Shitō-ryū Karate

Shitō-ryū is karate built from both of Okinawa’s great traditions at once. Its founder, Kenwa Mabuni, learned the linear, powerful karate of Shuri and the close-range, circular karate of Naha, and kept both. The result is a style with an unusually wide technical range and a larger kata syllabus than most other styles. Mabuni himself was regarded as the foremost authority on Okinawan kata of his time.

Kenwa Mabuni and the two traditions

Kenwa Mabuni was born in Shuri, Okinawa, on 14 November 1889. At around 13 he began training under Ankō Itosu, the same teacher who shaped Gichin Funakoshi’s karate. From Itosu he learned Shuri-te: the Pinan and Naihanchi kata, Bassai, Kosokun, and a style built on strong, direct techniques.

He then trained in Naha-te under Kanryō Higaonna, the teacher of Gōjū-ryū’s founder Chōjun Miyagi, who was also Mabuni’s close friend. Naha-te brought a very different emphasis: breathing, tension and relaxation (Sanchin and Tensho), grappling range and circular blocking. Mabuni also studied with other teachers, including Seishō Arakaki and the Chinese white crane teacher Wu Xiangui (known in Japan as Go Kenki).

The name

Mabuni took the name from his two main teachers. The first character of Itosu (糸, read shi) and the first character of Higaonna (東, read tō) together make Shitō (糸東). Before settling on it, he had called his style Hanko-ryū, “half-hard style”, a reference to its mix of hard and soft methods.

From Okinawa to Osaka

Mabuni moved to Osaka in 1929 to teach karate full time, and it was in Osaka rather than Tokyo that Shitō-ryū grew. He founded the style under its current name in 1931, opened his Yōshūkan dojo in 1934, and registered Shitō-ryū with the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai in 1939. He taught until his death on 23 May 1952.

After his death the style was carried on by his sons and senior students. His son Kenei Mabuni led the line that became the Shitōkai, which formed the All Japan Karatedo Shitokai in 1964 and the World Shitoryu Karatedo Federation (WSKF) in 1993. His other son, Kenzō Mabuni, led Seitō (orthodox) Shitō-ryū.

Branches

Shitō-ryū has several major branches, each named after the teacher who led it:

• Shitōkai: Kenei Mabuni’s line, organised internationally as the WSKF.
• Seitō Shitō-ryū: Kenzō Mabuni’s line.
• Itosu-kai: founded by Ryusho Sakagami.
• Tani-ha Shitō-ryū (Shūkōkai): Chōjirō Tani received a certificate of succession from Mabuni in 1946 and founded his own school, later known as Shūkōkai. His student Shigeru Kimura spread it internationally. Shūkōkai is known for higher, more mobile stances and a focus on body mechanics to generate impact.
• Motobu-ha: founded by Shōgō Kuniba.

How Shitō-ryū trains

Because it keeps both traditions, Shitō-ryū training covers a lot of ground:

• Kata: the Itosu line (Pinan, Naihanchi, Bassai, Kosokun, Jion) sits alongside the Higaonna line (Sanchin, Tensho, Saifa, Seienchin, Seipai, Kururunfa, Suparinpei) and kata from Arakaki such as Unshu. Exact lists vary by organisation.
• Bunkai: the variety of kata gives Shitō-ryū practitioners a large vocabulary of applications, from long-range strikes to close-range locks and throws.
• Stances and movement: generally shorter and more mobile than Shotokan, allowing quick changes of angle.

Is Shitō-ryū right for you?

Shitō-ryū suits people who enjoy kata and want to understand both sides of Okinawan karate, not just one. The trade-off is time: learning a syllabus this large, well, takes years. If you already train in Shotokan or Gōjū-ryū, much of Shitō-ryū will feel familiar, because it shares its roots with both.