Teruo Chinen
| Teruo Chinen | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 8, 1941 Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan |
| Died | September 9, 2015 (aged 74) Spokane, Washington, U.S. diabetes, kidney disease |
| Style | Gōjū-ryū Karate |
| Teacher(s) | Chōjun Miyagi, Ei'ichi Miyazato, Morio Higaonna |
| Rank | 9th dan karate |
Teruo Chinen (知念 輝夫 Chinen Teruo?, June 8, 1941–September 9, 2015) was a prominent Japanese master of Gōjū-ryū Karate. He founded the Jundokan International karate organization and held the title of Shihan. Chinen was one of the last surviving students to have learned directly from Chōjun Miyagi, founder of Gōjū-ryū karate. He held the rank of 9th dan in karate.
Chinen was born on June 8, 1941, in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, of Okinawan and Japanese ancestry. His father, Seisho Chinen, was an Okinawan martial artist who served in the Imperial Japanese Navy; he had trained in various Okinawan weapons. His mother was Japanese. His grandfather, Matsu Chinen, was a full-time Shuri-te instructor. His granduncle, Masami Chinen, belonged to the line of masters of the Yamanni ryu kobudo school.
Although Okinawan, Chinen's father adopted Japanese ways, and this included the naming conventions applied to his children. In a 1997 interview, he spoke about his father, saying: "because he was a Japanese naval officer, he adopted the Japanese ways and did not use the Masa name for his children. Consequently, my brothers and I all received Japanese names—Akira, Hirokazu, Teruo, and Toshio. No more Chinese names, no more Masa line!"
Chinen's father died in 1944 when the captain of his ship decided to sink the vessel rather than surrender to Allied forces. When he was five years old, his family—now consisting of his mother and several siblings—returned to Shuri briefly, then settled in Naha, where his uncle worked as a policeman. His mother found work on a USAF airbase. Chinen's home in Naha was just three houses down the street from Chōjun Miyagi's dojo (training hall) and, despite his family's history in another style of karate, he began to train in Miyagi's style.
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