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Settled among the 48 inhabited Ryukyu Islands is the celebrated birthplace of karate, Okinawa. Many in the world have heard of Okinawa because of karate: whether through watching the Cobra Kai television series, remembering the Karate Kid films of the 1980's, having a family member pass through Okinawa during an army service tour, or being a member of a karate dojo somewhere in the world.
The three main styles of karate recognized on Okinawa today are Goju-Ryu, Uechi-Ryu and Shorin-Ryu. Each has a rich history and heritage and are cultural assets to be celebrated by the people of Okinawa and shared with the world.
There exists another style of karate that has spread from Okinawa throughout the world, but is dangerously close to becoming extinct except outside of its celebrated home of Okinawa. That style is Isshin-Ryu.
Isshin-Ryu is a style of karate unveiled by Shinkichi “Tatsuo” Shimabuku on January 15, 1956. Though Shimabuku was 48 when he unveiled Isshin-Ryu, as early as age 39 he envisioned a system that he felt represented all of the Okinawan karate traditions he had been exposed to in his years of training under several notable masters. By looking at a brief history of Shimabuku’s formal training and the world events during his life, you can get an idea of who he was and his vision of karate training, which resulted in Isshin-Ryu.
Born in 1908 (Meiji 41) in Gushikawa Village in present day Uruma City, Shimabuku began his formal martial arts training around 1924 under Choyu Motobu in Motobu Udun-di (the Motobu family martial art). In 1927, he began training under Chotoku Kyan (Chan Miguwa in the Okinawan dialect) at Kyan’s home in Yomitan. During these years, Kyan simply called his art, “Okinawan Kempo,” and didn’t really have an official name for his style.
Though Kyan’s students later called what Kyan taught by differing names, Shimabuku called his teacher’s art, “Chan Miguwa-di” (Small-eyed Kyan Hand). Shimabuku trained under Kyan until 1939, when he then traveled to the Philippine Islands for work. It is unclear whether he trained or taught in the Philippines during this time.
But, he did return to Okinawa in 1941 and trained briefly with Choyu Motobu’s younger brother, Choki Motobu, in his own personal style called, “Motobu-ryu.” Choki Motobu participated in kakedameshi (an early type of controlled free sparring) and formulated his personal style based upon that experience.
With WWII in full swing, Shimabuku was among those Okinawans forced into the civilian labor corps created by the Imperial Japanese Army. This included the project of reinforcing the airfield in Yara Village, Kadena in preparation to defend Okinawa against an Allied attack. All airfields were destroyed on October 10, 1944 by Allied bombs. Thousands of Okinawans—including Shimabuku and his family—were then evacuated to Kyushu and were spared possible death during the Battle of Okinawa (April 1 - June 22, 1945).
In late 1946, Shimabuku and his family returned to Okinawa where he worked many jobs to care for his family, including as a tax collector in Kyan Village and performing bo kata at weddings and festivals. During this time, he began teaching karate publicly and became known by the nickname, “Tatsuo” (Dragon Man).
He developed his own empty-hand kata called, “Sun nu Su,” which means, “ Father of the Old Man.” This kata’s name was later shortened to, “Sunsu.” In 1947, he trained briefly under Chojun Miyagi, founder of Goju-Ryu, when Miyagi would visit his daughter in neighboring Taba Village.
Shimabuku’s karate included a combination of the karate taught to him by his previous teachers. But, he didn’t always agree with his teachers and would alter the movements to reflect his ideas. He changed to a higher stance for better mobility and balance, taught a half-rotation (vertical fist) rather than a full-rotation for punches, and used forearm blocks focusing contact with the forearm muscles, rather than bones.
His empty-handed kata included Seisan, Seiunchin, Naihanchi, Wansu, Chinto, Kusanku, Sun nu Su (Sunsu), and Sanchin. The weapons katas included Tukunmi nu Kun (Tokumine no kon) and Chan nu Sai (a short sai kata based upon sai techniques taught by Chotoku Kyan).
For beginning students, Shimabuku began with a set of 29 kihon (basic strikes, blocks, kicks, and exercises) to build their fundamentals in preparation for later advanced training. He included makiwara striking and forearm conditioning (kotekitai) for all students. By the late 1950’s, Shimabuku created Kusanku Sai kata, which replaced Chan nu Sai.
In 1956, Shimabuku announced his new style of karate and named it, “Isshin-Ryu,” which translates to “Whole-Hearted Method.”
In late 1955, he began teaching the US Marines and acquired a contract in March 1958 with the US Marine Corps to teach Isshin-Ryu to Marines to “promote friendship and understanding between two nations.”
Arcenio J. Advincula (USMC (Ret)), one of Shimabuku’s early Isshin-Ryu students, helped facilitate creation of the Isshin-Ryu patch. The first design was printed in January 1961 at a print shop that is still in business today on Chuo Park Avenue, Okinawa City, near Kadena Air Base. There were several early misunderstandings due to the language barrier between Advincula and the print shop, but, later revisions were fundamentally the same as the original patch.
The foundation of the original patch began with the shape of the patch resembling a vertical fist. The first batch was intended to be the “fist shape” found in later patches, but a miscommunication with the patch maker resulted in a shape resembling the thumb on the side of the fist instead of the thumb on the top of the first. The shape is bordered in gold to indicate that karate should be cherished and valued.
Though the border was intended to be metallic gold in color, the first batch of the original 1961 patches were made with orange thread simply due to the language barrier between Advincula and the patch maker. Later versions made in the United States by Advincula included gold thread. Inside the patch is a replica of the megami (goddess) painting that hung in Shimabuku’s dojo.
