Shiroma Shinpan
Gusukuma / Sensei
Okinawan karate master, direct student of Anko Itosu and Kanryo Higaonna, and key Shorin-ryu teacher.
Quick Facts
Okinawa (Japan)Biography
Shiroma Shinpan (Gusukuma) trained under both titan masters Anko Itosu and Kanryo Higaonna, preserving authentic Okinawan Shorin-ryu kata and drills post-WWII.
Associated Martial Arts
An Okinawan striking art reshaped in the 20th century into Japanese budo and an Olympic sport. Built on kata and hand and foot techniques.
Naha-teNotable figure→One of the three Okinawan local traditions from which karate grew. It is not a school with a founder; Gōjū-ryū and Uechi-ryū follow from it.
Shorin-ryuNotable figure→A family of Okinawan lineages descending from Shuri-te. The name points to Shaolin, but that is a claim to the tradition, not evidence of a direct line.
Shuri-teNotable figure→The historical Okinawan empty-hand art from the royal city of Shuri, predecessor of Shotokan. The Shuri-Naha-Tomari division is a later classification by researchers.