Shorinjiryu Kenkokan Karate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shorinjiryu Kenkokan Karate (少林寺流拳行館空手, Shorinjiryu Kenkokan Karate^?) is a style of karate founded by Kori Hisataka (Seiki Kudaka in Okinawan)(1907-1988) shortly after World War II in Japan. It is a unique blend of Okinawan kobudo and Shorinji Ryū Karate, Japanese aikijujutsu, judo, kenjutsu, and Chinese bājíquán.^[1] ^[2]

The style is responsible for a number of innovations to karate training including:

Use of the heel when kicking
Whole body is put into action when executing a technique, using a follow through motion
Use of the vertical fist (tate ken)
Practice of yakusoku kumite
Use of protective equipment to allow the karatedo student to really test their techniques without having to hold back their power
Practice of weapons (buki ho)

In many respects, Shorinjiryu Karate has a strong resemblance to Japanese Koryu Budo, in that it has a great emphasis on 2 person pre-arrange drills (yakusoku kumite). One person kata is an important practice, and the main kata taught in the style in its early days were versions of Naihanchin, Nijushiho, Sanchin, Chinto and Kusanku, as well as a Bo (6ft staff) kata (Shishiryu no Bo), a Jo (4ft staff) kata and a Sai (iron truncheon) kata (Nijushiho no Sai). Other kata were introduced later, mainly by the son of the founder, Masayuki Hisataka.

Following Kori Hisataka's retirement in 1974, his son Masayuki Hisataka took over as head of the organization.

[edit] Derivative Schools

Since Kori Hisataka's retirement, several direct senior practitioners chose to leave the Kenkokan and establish their own Shorinjiryu groups. Of these, Shunji Watanabe is the most senior, and carries on the teachings of Kori Hisataka in Baltimore, MD, USA. Shigeru Ishino is also a direct student of Kori Hisataka, teaching in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ^[3] In the 1980s Myron Lubitsch founded the Shorinjiryu Shinzen Kyokai, an umbrella organisation of the various groups descended from the lineage of Kori Hisataka but apart from the Kenkokan group. .^[4]