Anko Itosu

Quick Facts

Date of Birth1831

Date of Death3/11/1915

Country of OriginJapan

OccupationCivil servant

Also known asIchiji Anko

Biography

Anko Itosu was an Okinawan karate master from Shuri, the creator of the Pinan katas and the author of the letter Ten Precepts of Karate from 1908. According to Wikipedia he was born in 1831 in the Gibo district of Shuri, other sources give 1830 or 1832. He died in Shuri in 1915, Wikipedia gives 11 March, Tom Ross on the website Fightingarts 26 January.

He came from the lower nobility pechin and was educated in the Chinese classics and calligraphy. He became an official of the Ryukyuan government, according to Wikipedia secretary to the last king until the abolition of the kingdom in 1879, which Ross calls unconfirmed. His main teacher is disputed: tradition names Sokon Matsumura, Choki Motobu wrote in 1932 that he studied under Nagahama of Naha, and Gichin Funakoshi named Gusukuma of Tomari.

In 1901 he began to teach karate at a Shuri elementary school and in 1905 at the First Prefectural Middle School and the teacher training school. For school teaching he created the five Pinan katas, known in Japan as Heian, which according to Kinjo were originally called Channan. According to Iwai he may also have created Kusanku Sho and Passai Sho, and according to Kinjo and Murakami he added Naifanchi Nidan and Sandan. In October 1908 he wrote the letter to Tode Jukun, Ten Precepts of Karate, addressed to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of War.

His students included Gichin Funakoshi, Choki Motobu, Kenwa Mabuni, Chibana Choshin, Yabu Kentsu and Shinpan Shiroma. His photographs are not known, and the surviving images are composites according to Ross.

Early life

According to Wikipedia, Anko Itosu was born in 1831 in the Gibo district of Shuri, the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Other sources give 1830 or 1832. He came from the lower nobility pechin and from a family of the keimochi status, and was educated in the Chinese classics and calligraphy.

According to Tom Ross he passed the civil service examinations, helped by his close friend Anko Azato, and became an official of the Ryukyuan government. Wikipedia states that he was secretary to the last king until the abolition of the kingdom by Japan in 1879, which Ross calls unconfirmed.

Training and teachers

According to Wikipedia his first teacher was the todi master Nagahama Chikudun Pechin and then Sokon Matsumura. The sources, however, differ. Choki Motobu wrote in 1932 that Itosu left Matsumura and studied under Nagahama of Naha, who then named him as his student. Gichin Funakoshi states in his books from 1925 and 1935 that Itosu followed Gusukuma of Tomari, which Tom Ross considers the most probable interpretation.

The school Itosu-ryu also gives training under Kosaku Matsumora of Tomari, and we have not found independent evidence. We infer that Itosu knew the traditions of Shuri and Tomari, and the katas Rohai and Wanshu, which he had in his curriculum, belong according to Ross to the Tomari tradition.

Contribution and innovations

In 1901 he began to teach karate at the Shuri Jinjo elementary school and in 1905 at the First Prefectural Middle School and the prefectural teacher training school for men. For school teaching he created the five Pinan katas, in Japanese Heian. According to Kinjo from 1956 they were originally called Channan, and Motobu stated in 1934 that Itosu told his students that the name Pinan was better. According to Iwai he may have created Kusanku Sho and Passai Sho and adapted Kusanku Dai for physical education, and according to Kinjo and Murakami he added Naifanchi Nidan and Sandan.

In October 1908 he wrote the letter to Tode Jukun, Ten Precepts of Karate, addressed to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of War. In it he recommends introducing karate in elementary schools, training teachers and practising one hundred to two hundred strikes a day with each hand on the makiwara. The precepts were printed in 1938 in the book Karate-do Taikan by Genwa Nakasone. Ross points out that the English translations differ significantly in parts.

Philosophy and principles

In the letter of 1908, Itosu writes that karate did not descend from Buddhism or Confucianism and that it cannot be adequately learned in a short time. In it he recommended daily training and teaching karate in schools. We know the wording from the English translation by Patrick McCarthy, and we have not seen the Japanese original.

Legends and documented facts

Tradition names Itosu as the main student of Sokon Matsumura, which Tom Ross, referring to Motobu and Funakoshi, considers inaccurate or exaggerated. According to one legend Itosu learned Naifanchi from a Chinese sailor shipwrecked in Tomari, while Murakami states that Matsumura taught it to him.

The widespread story of a sandal tied to a wall instead of a makiwara comes according to Wikipedia from a single source. The kata Channan is written about as a lost kata of Itosu, and Swift infers from written sources that it was a predecessor of Pinan and a gradual development. Photographs of Itosu are not known, and the images in circulation are composites according to Ross.

Legacy

According to Wikipedia his students included Yabu Kentsu, Hanashiro Chomo, Gichin Funakoshi, Kenwa Mabuni, Chibana Choshin, Choki Motobu, Moden Yabiku, Anbun Tokuda and Kanken Toyama. Through them the Pinan katas reached Shotokan, Shito-ryu and other styles. Wikipedia states that many consider him the father of modern karate, but this title is also given to Funakoshi.

According to Ross karate gained attention as training for young men after demonstrations for the navy in 1912. Itosu died in Shuri in 1915, Wikipedia gives 11 March, Ross 26 January. His name is carried by the style Itosu-ryu, which according to its own website was passed on through Kenwa Mabuni and Ryusho Sakagami.

Teachers, students and family

Associated Martial Arts

Kata and forms

Quotes