The teachers of the KKBK teach the arts separately but at the same time blend the arts togetherinto a compact fighting art that reflects both weaponed and empty hand fighting skills.
Section ThreeMOTOBU-HA SHITO-RYUMaster Choki Motobu was born the third son to the Motobu family in Okinawa. The Motobufamily was of Samurai class, which meant that the first son of the family was taught the familyfighting methods. The story is told that Choki Motobu, being disappointed and frustrated bythis, would sneak in and watch his older brother's training. The story goes on to say that ChokiMotobu soon found that this was too slow and frustrating for him, so he began to lift heavyrocks and punch the punching post or Makiwara. After a while, he became so strong that heearned the name "Monkey King" because of his tremendous leaping ability and general agility.The famous martial arts author Patrick Mccarthy asked in the beginning of his article thatappeared in Fight Times “How many martial artists in the history of karate had ever enjoyed theopportunity to study directly under such formidable masters as Bushi Matsumura, TokuminiPechin, Itosu Ankoh, Matsumora Kosaku, Motobu Choyu and Satkuma Usumei? And answeredthat question with this answer-- To the best of my knowledge there was only one, MotobuChoki. With instructors of that caliber, the experience that 100 street fights in Naha's Tsujidistrict bestow, and the ambition to continually improve his skill, Motobu Choki stands alone inthe annals of karate history as its most tenacious pioneer.” In his youth, Master Motobu becameknown as a brawler and a trouble maker, so when he applied to became the student of MasterItosu, this reputation made it more difficult to be accepted as a student of one of the foremostMasters in Okinawa. However, he succeeded and eventually became one of the most famousfighters of his day. Master Motobu, after moving to Japan, in or about 1922, challenged manymen. However, the defeat of a Russian boxer may have made him the most famous, the Russianboxer died as a result of injuries received in thee ring, fighting with Motobu. In 1922, MasterMotobu helped Master Funakoshi start the teaching of Karate to the Japanese. Filled with anew outlook on his life, Master Motobu returned to Okinawa in 1936 and began training withMaster Kentsu Yabu. Master Yabu was the only man to have ever defeated Master Motobu.Master Motobu did instruct many noted modern day masters, among them were ShoshinNagamine , Tatsuo Shimabuku, and Kosei Kuniba.Motobu-Ha Shito-ryu literally means Shito-ryu of Motobu. Master Choki Motobu lived from1871 to 1944 and trained many Karate people, among those people was Master Kosei Kuniba,of the Seishinkai Karate dojo in Osaka, Japan. The Seishinkai Karate dojo originally taughtMotobu ryu (the original style taught by Choki Motobu. However, people such as Mabuni, andSakagami,also taught at the Seishinkai. They were Shito-ryu masters, however in those daysthere was a free exchange of information and ideas between the various karate factions. ShogoKuniba, Kosei Kuniba’s son trained diligently with these famous teachers. The result was acombination of Mabuni kata and Motobu fighting techniques that came to be know as MotobuHa Shito-ryu. Shogo Kuniba, was named Soke dai of Motobu ryu after his fathers passing andSoke of Motobu ha Shito-ryu which he founded in I believe the mid-fifties, although I cannot findany documented proof of this date. The Dai Nippon Budo Kan Kai accepted Motobu ha Shito-ryuas a bonafied style sometime in the mid-fifties.Shogo Kuniba, had a varied regimen of intense training at the hands of some of the worlds mostrenowned martial arts masters. The one thing that impresses me is that he was actually training3 different systems of Karate at the same time. Motobu-ryu, Mabuni ha Shito-ryu, and KenyuRyu. It is this one fact that above all else, leads me to believe that his evolution from RyukuMotobu ha Karate do, to Kuniba Ryu, by way of Motobu ha Shito-ryu, was the result of anintense examination of all that he was taught. The result was and is one of the most prolific
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