back to China for a "martial-arts pilgrimage" of sorts. The development of Gōjū ryū goes back to Kanryo Higashionna, (1853–1916), a native of Naha, Okinawa. As a teenager he trained with an Okinawan master named Arakaki Seisho. In 1873 he traveled to Fuzhou in Fujian Province, China, where he studied from various teachers. In 1877 he began to study under a kung fu master called Ryū Ryū Ko (or Liu Liu Ko, or To Ru Ko; the name is uncertain.) Patrick McCarthy and Tokashiki Iken have identified him as Xie Zhongxiang, founder of Whooping Crane Kung Fu. This great master taught a handful of Okinawan students who went on to become karate legends.
Higashionna returned to Okinawa in 1882 and continued in the family business of selling firewood, while teaching a new school of martial arts, distinguished by its integration of gō-no (hard) and jū-no (soft) kempo into one system. Higashionna's style was known as Naha-te. Gojukai history considers that Chinese Nanpa Shorin-ken was the strain of kung fu that influenced this style.

Southern Chinese arts studied in Okinawa
According to Fernando Câmara, both Goju and Uechi may have come from a specific school of Quan Fa in Okinawa, established in Naha around 1828. Câmara says that Miyagi Chojun, in his "Karate-do Gaisetsu" (1934), didn't mention Higashionna Kanryo, but a Chinese school established in Naha as Goju-ryu's originator. Câmara gives us the names of some prominent masters of this school: Sakiyama, Aragaki Seisho, Kojo Taitei, Nakaima, and Higashionna, and he thinks that Ryu Ryu Ko may have been one of the advisers of this school, along with Iwah, Wai Shin Zan, and others.
According to Chojun Miyagi: "In 1828, our ancestors inherited a kung fu style of Fujian province in China. They continued their studies and formed Goju-ryu Karate. Even today, there still exists an orthodox group which inherited genuine and authentic Goju-Ryu karate." It should be noted that, to Miyagi, there is a continuity from the 1828 kung fu group to the 1936 orthodox gojuka group, and that he considered that both groups were one and the same, and therefore according to Miyagi Chojun, Higashionna Kanryo effectively was not the origin of Goju-ryu, but the person who passed down the system to Miyagi. This leads to a question: who were the first non-orthodox gojuka, Higashionna Kanryo or Miyagi Chojun? It is known[citation needed] that Miyagi changed the system when he adapted it to modern times, and it is said[citation needed] that Higashionna traveled to China and brought back some kata. It is also part of the historical tradition[citation needed] of Goju-ryu that Higashionna changed the kata by using fists instead of open hand techniques in order to adapt his art to physical education courses in Okinawan high schools.

Uechi-ryū

Uechi-ryu (上地流) is a traditional style of Okinawan karate. The founder of Uechi Ryū was Kanbun Uechi (上地完文)(1877-1948), an Okinawan who went to Fuzhou in Fukien Province, China to study martial arts when he was 20 years old. Uechi-ryū means "Style of Uechi" or "School of Uechi."

Early history
Kanbun Uechi studied Pangai-noon (half-hard, half-soft) Kung Fu under Shushiwa in the Fujian (a.k.a. Fukien) province of mainland China in the late 1800s and early 1900s. After 10 years of study under Shushiwa, Kanbun Uechi opened his own school in Nanjing province. Two years later, Kanbun Uechi returned to Okinawa, resolved never to teach again because one of his Chinese students had killed a neighbour with an open-hand technique in a dispute over land irrigation. It was while working as a janitor that he was persuaded by a co-worker, Ryuyu Tomoyose, to teach again after Uechi was first convinced to show Tomoyose ways of defending against different attacks. His confidence as a teacher restored, Uechi, with the help of Ryuyu Tomoyose, moved to Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture, where in 1925 he established the Institute of Pangainun-ryū (half-hard and soft) Todi-jutsu, and opened a dojo to the public. His Okinawan students eventually renamed the system in 1940 to "Uechi Ryū."

