Tatsuo Shimabuku

Tatsuo Shimabukuro (島袋 龍夫) was an Okinawan, Japanese martial artist.

He is the founder of Isshin-ryū ("One Heart Style/One Heart Way") style of karate.

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Tatsuo Shimabukuro was born in Gushikawa village, Okinawa on September 19, 1908.

He was the first of ten children born into a farming family.

He began his study of karate at the age of 13 from his uncle, who lived a few miles away from him in Agena Village.

His uncle initially sent him back home, but after seeing how dedicated his nephew was he took him on as a pupil.

His uncle later sent him to study with Chotoku Kyan to further study karate because he thought Tatsuo's training was incomplete.

Eizo Shimabukuro (b. 1925) was Tatsuo's younger brother, who also excelled in martial arts.

Eizo studied under his elder brother, Tatsuo, and is said to have also studied under the same masters as Tatsuo, such as Chotoku Kyan, Chojun Miyagi, Choki Motobu, and Shinken Taira.

While the older brother went on to create his own new style of karate, Eizo quickly moved up the ranks in Shōrin-ryū (Shōbayashi).

By the time Shimabukuro was a teenager, he had attained the physical level of a person six years his senior.

His karate training, and work on the family farm, gave him physical strength.

He excelled in athletic events on the island.

By the time he was 17, he was consistently winning in two of his favorite events, the javelin throw and the high jump.

Around the age of 19 (1927), he began to study Shorin-ryu karate under Chotoku Kyan at Kyan's home in the village of Yomitan.

Kyan also taught at the Okinawa Prefectural Agricultural School.

Within a short time, Shimabukuro became one of Kyan's best students and learned the kata: Seisan, Naihanchi, Wansu, Chinto and Kusanku, along with the weapons kata Tokumine nu kun and basic Sai.

He also began his study of "Ki" (or "Chinkuchi; (チンクチ)" in the Okinawan dialect) for which Kyan was most well known.

Shimabukuro studied with Kyan until 1939.

Shimabukuro had always been fascinated by Naha-te karate (Goju Ryu) and sought out Chojun Miyagi, the founder of Goju Ryu.

Miyagi's teacher had been Higaonna Kanryo (also called Higashionna) who brought from China a derivative of Kenpo (拳法) called 'kin gai'.

Pangai Noon was the bearer of Uechi-ryu from China to Okinawa.

Eventually this became Naha-te.

From Miyagi, Tatsuo learned Tensho, Seiunchin ("Seize-Control-Fight") kata and Sanchin ("Three-Fights/Conflicts") kata.

Prior to studying with Miyagi, Shimabukuro, in 1942, sought out another famous Shorin-Ryu instructor, Choki Motobu, who was probably the most colorful of all of Shimabukuro's instructors.

Motobu had had many teachers for short periods of time, including some notable ones such as Anko Itosu (Shuri-te), Sokon Matsumura, and Kosaku Matsumora (Tomari-te).

Motobu was known for often getting into street fights in his youth to promote the effectiveness of karate.

Shimabukuro studied with Motobu for approximately one year.

During the October 10, 1944, bombing raid by the Allied Forces, he lost his horses and carts.

Shimabukuro continued to study and develop his skills in both Shorin-Ryu and Goju-Ryu but he was not satisfied that either style held the completeness he was looking for.

His interest in weapons (Kobudo) grew, and he sought out the most renowned weapons instructors, because he only knew the one bo (staff) kata, 'Tokumine no Kun' and basic sai techniques he had learned from Chotoku Kyan.

He soon became a master in the Bo and Sai weapons.

Shimabukuro opened his first dojo in 1946 after the war in the village of Konbu, near Tengan village.

Coming from a farming family, Shimabukuro had always been poor, but he was very innovative and opportunistic.

He had a natural talent for adapting things.

As a young man in Kyan (Chan) (チャン) Village, he discovered a way to bind tiles to the roofs of homes without using mud, which had been the traditional way.

During World War II, as part of the boeitai, he was forced to help construct the airfield in Kadena with his horses and carts.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he continued his study of Kobudō with one of Moden Yabiku's top students, Shinken Taira.

This training took place in Shimabukuro's dojo in Agena.