Seiyu Oyata

Quick Facts

Date of Birth1928

Date of Death2012

Country of OriginJapan

Biography

Seiyu Oyata (1928–2012) was an Okinawan martial arts master, the founder of the Ryu-te system and a 10th dan in this style. In the 80s of the 20th century he brought tuite and kyusho-jitsu techniques to the Western martial arts world. He died in Okinawa.

His father Kana Oyata was a master of the Okinawan wrestling tegumi. During the Second World War, after returning to Okinawa, he learned judo, iaido and kendo. Uhugushiku, a former gatekeeper, at first refused to teach him and changed his mind only on discovering he was a relative of Jana Ueekata; he taught him weapons, mainly the bo staff, and tuite techniques. Another teacher was Wakinaguri, a bushi of Chinese origin in the sixth generation on Okinawa, who taught him the family style to-te, including strikes to pressure points. Neither had children, and Oyata thus became the sole heir of their art. From Shigeru Nakamura he took over twelve basic empty-hand kata, which are still practised in Ryu-te today, and he was a member of the Okinawa Kenpo Karate Kobudo Federation until Nakamura's death in 1968.

In the late 60s the first American soldiers began to train with him. In 1977 his American students brought him to Kansas City in the state of Kansas, where the Ryukyu Kempo Association was formed. In 1991 he presented the concept of Oyata Shin Shu Ho and from 1994 admitted senior members into it. In 1995 he renamed the system from Ryukyu Kempo to Ryu-te, because Ryukyu Kempo had become a general designation for Okinawan styles, and founded the Ryu-te Association in the USA. George Dillman was his student.

Teachers, students and family

Associated Martial Arts

Organisations

• RYUKRyukyu Kempo AssociationFounder · 1977
• RYUTRyu-te AssociationFounder · 1995