Chan Miyagi-Te - Andy Sloane 2002

 

 Just found some hard copy from 2002 about what Shimibuku taught  1947 – 1951, the idea he may have taught Chan Miyagi-Te No conclusions.

 

ANDY SLOANE

 

Master Shimabuku began teaching in late 1946, after his family was repatriated from Kyushu.  The IWKA had the 40th anniversary celebration of Tatsuo Shimabuku teaching on 2 Nov 1986.

 

Now when Shimabuku Tatsuo first began teaching, he called what he taught “Chan Migwa-te (Small-eyed Chan’s karate) after his primary teacher, Chotoku Kyan. But that name was short lived. When he began training with Chojun Miyagi in very late 1946 and for the first 5 months of 1947 (or maybe even only in 1947), he began blending the two styles together soon afterwards, he wouldn’t have continued to call his art Chan Migwa’s karate because it was wasn’t genuinely solely Chan Migwa’s karate anymore. In about 1947 of 1948 is when Tatsuo Sensei started calling his art “Sun nu Su-te” (Father of Sun’s Karate).

 

The name “Su nu Su”was the nickname Tatsuo had received from the mayor of Kyan village because of a comedic boat oar dance that Tatsuo’s grandfather had once created  and had named “Sun nu Su”. The dance was still known in the community at that time. Tatsuo gave his personal kata that he had devised in 1937 the name “Sun nu Su”, which he later shortened to Sun Su (by dropping the possessive word “nu”.

 

Sunsu kata contains elements of:

          Seisan kata,

          Sanchin kata,

          Passai kata,

          Wansu kata,

          Useishi kata,

          Kusanku kata,

          (arguably Chinto kata, too),

          As well as techniques favored by Tatsuo Sensei from

          The kihon (basics), and kumite (self-defense) that he taught.

 

Isshin-ryu karate was not named as such until 15, Jan 1956 but the style has been in existence since at least as early as 1947.