Kanbun Uechi's son, Kanei Uechi, taught the style at the Futenma City Dojo, Okinawa, and was considered the first Okinawan to sanction the teaching to foreigners. One of Kanei's senior students, Ryuko Tomoyose, taught a young American serviceman named George Mattson, formerly of Boston and now residing in Florida, who authored several books on the subject and is largely responsible for popularizing the style in America. Uechi Ryū emphasizes toughness of the body with quick hand and foot strikes. Several of the more distinctive weapons of Uechi practitioners are the one-knuckle punch (shoken), spearhand (nukite), and the toe kick (shomen geri). Because of this emphasis on simplicity, stability, and a combination of linear and circular motions, proponents claim that the style is more practical for self-defense than most other martial arts.

In contrast to the more linear styles of karate based on Okinawan Shuri-te or Tomari-te, Uechi Ryū's connection to Chinese Nanpa Shorin-ken means it shares a similar foundation to Naha-Te (and thus Goju-ryu) despite their separate development. Thus, Uechi Ryū is also heavily influenced by the circular movements inherent in kung fu from Fujian province. Uechi Ryū is principally based on the movements of 3 animals: the Tiger, Dragon, and Crane.

Weapons
Kanei Uechi, in addition to adding kata, also introduced a sequence of exercises to the Uechi Ryū training regimen. The junbi undo are warm-up and stretching exercises based on Asian school training exercises. The "hojo undō" are standardized exercises that incorporate elements of all of the katas of the system.

Uechi Ryū Today
Like many arts, Uechi Ryū experienced organizational splits after its founder's death. Some of the senior practitioners of the original art split from the main organization and created other organizations or styles, including Shohei-ryu and recreated versions of Pangainoon. The rift came about through some teachers wanting to teach a varied form of Uechi (from slightly different kata to newer conditioning drills), and some wanting to teach the "classical" form as designed by Kanbun. The differences between the three remaining major groups are unnoticeable to the casual observer, and some in Japan believe that a large part of the split was due to personality conflicts.

Karate

Karate (空手) or karate-do (空手道) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands from indigenous fighting methods and Chinese kenpō. It is primarily a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands and ridge-hands. Grappling, locks, restraints, throws, and vital point strikes are taught in some styles. A karate practitioner is called a karateka.

History - Okinawa
Karate began as a fighting system known as "ti" (or "te") among the pechin class of the Ryukyuans. After trade relationships were established with the Ming dynasty of China by Chuzan King Satto in 1372, many forms of Chinese martial arts were introduced to the Ryukyu Islands by the visitors from China, particularly Fujian Province. A group of 36 Chinese families moved to Okinawa around 1392 for the purpose of cultural exchange and shared their knowledge of the Chinese martial arts. The political centralization of Okinawa by King Shohashi in 1429 and the 'Policy of Banning Weapons,' enforced in Okinawa after the invasion of the Shimazu clan in 1609, are also factors that furthered the development of unarmed combat techniques in Okinawa.

There were few formal styles of ti, but rather many practitioners with their own methods. One surviving example is the Motobu-ryu school passed down from the Motobu family by Seikichi Uehara. Early styles of karate are often generalized as Shuri-te, Naha-te, and Tomari-te, named after the three cities from which they emerged. Each area and its teachers had particular kata, techniques, and principles that distinguished their local version of ti from the others.

Members of the Okinawan upper classes were sent to China regularly to study various political and practical disciplines. The incorporation of empty-handed Chinese wu shu into Okinawan martial arts occurred partly because of these exchanges. Traditional karate kata bear a strong resemblance to the forms found in Fujian martial arts such as Fujian White Crane, Five Ancestors, and Gangrou-quan (Hard Soft Fist; pronounced "Gōjūken" in Japanese). Further influence came from Southeast Asia— particularly Sumatra, Java, and Melaka. Many Okinawan weapons such as the sai, tonfa, and nunchaku may have originated in and around Southeast Asia.

Sakukawa Kanga (1782–1838) had studied pugilism and staff (bo) fighting in China (according to one legend, under the guidance of Kosokun, originator of kusanku kata). In 1806 he started teaching a fighting art in the city of Shuri that he called "Tudi Sakukawa," which meant "Sakukawa of China Hand." This was the first known recorded reference to the art of "Tudi," written as 唐手. Around the 1820s Sakukawa's most significant student Matsumura Sokon (1809–1899) taught a synthesis of te (Shuri-te and Tomari-te) and Shaolin (Chinese 少林) styles. Matsumura's style would later become the Shorin-ryū style.
Matsumura taught his art to Itosu Ankō (1831–1915) among others. Itosu adapted two forms he had learned from Matsumara. These are kusanku and chiang nan. He created the ping'an forms ("heian" or "pinan" in Japanese) which are simplified kata for beginning students. In 1901 Itosu helped to get karate introduced into Okinawa's public schools. These forms were taught to children at the elementary school level. Itosu's influence in karate is broad. The forms he created are common across nearly all styles of karate. His students became some of the most well known karate masters, including Gichin Funakoshi, Kenwa Mabuni, and Choki Motobu. Itosu is sometimes referred to as "the Grandfather of Modern Karate."

