Kanken Toyama
遠山寛賢
Okinawan karate master (1888–1966), student of Itosu Anko and founder of the Shudokan dojo in Tokyo, who claimed that karate has no separate styles.
Quick Facts
JapanBiography
Kanken Toyama was an Okinawan and Japanese karate master, a student of Itosu Anko and founder of the Shudokan dojo in Tokyo, who claimed karate has no styles. He was born in 1888 in Shuri under the surname Oyadomari, according to Wikipedia on 24 September 1888 in the Gibo district. He died in 1966 at the age of 78, and Wikipedia gives 24 November.
According to Ryukyu Bugei, from youth he studied under Itarashiki, Itosu Anko and Higaonna Kanryo, staff fencing under the master Oshiro and the kata Kushanku under Chibana Chosho. In 1906 he entered the Okinawan teacher training school, where Itosu taught, from 1908 he was his assistant for three years and graduated in 1911. After moving to Taiwan in 1924 he studied Chinese kenpo under Chen Foji and Lin Xiantang.
In 1931, according to Wikipedia already on 20 March 1930, he founded the Shudokan dojo in Asakusa, Tokyo. He wrote books on karate, among them, according to Wikipedia, Karate-do Taikan from 1959. He held the view that karate has no styles, and so did not name his own school. After the war the first Okinawan governor awarded him the title Karate-do Dai-shihan.
Around 1948, according to Ryukyu Bugei, he disputed with Gichin Funakoshi over the leading position in karate. He named no successor and the organisation, according to Wikipedia, fell apart after his death. His students included Yun Kwae-byung, who then led the Korean school Kanbukan.
Early life
Kanken Toyama was born in 1888 in Shuri under the birth surname Oyadomari, and he adopted the surname Toyama later. Wikipedia gives the date 24 September 1888 and the Gibo district. According to Wikipedia, he began training in 1897 at the age of nine under Itarashiki. In 1906 he entered the Okinawan prefectural teacher training school, where karate was taught by Itosu Anko and his assistant instructor was Kentsu Yabu.
Training and teachers
According to the Ryukyu Bugei website, from youth he studied under Itarashiki, Itosu Anko and Higaonna Kanryo, but the exact dates are not known. From 1908 he was for three years an assistant to Itosu and Yabu, and in 1911 he graduated from the teacher training school. He studied staff fencing under the master Oshiro and the kata Kushanku under Chibana Chosho, for whom he worked. He specialised in the old form of the kata Gojushiho from the tradition of Kentsu Yabu.
In 1924 he moved to Taiwan, where he studied Chinese kenpo under Chen Foji in Taipei and under Lin Xiantang in Taichung. Wikipedia gives Aragaki Ankichi and Azato Anko as further teachers, and we have not verified these names in another source.
Contribution and innovations
In 1931 he moved to Tokyo and in Asakusa in front of the Ishihama primary school founded the Shudokan dojo, and Wikipedia gives the opening as 20 March 1930. He wrote the books Karate-do Okute Hijutsu, Karate-do Taihyokan and Karate-do Nyumon and, according to Wikipedia, in 1959 Karate-do Taikan. In his books he held the view that karate has no styles.
After the war the first Okinawan governor, Shikiya Koshin, awarded him the title Karate-do Dai-shihan. According to the Ryukyu Bugei website, he donated several hundred books for schoolchildren to Okinawa Prefecture.
Philosophy and principles
According to the Ryukyu Bugei website, he held in his book the view that karate has no separate styles. He therefore did not name his karate as a school and did not claim any style. We infer that he understood Shudokan too as a place of instruction and not as a new style, which also fits with the fact that he named no successor.
Legends and documented facts
Around 1948, according to the Ryukyu Bugei website, he disputed with Gichin Funakoshi over who was the leading figure of karate, and the direct students of Itosu are said to have supported Toyama. Wikipedia states that the Japanese government gave him the right to award grades in any Okinawan style, but it itself calls this unsupported.
His influence on the beginnings of taekwondo through Korean students is often mentioned. The claim rests on two books, one of which was written by the founder of one of the Korean schools, and is not independently documented. The sources also differ on the year Shudokan was founded (1930 and 1931) and on the appointment as an assistant at the teacher training school (1907 and 1908).
Legacy
He died in 1966 at the age of 78, and Wikipedia gives 24 November in Shuri. He named no successor and the organisation, according to Wikipedia, fell apart after his death. His student Yun Kwae-byung later led the Korean school Kanbukan, and Kinjo Hiroshi was vice-president of Shudokan and then of the association Zen Nihon Karate-do Renmei Renbukai. Christian Bellina published a book about him, Toyama Kanken: The Heritage of Shudokan.