Matsubayashi-ryu
松林流A branch of Shorin-ryu founded in Naha in 1947 by Shoshin Nagamine. The name "pine forest" honors Matsumura and Matsumora, and the curriculum has 18 kata.
Quick Facts
JapanCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Matsubayashi-ryu
About Matsubayashi-ryu
Matsubayashi-ryu is a branch of Shorin-ryu founded by Shoshin Nagamine (1907–1997). He took the name in 1947, when he opened a provisional dojo in the Makishi district of Naha, and he opened the full-fledged dojo Kodokan there in January 1953. The name means pine forest and honors two of Nagamine's predecessors, Matsumura Sokon and Matsumora Kosaku. Nagamine was not a professional teacher. He served in the Okinawa police, trained under Chotoku Kyan during his service, and from 1953 to 1957 was a member of the Naha City Council. In 1941 he wrote the kata Fukyugata I for beginners and schoolchildren. The Japanese original of his book on the essence of Okinawan karate appeared in 1975. The curriculum contains 18 kata, from Fukyugata I and II through five Pinan and three naihanchi to Passai, Chinto and Kusanku, seven paired exercises of yakusoku kumite, and kobudo with the bo, sai, nunchaku, tonfa and kama. Fukyugata II was written by the founder of Goju-ryu, Chojun Miyagi. Nagamine stressed mental training and the unity of mind, technique and body. The style is today led by the World Matsubayashi-ryu Karate-Do Association headed by Yoshitaka Taira, whom Okinawa Prefecture recognized as a bearer of an intangible cultural asset of karate and kobudo.
History
Shoshin Nagamine was born on 15 July 1907 in the Tomari district of Naha. From December 1931 he served in the Okinawa police, and during his posting at Kadena station from 1931 to 1936 he trained under Chotoku Kyan. In 1936 he was sent for six months to train with the Tokyo police. He received the title renshi in May 1940 on the recommendation of Chojun Miyagi. In 1941, at the request of a commission of the Okinawa governor Gen Hayakawa, he wrote the simple kata Fukyugata I for beginners and schoolchildren. In July 1947 he opened a provisional dojo in an assigned house in the Makishi district of Naha and took the name Matsubayashi-ryu, a year also confirmed by the Okinawa Prefectural Library. He opened the full-fledged dojo Kodokan in January 1953. He left police service in January 1952 and from December 1953 was a member of the Naha City Council, resigning in 1957. The Japanese original of his book on the essence of Okinawan karate appeared in February 1975. After his death in 1997, his son Takayoshi Nagamine (1945–2012) took over as the second soke.
How it differs
According to the WMKA, Matsubayashi-ryu is a form of Shorin-ryu, a main current of Okinawan karate, and shares the Pinan, naihanchi and the kata Passai, Chinto and Kusanku with its other branches. Unusually, the curriculum also adopted Fukyugata II, written by the founder of Goju-ryu Chojun Miyagi, alongside Nagamine's Fukyugata I. The shared kata differ in performance as well. Researcher Olaf Steinbrecher describes that the Matsubayashi-ryu Wanshu repeats the opening sequence twice and contains the technique makite, unlike the Seibukan and Shorinji-ryu versions. According to him, before the war Nagamine composed Wansu and Wankan from the memories of several teachers. We did not find a documented comparison of stances with other styles.
Technique
The style's curriculum contains 18 kata: Fukyugata I and II, Pinan I to V, Naihanchi I to III, Ananku, Wankan, Rohai, Wanshu, Passai, Gojushiho, Chinto and Kusanku. Nagamine's book The Essence of Okinawan Karate-Do documents them, together with seven paired exercises of yakusoku kumite and the basic techniques, in over a thousand photographs. Kobudo is part of the teaching. It includes kata with the bo, for example Shiromatsu no kon and Sakugawa no kon, with the sai (Kyan no sai), with nunchaku, with the tonfa and with the kama (Kishaba no kama).
Training
In a speech in December 1996 in Hawaii, Nagamine called mental training essential. He named as the goal the unity of mind, technique and body, shin-gi-tai-ichinyo, to which zazen also leads. On the wall of his dojo hang the mottos Mazu sono kokoro wo tadase, first purify the mind, and Karate ni sente nashi, in karate there is no first attack. Dan examinations at Nagamine's dojo in Naha are held twice a year, in May and in November. We did not find the structure of a regular lesson in the sources.
Ranks and progression
Progress begins with the kata Fukyugata I and II, which arose as an easy entry for beginners and schoolchildren. A valid dan certificate in the WMKA must be signed by Shoshin Nagamine, Takayoshi Nagamine or Yoshitaka Taira. A student from a dojo outside the WMKA must train in Okinawa to be accepted and pass a dan examination there, which determines his grade in the organization. Besides dan grades, the titles renshi, kyoshi and hanshi are awarded. Nagamine received renshi in 1940 and was hanshi 10th dan before his death. Sources differ on how exactly titles relate to grades, and we did not find a kyu scale.
Today
The style is led by the World Matsubayashi-ryu Karate-Do Association (WMKA), whose president since the death of Takayoshi Nagamine is Yoshitaka Taira, hanshi 10th dan. According to Okinawa Prefecture, Taira holds a prefectural designation of an intangible cultural asset of Okinawan karate and kobudo, and teaches at the Okinawa Karate World Festival 2026 as representative of Matsubayashi-ryu. The festival's demonstration program includes the kata Wankan from this style.
Did you know
The name Matsubayashi means pine forest, and with it Nagamine honored two teachers, Matsumura Sokon and Matsumora Kosaku. The same characters are read shorin in Chinese, and in the Okinawan reading hayashi turns into bayashi in a compound. During his stay in Tokyo in 1936, Motobu Choki gave him advice on kumite. In June 1945 Nagamine and three other policemen surrendered to American troops after learning of the death of General Ushijima. In his 1996 speech he criticized postwar practitioners who chase victories and prizes. He gave his last major public speech in September 1997 at the opening of the Okinawa Prefectural Budokan.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Matsubayashi-ryu and when?
Matsubayashi-ryu was founded by the Okinawan karateka Shoshin Nagamine. He adopted the name in 1947, when he opened a dojo in Naha, and he opened the main dojo, Kodokan, in January 1953.
What does the name Matsubayashi-ryu mean?
Matsubayashi means pine forest, matsu is pine and hayashi forest. With the name Nagamine honoured Matsumura Sokon and Matsumora Kosaku. The Chinese reading of the same characters is shorin.
Is Matsubayashi-ryu the same as Shorin-ryu?
According to the style's world association, Matsubayashi-ryu is one of the forms of Shorin-ryu, one of the main currents of Okinawan karate. It has its own syllabus of 18 kata, including Fukyugata I and II.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.