gested to the karate research group at Keiô University that the character for
“Tang” be replaced with that of “empty” in Dainippon Kenpô Karate-dô.
The suggestion was vigorously resisted in Okinawa until 1936, when a
meeting of karate exponents, sponsored by Ôta Chôfu of the Ryûkyû
Shinpô (Ryûkyû Press), agreed that the character for kara should be writ-
ten as “empty.” The term karatewas thus elevated to the metaphysical
realm by embracing reference not only to unarmed combative applications,
but to Buddhist and Daoist concepts of transcendent spirituality as well. In
this capacity, kara refers to emptying the mind and releasing the body and
spirit from all worldly attachment. The participants at this meeting in-
cluded Miyagi Chôjun, Motobu Chôki, Hanashiro Chômo, and Kyan Chô-
toku. Also present were Yabu Kentsû, Shiroma Shimpan, and Chibana
Chôshin.Chinese in Okinawa
In the twenty-fifth year of the Ming dynasty in China (1392), a group of
Chinese arrived in Okinawa from Fuzhou and settled in the Kume village
(Kuninda) district of Naha. Referred to as the Thirty-Six Families (the
number thirty-six denotes a large rather than a specific number), these fam-
ilies taught a variety of Chinese arts to the Okinawans, including Chinese
combative arts.
The settlement at the Kume village and the exchange that it fostered
prospered through the years, allowing a steady influx of Chinese combat-
ive arts into Okinawan culture. It is reported in the Ôshima Hikki(the
Ôshima Writings) that in the twelfth year of the Hôreki period (1762) the
Chinese kenpô expert Kusanku arrived in Okinawa with a group of his
students. Some oral traditions assert that Sakugawa Toudi was a pupil of
Kusanku. Other Okinawan students included Sakiyama, Gushi, and To-
moyori, of Naha, who studied Zhao Lingliu(Shôrei-ryû) for some time
with the Chinese military attaché Anson. Matsumura Sôkon of Shuri and
Maesato and Kogusuku (Kojô) of Kume (Kuninda) studied Shaolin Boxing
with the military attaché Iwah. Shimabukuro of Uemonden and Higa,
Senaha, Gushi, Nagahama, Arakaki, Higashionna, and Kuwae, all of
Kunenboya, studied Zhao Lingliu with the military attaché Wai Xinxian
(Waishinzan). The teacher of Gusukuma (Shiroma), Kanagusuku, Mat-
sumura, Oyadomari, Yamada, Nakazato, Yamazato, and Toguchi, all of
Tomari, drifted ashore at Okinawa from Annan (a district of Fuzhou or the
old name for Vietnam).Okinawans Abroad
Although oral history relates that Sakugawa Toudi was a student of either
Kusanku or his protégé, Yara Chatan, Sakugawa also studied various fight-242 Karate, Okinawan