a. The establishment of the Kume Village(Kumermura) colony on Okinawa in 1393 during the reign of Satto who was the chief of Chuzan, the middle kingdom of early Okinawa. Known as the thirty six families, these settlers took up residence in Kume Village which lay within the boundaries of Naha city. Among their number were Buddhist monks and others skilled in the martial arts. With the Kumenura colony, Chinese culture became fully entrenched on Okinawa.

b. At the battle of Sekigahara in 1600 the Satsuma clan of Kyushu was defeated by the Tokugawa clan. With this victory, the Tokugawa clan unified Japan and Tokugawa became the first Shogun of Japan. By the year 1600 the Spanish had succeeded in establishing a trading colony in the Philippines. The Portuguese were active as traders in the Far East and British Pirates plied the Sea of Japan. Tokugawa was aware of a need to place a buffer between these forces and the Japanese home island and chose the Satusma clan to accomplish this mission. Since the Okinawans were holding out on tribute to Japan in 1606 Tokugawa granted the Satsuma clan permission to conquer and subjugate Okinawa.

c. In 1609, after much preparation the Satsuma sailed from their port of Yamakama in Kogoshima Bay and descended on the Ryukyus. Thousands of Samurai surged thru the Ryukyus to be met with little effective resistance. They quickly dispatched all who stood before them and soon reached northern Okinawa landing at Unten, on the Motobu peninsula. There, the Okinawans put up a fight. Hardly trained and having not fought a battle since the reign of Sho Shin in the 14th century, the Okinawan Bushi were quickly defeated. What followed was the subjugation of the Okinawan people through the complete control of the Shuri government. Sho Nei and his highest officials were taken hostage and sent to Japan. They were sent to Tokugawa's capital Edo(Modern Tokyo) were they were paraded around as spoils of war. When Sho Nei was returned to Shuri in 1612 he was no longer in command of Okinawa's destiny. China, which had protected Okinawa was of no help since the Middle Kingdom of China was on the brink of change, as the declining Ming Dynasty was falling to the powerful Manchu's.

d. Martial Arts became increasingly mentioned after the era of the Satsuma invasion of 1609. In 1621, or possibly 1636 a Chinese book known as the Wu Pei Chi, or in Japansese, "Bu Bi Shi" was published . It was a martial arts reference work not unlike an encyclopedia, consisting of 240 articles about just combat styles and systems. The Bubishi became famous throughout the Ryuku's and foster the interchange of Okinawan and Chinese martial arts.

a. By 1680 the administration of Okinawa's affairs was firmly regulated by the Satsuma clan.

They did insist that trade be maintained with China and the rest of Asia as an economic necessity. The Japanese went to great lengths to appear inconspicuous during times when official Chinese emissaries visited Okinawa. It should be remembered the Okinawa was still considered by the Chinese to be a vassal state of China.

b. In 1683 the Ching government of China sent a large ambassadorial contingent led by aWanji or Wanshu to the Okinawans. Wanshu was by any standard a talented individual. He was a diplomat, a writer, and a calligrapher. He was also skilled in the martial arts. He is credited with teaching a series of fighting movements to the gentry of Tomari village. Over the years this exercise or "form" (Kata in Japanese) was simplified and changed until it reflected a truly Okinawan character in its use of quick darting movements and sharp punching techniques. A question asked by many historians of this era is how Wanshu's techniques were preserved in the little fishing village of Tomari on the outskirts of both Shuri and Naha. It is known that Wanshu himself was sought after by the gentry in both Shuri and Naha and in the Chinese community of Kunemura.

c. After Wanshu, Te and Chaun Fa or Shorinji Kenpo(Chinese fist fighting) continued to develop and combine into "Todi" or "Tode".

