Shōrin-ryū
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| Date founded | 1933 |
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| Country of origin | Ryūkyū Kingdom |
| Founder | Chōshin Chibana |
| Arts taught | Karate |
| Ancestor schools | Shuri-te |
| Descendant schools | Shōrin-ryū Shidōkan, Shōrin-ryū Shōrinkan, Shōrin-ryū Kyudōkan |
| Practitioners | Chosin Chibana, Katsuya Miyahira, Shūgorō Nakazato, Higa Yuchoku |
Shōrin-ryū (少林流) is one of the major modern Okinawan martial arts and is one of the oldest styles of karate. It was named by Choshin Chibana in 1933, but the system itself is much older. The characters 少林, meaning "small" and "forest" respectively and being pronounced "shōrin" in Japanese, are also used in the Chinese and Japanese words for Shaolin Kung Fu. "Ryū" means "school". Shōrin-ryū combines elements of the traditional Okinawan fighting styles of Shuri-te.
Chosin Chibana was a top student of the great master of shuri-te, Anko Itosu. Anko Itosu was the top student of Matsumura Sōkon, who was a renowned warrior of his time; bodyguard to three kings of Okinawa, he has been called the Miyamoto Musashi of Okinawa and was dubbed bushi, or warrior, by his king. However, while he is often referred to as the "founder" of Shuri-te, he did not invent all the components of the style. In 1933, Chosin Chibana chose to call his style Shorin-ryu in honor of the Samurai roots, and to differentiate it from other styles that were being modified from the original teachings of Anko Itosu. Prior to this time, there were no names for styles in Okinawa (though common in Japan for Japanese martial arts). Several branches of traditional Shorin-Ryu exist today in both Okinawa and the Western World. While there is a more concentrated population of practitioners in its birthplace of Okinawa, Shorin-Ryu Karate has had many high level black belts in the Western World as well including: Joe Hess (Black Belt), Frank Grant (10th Dan of Matsubayashi-Ryu Shorin-Ryu), and James Smithey (9th Dan), and Soke Dave Shelton (10th Dan of Shorin Ryu Matsumura SokenDo).
Shōrin-ryū is generally characterized by natural breathing, natural (narrow, high) stances, and circular, rather than direct movements. Shōrin-ryū practitioners will say that correct motion matters, being able to move quickly to evade violence by having fluid movements and flexible positions is quite important, and that a solid structure is very important for powerful moves. Stances that are too deep will most likely make body movement very difficult. Another of the features in this system is how the student is taught to punch. Generally, there is neither a horizontal or vertical punch in Shorin Ryu. Punches are slightly canted to the inside, with the largest knuckle of the fore finger (third from the tip) in vertical alignment with the second knuckle of the pinky finger. It is believed that this position is key in lining up the bones of the arm and creates a faster, more stable and powerful strike.
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