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from en.WikiPedia.org
Isshin-Ryu is a style of Okinawan karate founded by Shimabuku Tatsuo and named by him on 15 January 1956. Isshin-Ryu karate is largely a synthesis of Shorin-ryu karate, Goju-ryu karate, and Kobudo. The name means, literally, "one heart method." The style, while not very popular in Okinawa, spread to the United States via the Marines stationed on the island when they returned home, and has also spread to other countries.
Shimabuku Tatsuo (1908-1975) was born September 19, 1908 in Chan village, Okinawa. Master Shimabuku began training under his uncle on his mother's side Ganiku (in Japanese, Ganeku.) Ganeku later sent Shimabuku to study karate from Chotoku Kyan who lived in Kadena. He was around age 23 or 24 at the time. Chotoku Kyan would be his most influential instructor (and after whom he initially named his style Chan migwa Te). He also studied karate with Chojun Miyagi in Naha for several years beginning in 1936 and from Choki Motobu around 1938 (also in Naha). Master Shimabuku opened his first dojo in Konbo village and began teaching in 1946. On January 15, 1956, he held a meeting and announced that he was naming his new style of karate Isshin-ryu. At the age of 51 (1959) Master Shimabuku began studying Okinawan Kobudo, the art of old traditional Okinawan weapons. The kobudo weapons included were the sai, bo, and tonfa, under Shinken Taira. He incorporated the kobudo that he had learned from Kyan and Taira into the Isshin-ryu system.
Wikipedia contributors, "Isshin-ryu," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Isshin-ry%C5%AB&oldid=161918312 (accessed October 5, 2007).
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