various forms upon returning to Okinawa. Matayoshi Shinkô (1888–1947)
studied bô, sai, kama, and eku under Gushikawa no Tigwa in Chatan, Oki-
nawa. He also trained in tonfa and nunchaku under Moshigiwa Ire.
Matayoshi then spent a total of thirteen years traveling throughout China.
He researched several weapons disciplines in his travels, including ba-jutsu
(mounted archery technique), nagenawa-jutsu (lariat technique), and
shuriken(throwing spikes) techniques, which he learned from a gang of
Manchurian bandits. Matayoshi acquired a knowledge of nunti, tinbei, and
suruchinin Shanghai, as well as learning herbal medicine and a Shaolin
Crane Style of boxing known as Kingai-noon (pinyin baihequan). In 1934,
Matayoshi studied another Shaolin-based style in Fuzhou.
Matayoshi disseminated his knowledge of kobudô throughout Oki-
nawa and Japan. He demonstrated kobudô in Tokyo in 1915, performing
with the karate master Funakoshi Gichin. This was the first performance
of Ryûkyûan kobudô on the Japanese mainland. Matayoshi also performed
for the crown prince Hirohito at Shuri Castle in 1921. Shinkô’s son Shinpô
continued the Matayoshi tradition of kobudô until his death in 1997.Okinawan Kobudô
Taira Shinken (1897–1970) began his study of combative forms in 1922
when he met Funakoshi Gichin in Japan. Taira trained with Funakoshi un-
til 1929, when he expanded his studies to include Ryûkyû kobudô under
Yabiku Môden (1882–1945), the leading authority on Okinawan weap-
onry in Japan.
Taira opened his first dôjô in Ikaho, Gunma Prefecture, in 1932, and
was awarded Yabiku’s personal shihan menkyo (Instructor’s Certification)
in 1933. In 1934, Taira began studying with Mabuni Kenwa, the founder
of Shitô-ryû karate and a respected kobudô practitioner. Returning to Oki-
nawa in 1940, Taira continued to research and teach kobudô. He estab-
lished the Ryûkyû Kobudô Hozon Shinkô Kai in 1955 for the purpose of
consolidating, preserving, and disseminating Ryûkyûan kobudô.
The movement was supported in both Okinawa and Japan by many re-
spected karate and kobudô masters, including (in Japan) Mabuni Kenei (son
of Mabuni Kenwa, Seitô Shitô-ryû), Sakagami Ryûshô (Itosu-ha), Kuniba
Shiyogo (Motobu-ha), Hatashi Teruo (Hayashi-ha), and Kunishi Yasuhiro
(Shindô Jinen-ryû). Supporters in Okinawa included Chibana Chôshin
(Shôrin-ryû), Higa Yochoku (Shôrin-ryû), Shimabukuro Eizô (Shobayashi-
ryû), Nakazato Sûgûrô (Kobayashi-ryû), Nagamine Shôshin (Matsubayashi-
ryû), Sôken Hohan (Matsumura Seitô Shôrin-ryû), Nakamura Shigeru
(Shôrin-ryû), Miyahira Katsuya (Naha Shôrin-ryû), Shimabukuro Tatsuo
(Isshin-ryû), Higa Seiko (Gôjû-ryû), Yagi Meitoku (Gôjû-ryû), Miyazato Ei-
ichi (Gôjû-ryû), Toguchi Seikichi (Gôjû-ryû), Fukuchi Seiko (Gôjû-ryû),290 Kobudô, Okinawan