Concise History of Shorinjiryu Kenkokan Karate-do:

Fighting arts (budo) have been a part of human culture for thousands of years. The physical security of individuals and the tribe have often depended on the ability to defend oneself, with or without a weapon, from attackers and invaders. Like many combat styles, Shorinjiryu Karatedo has roots that go far back in time and spread across many cultural sources. The two primary cultural influences appear to be those of the Chinese, with Kempo, and the Okinawans, with “Okinawa-te.”

 

Many scholars believe that it was Bodhidarma who introduced Zen (Ch'an in Chinese) Buddhism to China from India, around 500 AD. He began his teachings at the Shaolin temple, developing a system of physical training and conditioning to prepare the monks for the rigorous demands of his method of study. This system included a variety of self-defense techniques and eventually became known as Shorinji Kempo (or Wu Shu, which also means Kung Fu). Although Kempo would eventually die out in China, due to various prohibitions and its ultimate banning during the Boxer Rebellion of the late 1800’s, by 1400 Kempo had to spread to Okinawa.

 

Okinawa had its own indigenous system of self-defence, Okinawa-te, meaning “Okinawa Hand” or “Technique.” This system also has a rich history, dating back some 2000 years, and similar to Kempo, Okinwa-te was often practiced in secrecy, using modified farm tools as weapons, because at various times fighting forms and the use of weapons were banned by the leaders of Okinawa and later by the Japanese during their occupation of the island.

 

Both Okinawa-te and Shorinji Kempo were practiced in secrecy on the Island of Okinawa for a few hundred years, eventually merging into one system known as Tode (Karate). Throughout the 1800’s and early 1900’s, the Karate practiced in Okinawa would give rise to a succession of modern Karate masters, who would in turn develop their own styles of Karate and introduce these styles to the West after World War II.

Among these masters was Shinan Kori Hisitaka (right photo), who founded Shorinjiryu Kenkokan Karatedo. Born and raised in Okinawa, Dr. Hisitaka was well schooled in both Kempo Karate and Okinawa-te from an early age. As an aristocrat (a direct descendant of Seiwa, the fifty-sixth emperor of Japan, and of Tametomo Minamoto, the uncle of Japan’s first Shogun) Dr. Hisitaka was also taught the family style of Karatedo (Kudakaryu) and introduced to weapons training, especially bo-jutsu. As a young man, Dr. Hisitaka trained and studied closely with Master Chojun Miyagi, founder of Gojuryu, and Master Kenwa Mabuni, founder of Shitoryu. The three would go on to tour Taiwan, demonstrating their skill and defeating many opponents. Dr. Hisitaka continued his travels to China, Russia, Afghanistan, and eventually Japan where he studied the prominent arts of each locality partaking in many competitions and exchanges of technique and style.

 

At the end of World War II, after completing a tour of duty in China as part of the Japanese Army, Kaiso Hisitaka returned to Japan and founded Shorinjiryu Kenkokan Karatedo in 1946. He saw Budo as an excellent way for the demoralized people of Japan to regain their spirit. Relying on his experience as a premiere martial artist, and a careful analysis of the major Japanese arts, Kaiso Hisitaka developed a new style that would supplement the weaknesses he found in other styles with his own practical experience and insight.

 

Shorinjiryu Kenkokan Karate-do is now practiced across the globe and was the style of Karate selected to represent Japan at the World Fair in New York (1964), and at Expo ’67 in Montreal Quebec. International and world championships are held in different locations on a regular basis. The global proliferation of this style in a mere half-century is a testament to its sound martial and spiritual principles, and to the dedication of all Shorinjiryu Kenkokan Karate-ka.