Kenwa Mabuni (Mabuni Kenwa 摩文仁 賢和) was born in
Shuri,
Okinawa in 1889. Mabuni was a 17th generation descendant of the warrior
Uni Ufugusuku Kenyu. He began his instruction in his home town in the art of at the age of 13, under the tutelage of (1831–1915). He trained diligently for several years, learning many
kata. It was Itosu who first developed the
Pinan kata, which were possibly derived from the
Kusanku form. One of his close friends, (founder of
Gojū-ryū Karate) introduced Mabuni to another great of that period, . Mabuni began to learn under him. While both Itosu and Higaonna taught a "hard-soft" style of Okinawan "Te", their methods and emphases were quite distinct: the Itosu syllabus included straight and powerful techniques as exemplified in the
Naihanchi and
Bassai kata; the Higaonna syllabus stressed circular motion and shorter fighting methods as seen in the kata
Seipai and
Kururunfa. Shitō-ryū focuses on both hard and soft techniques. Although he remained true to the teachings of these two masters, Mabuni sought instruction from a number of other teachers, including
Seishō Arakaki, Tawada Shimboku, Sueyoshi Jino and Wu Xiangui (a Chinese white crane kung fu master known as Go-Kenki in Japanese). In fact, Mabuni was legendary for his encyclopaedic knowledge of
kata and their
bunkai applications. By the 1920s, he was regarded as the foremost authority on Okinawan
kata and their history and was much sought after as a teacher by his contemporaries. There is even some evidence that his expertise was sought out in China, as well as in Okinawa and mainland Japan. As a police officer, he taught local law enforcement officers and at the behest of his teacher Itosu, began instruction in the various grammar schools in Shuri and
Naha. In an effort to popularize karate in mainland Japan, Mabuni made several trips to
Tokyo in 1917 and 1928. Although much that was known as
Te (lit. "hand") or karate had been passed down through many generations with jealous secrecy, it was his view that it should be taught to anyone who sought knowledge with honesty and integrity. In fact, many masters of his generation held similar views on the future of Karate:
Gichin Funakoshi (founder of
Shotokan), another contemporary, had moved to Tokyo in the 1920s to promote his art on the mainland as well. By 1929, Mabuni had moved to
Osaka on the mainland, to become a full-time karate instructor of a style he originally called Hanko-ryū, or "half-hard style". The name of the style changed to
Shitō-ryū, in honor of its main influences. Mabuni derived the name for his new style from the first
kanji character from the names of his two primary teachers, Itosu and Higaonna (also called Higashionna). With the support of Ryusho Sakagami (1915–1993), he opened a number of Shitō-ryū
dojo in the Osaka area, including one at
Kansai University and the Japan Karatedō-kai dojo. To this day, the largest contingent of Shitō-ryū practitioners in Japan is centered in the Osaka area. Mabuni published a number of books on the subject and continued to systematize his instruction method. In his latter years, he developed a number of formal
kata, such as Aoyagi, for example, which was designed specifically for women's self-defense. To this day, Shitō-ryū recognizes the influences of Itosu and Higaonna: the
kata syllabus of Shitō-ryū is still often listed in such a way as to show the two lineages. ==Succession==