Isshin-ryū

Isshin-Ryu

The kanji for Isshin-Ryū Karate-Do
Country of origin	Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
Creator	Shimabuku Tatsuo
Parenthood	Shorin-ryū, Gojū-ryū, Kobudō

Isshin-Ryu (一心流, Isshin-ryū^?) is a style of Okinawan karate founded by Tatsuo Shimabuku (島袋 龍夫) in 1956. Isshin-Ryū karate is largely a synthesis of Shorin-ryū karate, Gojū-ryū karate, and kobudō. The name means, literally, "one heart way" (as in "wholehearted" or "complete"). In 1989 there were 336 branches of Isshin-ryū throughout the world (as recorded by the IWKA), most of which were concentrated in the United States.

The system is summarized in its kata, and the specific techniques used to punch (vertical fist) and kick (snapping kicks) presented as upper and lower 'charts', most of which are thrown from natural stances and body posture. In many of the various forms of the system, sixteen kata (eight empty-hand, three bo, two sai, a bo-bo kumite kata, a bo-sai kumite kata and one tuifa kata) are agreed upon as composing Isshin-ryu. These kata include original developments of the Master, and inherited kata from the parent styles.

Tatsuo Shimabuku learned Seisan from his primary instructor, Chotoku Kyan. Previous to Kyan's instruction, the Seisan form was a staple of local traditions.

This kata is sometimes the first introduced to students after the First and Second Charts of basics have been learned. This is in contrast to other Shorin systems where this kata is learned after other fundamental kata.

The Gojū-ryū curriculum includes a related version of Seisan, but Isshin-ryū Seisan was learned from Kyan, not Miyagi.