The goddess upper body is female and represents gentle/yielding, while the lower body is a dragon, symbolizing fierce/hard. One hand of the goddess is open in a peaceful manner, while the other is closed to symbolize strength. The three stars on the patch collectively symbolize Shimabuku’s three primary karate influences: Chotoku Kyan, Choki Motobu, and Chojun Miyagi. The kanji begins at the top and reads, ”Wholehearted Method Empty Hand” The dragon flying overhead symbolizes Isshin-Ryu’s founder, “Tatsuo” (Dragon Man).
Continued evolution of Isshin-Ryu was experienced between 1958 and 1960, when Shimabuku trained in kobudo under Shinken Taira. This resulted in Shimabuku’s unique version of Chatan Yara nu Sai (Jp: Kitatani Yara no sai), Urashi nu Kun (Jp: Urasoe no kon), Shishi nu Kun (Jp: Sueyoshi no Kon), and Hamafija nu Tuifa (Jp: Hamahiga no Tonfa) to the Isshin-Ryu curriculum.
As the Marines began training in Isshin-Ryu in the 1950’s, they experienced an early version of Isshin-Ryu, possibly missing the additional kobudo changes due to their few years of Isshin-Ryu training before moving to their next duty station away from Okinawa. In those years, Shimabuku would award ranking with the anticipation of a Marine continuing their training.
He also wanted to expand Isshin-Ryu into the United States and would award high dan rank. Unfortunately, there were some that didn’t continue their training, yet accepted an advanced rank, prematurely. Shimabuku received a lot of grief from the karate community for doing this. In response, Shimabuku issued a letter stripping the rank of anyone granted dan rank before 1961.
Shimabuku visited the United States twice, 1964 (early September-late November) and October 1966 to January 1967, and was witness to his style’s expansion into the U.S. by his former Marine Corps students. Shimabuku retired from teaching in 1972 and appointed his oldest son, Kichiro, as successor. Shinkichi Shimabuku died on May 30, 1975 of a stroke.
Kichiro Shimabuku remains as the current headmaster of Isshin-Ryu karate and continues to teach at his dojo at 2-1-3 Kinaka, Uruma City, Okinawa.
A second Isshin-Ryu dojo led by Tsuyoshi Uechi is found in Misato, Okinawa City. 6-16-6 Misato, Okinawa City, Okinawa.
Andy Sloane has been an Isshin-Ryu student for thirty years, nearly thirteen of which have been on Okinawa. Sloane sensei began his training under Harvey Kennedy in 1993. In 2000 as a new Isshin-Ryu 1st dan, he became a student of Ed Johnson, a first-generation student of Shinkichi Shimabuku in Fort Worth, Texas. Being more curious than most students, Sloane sensei became an avid historian for Isshin-Ryu and has met and/or interviewed over 40 of Shimabuku’s original students.
A 19-year Navy veteran, he has taken the opportunity to lead classes and demonstrate Isshin-Ryu wherever he is stationed. Except for a 2-year assignment (2012-2014) to Korea, he has taught at various locations on Okinawa from 2008-2023, including White Beach Naval Installation, Marine Corps Base Camp Foster, and Kadena Air Base.
In addition, he spent 10 years as the primary assistant to Tsuyoshi Uechi at the Marine Corps Base Camp Foster dojo on Okinawa and served as the administrative assistant for Uechi’s Isshin-Ryu Okinawa Traditional Karate-do Association.
In 2020, Sloane sensei was awarded a commission as a Kentucky Colonel, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, due to his many years of volunteer service teaching Isshin-Ryu. He currently resides at Marine Corp Air Station Iwakuni in Japan with his wife while he completes his last assignment before retirement. Sloane sensei plans to retire to Longview, Texas.
I had the opportunity to visit with Sloane sensei during his last few weeks in Okinawa in 2023 before deploying to his next Navy assignment. He provided the information for this article and generously offered his time to discuss Isshin-Ryu and to demonstrate some of Isshin-Ryu’s unique training aspects. Sloane sensei likes to help people understand the system of Isshin-Ryu and plans to teach classes at his next duty station at Naval Air Station Lemoore in Kings County, California.
“Isshin-Ryu is just as important of a style as the three main styles of karate on Okinawa,” says Sloane sensei. “Unfortunately, there are only two Isshin-Ryu dojos remaining here,” he says about Okinawa. “I will continue to teach and spread the teachings of Isshin-Ryu wherever I go. But I’m afraid it may become extinct as a style on Okinawa within the next generation.”
On March 24, 2023 at Risner Gym on Kadena Air Base, Sloane sensei tested Technical Sergeant Ben Miller to 1st dan black belt in Isshin-Ryu. Among the witnesses to the exam were Patrick McCarthy (9th dan, Koryu Uchinadi), Scot Mertz (8th dan, Goju-Ryu), John Lohde (8th dan, Sukunaihayashi-Ryu), Dan Antonsen (8th dan, Meibukan Goju-Ryu), Pam Darty (7th dan, Sukunaihayashi-Ryu), Robert McLain (7th dan, Chayon-Ryu/Shizen-Ryu), and Josh Simmers (5th dan, Okinawa Kenpo).
While Sloane sensei has promoted four prior students to black belt over the years, Sergeant Miller was the first to start as a white belt and complete his 2 ½ year journey to black belt under Sloane sensei. Sergeant Miller has since retired from the U.S. Air Force and resides in Scotland.
While Okinawa will be losing Sloane sensei as an Isshin-Ryu resource, prospective students and visitors may reach out to the dojos of Kichiro Shimabuku and Tsuyoshi Uechi for Isshin-Ryu instruction on Okinawa.
Sloane sensei welcomes correspondence and questions about Isshin-Ryu and may be contacted at: andysloane@hotmail.com.
