Matayoshi Shinko
又吉眞光
Okinawan kobudo master from Naha, founder of the Matayoshi Kobudo system, who learned weapons in Okinawa and Chinese martial arts in Manchuria, Shanghai and Fuzhou.
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JapanBiography
Matayoshi Shinko (又吉眞光) was an Okinawan master of weapons work and the founder of the Matayoshi Kobudo system. He was born in 1888 in the Senburu part of the city of Naha, Okinawa, as the third son of the wealthy merchant Matayoshi Shinchin, and was the only member of the family to take up martial arts. His year of death differs between sources: some give 1945, others 1947, at the age of 59.
He learned the techniques of bo, eku, kama and sai from master Agena Shokuha of the village of Gushikawa (in some sources Agena Chokuho), and tonfu and nunchaku from master Irei of Nozato in Chatan. He also mastered ba-jutsu (mounted archery), shuriken-jutsu, nagenawa-jutsu, nunti-jutsu, timbe-jutsu and suruchin-jutsu. Between 1911 and 1915 he studied Chinese martial arts in Manchuria; in Fuzhou he learned Chinese boxing and Shorinji kenpo from local instructors, and in Shanghai acupuncture and herbal medicine from a master named Kinkoroushi.
In 1921 he demonstrated his art during a visit by Prince Hirohito to Okinawa. Around 1935 he returned to Naha for good, and only then did he finalise the Matayoshi Kobudo system.
He passed on the kata Sakugawa no Kon, Shushi no Kon, Tsuken Akachu no Eku De and Nunti Bo no Kata. The system was spread worldwide after him by his son Shinpo Matayoshi (1921–1997), who became soke, the head of the line.