d. In 1683 a Peichin Takahara(1683-1760) was born to the Kogusuku family of Kumemura. Peichin Takahara became well known as a mathematician, cartographer, and martial artist. No one knows for sure who his martial arts instructors were, but one of his students wasSakugawa Chikodun Peichin Kanga(1733-1815). Sakugawa was born Teruya Kanga in Shuri's Torihori village. Sakugawa became a student of Takahara, who lived in close by Akata village, at the age of 17. His father having been beaten to death by bandits, the young Sakugawa was determined to master the martial arts. In 1756, Sakugawa met the Chinese attache, Kung Shang Kung(Kushanku or Kusanku in Okinawan; Kosokun in Japanese) and with Takahara's blessing, became his disciple. The dates of Kushanku have be given as 1756, 1762, or even 1784(Haines in his Karate's History and Traditions, 1968), most cite the 1762 date. The 1756 date appears to be the most accurate based upon historical evidence. Kushanku taught Sakugawa "Kumiuchi-jutsu" i.e. fighting and grappling techniques. Kushanku also taught Sakugawa the principle of "Hikite"(Pulling/draw hand). Kushanku remained on Okinawa for 4 years and when he left Okinawa he left behind several famous students, the best known was Sakugawa.

Sakugawa did not stop training when Kushanku left Okinawa, he traveled to China where he studied Chinese Kenpo, the Bo(Kun in Chinese, hence the modern Okinawan-Japanese formal term: Kon). There is some speculation that Sakugawa may have been sent to China to learn Chinese martial arts in order to better train the Okinawan Bubishi. When Sakugawa returned to Okinawa he became the chief Shuri official of the Yaeymama Island area. As a reward for his services the Shuri government gave him a small island and names it Sakugawa. Sakugawa(Teruya Chikodun Peichin Kanga) took the name of the Island for himself and became Sakugawa Teruya Chikodun Peichin Kanga. Sakugawa is remembered as "Tode" Sakugawa("Tang"(or in Okinawan "To" meaning China and "Te" for the Okinawan art or when combined "Tode") for his integration of the Chinese Kenpo arts and Okinawan Te.

e. Sakugawa had many martial arts students. One of his students was named Matsumura Sokon who was born in 1797 and began training with Sakugawa at the age of 14(Around 1811). By the time Matsumura was 20 he was a skilled "Tode" martial artist. Since Sakugawa died in 1815 it is most likely that Matsumura also studied with some of Sakugawa's senior students. Matusumura rose to become a bodyguard for the Royal family and served three Okinawan kings, Sho Ko, Sho Iku, and Sho Tai. As a tall and somewhat ugly man, Matsumura possessed great strength because he practiced continually. He believed that speed was the key to power. Matsumura was a pioneer in the use of a twisting motion of the hips to help generate power. While unofficial branches of the emerging systematized fighting arts were beginning to be named after the areas where they propagate from i.e. Tomare Te, Naha Te, etc. as a formal line of descent, Shuri Te is rooted in Matsumura's teachings. As the chief bodyguard with magistrate status, Matsumura became the top martial arts teacher on Okinawa with students all thru the Shuri bureaucracy. During his teaching he modified a number of training drills or kata to pass on his teachings. Kata' used by Matsumura are Passai, Kushanku, Useishi, naifanchi, chinto, seisan, gojushiho, channan, and hakutsuru. Matsumura was such a great fighter that he was nicknamed "Bushi Matsumura" meaning "warrior". One famous story regarding Matsumura is the story of Matsumura and the bull. The story is as follows:

Sho Ko had retired to his palace and instituted an annual festival complete with martial arts exhibitions and a very popular bull fighting contest. This was a period of heavy taxation of the Okinawan people and there was much corruption in Sho Ko's court.. Sho Ko devised a scheme to root out corruption, Sho Ko would write a poem to outlining a subjects corruption and the subject would be commanded to finish the verse. The subjects of Sho Ko's court would not obey the kings command so he became angry and drew his sword and slew all of the members of his court except Matsumura. Matsumura was convinced that he must obey the King even if it meant death by the Kings hand. The King was so impressed with this that he devised another way of dealing with Matsumura, he order Matsumura to fight a particularly mean bull at the upcoming festival. Okinawan bull fighting is a fight between two bulls, so a fight between a man and a bull was a very unusual event. Matsumura devised a plan to overcome the bull. For five nights prior to the bull fight Matsumura visited the bull in his pen and wore unwashed clothes and shielded his face. He poked the bull in the nose with his pen until the bull was in a state of frenzy. When the bull could take no more, Matsumura revealed his face and assumed a defiant position in front of the bull. When the time for the bull fight came, the bull was released into the ring. Matsumura entered the ring wearing the same unwashed clothes that he had worn each night. Matsumura uncovered his face, gave out a loud Kia, and assumed the same defiant position that he had taken in front of the bull each night. The bull, upon detecting the scent of Matsumura's clothes and seeing the same face and pose as he had seen the previous nights, turned and ran back to his pen. The King was so impressed by this display that he gave Matsumura the official title of "Bushi".