In 1881 Higaonna Kanryo returned from China after years of instruction with Ryu Ryu Ko and founded what would become Naha-te. One of his students was the founder of Goju-ryu, Chojun Miyagi. Chojun Miyagi taught such well-known karateka as Seko Higa (who also trained with Higaonna), Meitoku Yagi, Miyazato Ei'ichi, and Seikichi Toguchi.
In addition to the three early ti styles of karate a fourth Okinawan influence is that of Kanbun Uechi (1877–1948). At the age of 20 he went to Fuzhou in Fujian Province, China, to escape Japanese military conscription. While there he studied under Shushiwa. He was a leading figure of Chinese Nanpa Shorin-ken at that time. He later developed his own style of Uechi-ryu karate based on the Sanchin, Seisan, and Sanseiryu kata that he had studied in China.

History - Japan
Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan karate, is generally credited with having introduced and popularized karate on the main islands of Japan. Actually many Okinawans were actively teaching, and are thus equally responsible for the development of karate. Funakoshi was a student of both Asato Ankō and Itosu Ankō (who had worked to introduce karate to the Okinawa Prefectural School System in 1902). During this time period, prominent teachers who also influenced the spread of karate in Japan included Kenwa Mabuni, Chojun Miyagi, Choki Motobu, Kanken Tōyama, and Kanbun Uechi. This was a turbulent period in history in the region. It includes Japan's annexation of the Okinawan island group in 1874, the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), the annexation of Korea, and the rise of Japanese expansionism (1905–1945).

Japan was invading China at the time, and Funakoshi knew that the art of Tang/China hand would not be accepted; thus the change of the art's name to "way of the empty hand." The dō suffix implies that karatedō is a path to self knowledge, not just a study of the technical aspects of fighting. Like most martial arts practiced in Japan, karate made its transition from -jutsu to -dō around the beginning of the 20th century. The "dō" in "karate-dō" sets it apart from karate "jutsu", as aikido is distinguished from aikijutsu, judo from jujutsu, kendo from kenjutsu, iaido from iaijutsu and Taido from Taijutsu.

Funakoshi changed the names of many kata and the name of the art itself (at least on mainland Japan), doing so to get karate accepted by the Japanese budo organization Dai Nippon Butoku Kai. Funakoshi also gave Japanese names to many of the kata. The five pinan forms became known as heian, the three naihanchi forms became known as tekki, seisan as hangetsu, chinto as gankaku, wanshu as empi, and so on. These were mostly political changes, rather than changes to the content of the forms, although Funakoshi did introduce some such changes. Funakoshi had trained in two of the popular branches of Okinawan karate of the time, Shorin-ryū and Shorei-ryū. In Japan he was influenced by kendo, incorporating some ideas about distancing and timing into his style. He always referred to what he taught as simply karate, but in 1936 he built a dojo in Tokyo and the style he left behind is usually called Shotokan after this dojo.

The modernization and systemization of karate in Japan also included the adoption of the white uniform that consisted of the kimono and the dogi or keikogi—mostly called just karategi—and colored belt ranks. Both of these innovations were originated and popularized by Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo and one of the men Funakoshi consulted in his efforts to modernize karate.
In 1922, Hironori Ohtsuka attended the Tokyo Sports Festival, where he saw Funakoshi's karate. Ohtsuka was so impressed with this that he visited Funakoshi many times during his stay. Funakoshi was, in turn, impressed by Ohtsuka's enthusiasm and determination to understand karate, and agreed to teach him. In the following years, Ohtsuka set up a medical practice dealing with martial arts injuries. His prowess in martial arts led him to become the Chief Instructor of Shindō Yōshin-ryū jujutsu at the age of 30, and an assistant instructor in Funakoshi's dojo.

