What is Okinawa Shorin-ryu?
Shorin-ryu is one of the major modern styles of Okinawan karate. It is one of the two most practiced original Okinawan styles today, along with Goju-ryu. Said to have been founded by Sokon Matsumura during the 1800s, Shorin-ryu combines elements of the traditional Okinawan fighting (karate) styles Shuri-te and Tomari-te. Whereas Goju-ryu is rooted in the other traditional Okinawan style, Naha-te. Along with being a style on its own, Shorin-ryu is also perhaps the most influential single ancestor of modern Japanese karate. Karate has many various ‘styles’ or ‘ryu-ha’. All karate styles that exist have their origins in at least one of the original Okinawan styles. Some practitioners of karate – including students of Matsumura – in Okinawa travelled to mainland Japan to teach their knowledge of karate, spreading karate across the mainland. This is how such styles as Shotokan, Shito-ryu, and Wado-ryu, as some examples, have originated. Generally speaking, karate is karate. Despite the many