Matsumura married a woman named Yonamine Chiru. Yonamine was herself a skilled martial artist and insisted that before she would marry Matsumura that he must defeat her in a fight. Matsumura won the fight but the story is that he had a tough time of it. Matsumura was so impressed by Yonamine's skills that after they were married he dispatched her on many occasions to deal with bandits in the northern sections of Okinawa. Not much is know of Yonamine, who she trained with, who her family was, what drove her to become the expert martial artist that she was are still an unknown story about Okinawa.

f. In Shuri, where many of Okinawa's leading families lived, Matsumura was the principle teach of many famous students such as Tawada Peichin(Tawada Sai), Motobu Choyu, and Itotsu Anko(Alternately pronounced Yasutsune). Itotsu Anko(1830-1915) was born in the Yamakawa area of Shuri. Itotsu was accepted as a student of Matsumura at an early age. His family believed that the study of the martial arts would help the young Anko who suffered through a rather sickly childhood. As Itotsu studied with Matsumura he grew into a strong young man. Itotsu was an educated man who was an official clerk in the Shuri government. When Karate became part of the physical education training at the Shuri Elementary school in 1901, Itotsu was its first instructor. Between 1905 and 1915 Itotsu was a part time Karate instructor at the Okinawan Day Ichi High school(Gingo Shuri). Itotsu is responsible for popularizing Matsumura's Karate on Okinawa. He developed a unique exercise called the 8 point kick which consisted of kicking at targets representing the floating ribs, solar plexus, junction of legs and torso, groin, and inner thigh. One of the most important roles played by Itotsu is the development of kata. Itotsu not only transmitted the kata taught to him by Matsumura, but he incorporated additional "forms" into his teachings learned from other Shuri Te artist. Most of the kata he simplified and streamlined into more logical sequences. Itotsu created a number of new kata, often as compliments to and extrapolations of older, existing forms. He therefore greatly expanded the repertoire of Shuri Te karate. The following are the teachings of Itotsu:

1. Karate training should not be used for your own interest, but for the protection of your parents and it is never to be used to hurt anyone.

2. Karate training is to be used to make the muscles and bones of the body as hard as a rock and to make the arms and legs as sharp as spears, hence it is so practical that it will help our military society in times to come.

3. Karate cannot be mastered in a short period of time. One to two hours of hard and correct training every day for three or four years will help put you on the right road to understanding Karate and eventually mastering it.

4. Karate requires such strong hands and feet that you should train by striking a makiwara one to two hundred times each day.

5. Karate students should train with their limbs straight up, lungs wide open, the shoulders down, and the feet firmly planted on the ground.

6. Karate form(Kata) is a training method where meaning and analysis is of the utmost importance.

7. Karate form(Kata) must also be analyzed by the student to determine its use, whether it is to be used for physical or practical training.

8. Karate training must be intensive as if one is actually on a battlefield.

9. Karate training must be systematic and correct so as to develop ones physical strength.

10. Karate experts have lived longer because training develops the muscles and the bones. It also helps the digestive organs and improves the circulation of the blood. Therefore Karate training should be offered in physical education courses beginning in the elementary school and up.

The above only represents a small sample of Okinawan history. Some important points to remember:

1. What Japanese clan invaded Okinawa, when, and why?

2. What was the name of the first Chinese colony on Okinawa, when was it established and why is it important.

3. Who was Wanshu?

4. What is Chuan Fa or Shorinji Kenpo?

5. When did Kushanku arrive in Okinawa

6. How and when did the concept of "Push/Pull" come into being in the Okinawan fighting arts.

7. Why is Sakugawa nicknamed "Tode"

8. What master introduced the concept of twisting the hips to obtain power?

9. Why is Itotsu important in the history of Karate i.e. what did he do for Karate?

10. Why is the story of Matsumura and the bull important in Karate?