By 1929, Ohtsuka was registered as a member of the Japan Martial Arts Federation. Okinawan karate at this time was only concerned with kata. Ohtsuka thought that the full spirit of budō, which concentrates on defence and attack, was missing, and that kata techniques did not work in realistic fighting situations. He experimented with other, more combative styles such as judo, kendo, and aikido. He blended the practical and useful elements of Okinawan karate with traditional Japanese martial arts techniques from jujitsu and kendo, which led to the birth of kumite, or free fighting, in karate. Ohtsuka thought that there was a need for this more dynamic type of karate to be taught, and he decided to leave Funakoshi to concentrate on developing his own style of karate: Wadō-ryū. In 1934, Wadō-ryū karate was officially recognized as an independent style of karate. This recognition meant a departure for Ohtsuka from his medical practice and the fulfilment of a life's ambition—to become a full-time martial artist.

Ohtsuka's personalized style of Karate was officially registered in 1938 after he was awarded the rank of Renshi-go. He presented a demonstration of Wado-ryu karate for the Japan Martial Arts Federation. They were so impressed with his style and commitment that they acknowledged him as a high-ranking instructor. The next year the Japan Martial Arts Federation asked all the different styles to register their names; Ohtsuka registered the name Wado-Ryu. In 1944, Ohtsuka was appointed Japan's Chief Karate Instructor.
Isshin-ryū is a style of Okinawan karate founded by Shimabuku Tatsuo, a student of Motobu Choki, and named by him on January 15, 1956. Isshin-ryū karate is largely a synthesis of Shorin-ryū karate, Gojū-ryū karate, and Kobudo. The name means, literally, "one heart method." The style, while not very popular in Okinawa, spread to the United States via the Marines stationed on the island after they returned home, and has also spread to other countries. After the passing of Shimabuku, many variations of the system formed and exist to this day.

A new form of karate called Kyokushin was developed in 1964 by Masutatsu Oyama (who was born a Korean, Choi Yeong-Eui). Kyokushin taught a curriculum that emphasized contact, physical toughness, and practical application of karate techniques to self-defense situations. Because of its emphasis on physical, full-force sparring, Kyokushin is now often called "full contact karate." Many other karate organizations based are descended from the Kyokushin curriculum.

Okinawan martial arts

Okinawan martial arts refers to the martial arts which originated among the indigenous people of Okinawa Island, most notably karate, tegumi, and Okinawan kobudo.

Location
Okinawa is not, nor ever has been, the name of a nation (Ryukyu had been, until 1875), but rather is the name of the largest island of the Ryukyu islands, a chain of islands in the western Pacific Ocean at the eastern limit of the East China Sea, stretching southwest from Kyūshū to Taiwan. As such, Okinawa is in close proximity to Japan, the Korean peninsula, and China. Due to its central location, Okinawa was greatly influenced by these other cultures, with a long history of trade and cultural exchange with China that greatly influenced the development of martial arts on Okinawa.

Early martial arts
The precursor of present-day Okinawan martial arts is believed to have come by way of visitors from China. In the 7th century, Chinese martial arts were introduced to Okinawa through Taoist and Buddhist monks. These styles were practiced in Okinawa and developed into Te (手) over several centuries.
In the 14th century, when the three kingdoms on Okinawa (Chūzan, Hokuzan, and Nanzan) entered into a tributary relationship with the Ming Dynasty of China, Chinese Imperial envoys and many other Chinese arrived, some of who taught Chinese Chuan Fa (Kempo) to the Okinawans. The Okinawans combined Chinese Chuan Fa with the existing martial art of Te to form Tō-te (唐手), sometimes called Okinawa-te (沖縄手).
In 1429, the three kingdoms on Okinawa unified to form the Kingdom of Ryūkyū. When King Shō Shin came into power in 1477, he banned the practice of martial arts. To-te and kobudo continued to be taught in secret. The ban was continued in 1609 after Okinawa was invaded by the Satsuma Domain of Japan. The bans contributed to the development of kobudo, which uses common household and farming implements as weaponry.
By the 18th century, different types of Te had developed in three different villages - Naha, Shuri, and Tomari. The styles were named Naha-te, Shuri-te, and Tomari-te, respectively. Practitioners from these three villages went on to develop modern karate.
ja:手 (沖縄武術)