Chōmo Hanashiro was born in
Shuri. He started karate practice at a very young age under Sōkon Matsumura(). Hanashiro later on became Itosu’s assistant and remained so until his Itosu’s death in 1915. Unlike Matsumura, Itosu aimed to promote karate as a modality of physical and social development in the public school system of Okinawa, influenced by Hanashiro. Hanashiro died in 1945, during
World War II bombardments by the American military on
Okinawa. These bombings caused 60,000 civilian casualties in 82 days. His most eminent disciples were Shigeru Nakamura (1892–1969), Chitōse (1898–1984), (founder of Chitō-ryū, not to be confused with Kenwa Mabuni's
Shitō-ryū), Nakama Chōzo (1899–1982), who later became a disciple of
Choshin Chibana,
Shimabukuro Zenryō (1904–1969), founder of the
Shōrin-ryū Seibukan"Seibukan
Shōrin-ryū school) and Kinjō Hiroshi (1919–2013). ==References==