Ryuei-ryu
劉衛流Okinawan karate of the Nakaima family, related to Goju-ryu and known for the kata Anan and Ohan. Olympic kata champion Kiyuna Ryo comes from this style.
Quick Facts
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Training
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
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About Ryuei-ryu
Ryuei-ryu is the Okinawan karate of the Nakaima family from the village of Kume in Naha. According to family tradition, Nakaima Norisato (Kenri, 1819–1879) studied in China under a master called Ryu Ryu Ko, and the art was then passed on only by his son Kenchu and his grandson Kenko. Researchers Graham Noble and Mark Bishop question this lineage, and Bishop believes Kenko created the style's unique kata only in the nineteen-sixties. We have not been able to confirm either. What is documented is that the magazine Jinbutsu Orai in 1964 already called Kenko's art Ryuei-ryu and that it began to be taught publicly around 1970. According to Kenko, it includes combat without weapons, methods with old Chinese weapons and health methods. Noble lists eleven kata. Sanchin, Seisan, Seiunchin and Sanseru are close to the Goju-ryu versions, while Ohan, Pachu, Anan, Paiku and Heiku are found in no other style. The daily Ryukyu Shimpo stresses footwork, the distance "one foot, two fists" and the unity of attack and defense. The style gained worldwide visibility through kata competitors. Sakumoto Tsuguo won three world titles in a row, and his student Kiyuna Ryo won four in a row and in 2021 in Tokyo the first Olympic gold in men's kata.
History
Ryuei-ryu is the karate of the Nakaima family from the village of Kume in Naha. According to family tradition, Nakaima Norisato (Kenri, 1819–1879) studied in China at nineteen under a master called Ryu Ryu Ko and on his return passed the art on to his family. His only student was said to be his son Kenchu (1856–1953), followed by his grandson Kenko (1911–1989). The family says the secret books and weapons brought from China were destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa. Researchers question this lineage. The historian Graham Noble finds it chronologically unlikely that Kenri and Higaonna Kanryo had the same Chinese teacher, since about forty years separate them. According to Noble, Mark Bishop claims that Kenko created the style's unique kata in the nineteen-sixties for tournaments. We have not been able to confirm either. Nakaima Kenko was an educator and the head of public schools. He received the Ryuei-ryu kaiden at 37 and also studied karate under Oshiro Chojo and Yabu Kentsu. A December 1964 report in the magazine Jinbutsu Orai already calls his art Ryuei-ryu, and Noble says public teaching began around 1970.
How it differs
Graham Noble groups Ryuei-ryu among the styles similar to Goju-ryu. The kata Sanchin, Seisan, Seiunchin and Sanseru also appear in Goju-ryu and the Ryuei-ryu versions are very similar to them. Noble finds the Ryuei-ryu Niseishi unusual, lying between the orthodox Niseishi and the Sanseru of Goju-ryu. Paiho is connected with the white crane kata Hakutsuru, which Shito-ryu practises. The kata Ohan, Pachu, Anan, Paiku and Heiku are unique to Ryuei-ryu. Noble writes of them that they look more like modern karate than Chinese forms, but he judges the students' technique as strong and clean and has doubts only about the history.
Technique
According to Nakaima Kenko in 1977, Ryuei-ryu includes kenpo, that is combat without weapons, heiho, military methods with old Chinese weapons, and yojoho, health methods. Noble lists eleven kata: Sanchin, Seisan, Niseishi, Sanseru, Seiunchin, Ohan, Pachu, Anan, Paiku, Heiku and Paiho. The newspaper Ryukyu Shimpo gives as characteristic features the distance "one foot, two fists", the unity of attack and defense, and an emphasis on footwork. Sakumoto Tsuguo teaches unarmed techniques as well as the weapons bo and sai and uses the terms muchimi, movement as if stuck on, and wabagutu, a ban on unnecessary movement. The Pan-American chief instructor Shinjo Tomohiro states that the style does not require lowering the center of gravity and stresses a natural stance.
Training
Nakaima Kenko preferred budo as a sport and education over the term jutsu, which aims only at technical effectiveness. His student Sakumoto Tsuguo runs training strictly. According to Ryukyu Shimpo, he tells students that a moment of relaxation can mean death, and from Kiyuna Ryo he demanded in primary school a promise to train 365 days a year. We have not found the structure of an ordinary lesson in the sources.
Ranks and progression
We have not been able to confirm the kyu and dan system of Ryuei-ryu in an official source. As of 1977, Nakaima Kenko held the rank of hanshi in karate-do and kobudo and kyoshi in kendo. His students Sakumoto Tsuguo and Kinjo Takeyuki held ranks under him in karate-do, judo and kendo.
Today
The best-known representative of the style is Kiyuna Ryo, a student of Sakumoto Tsuguo. On 6 August 2021 at the Nippon Budokan he won the first Olympic gold in men's kata, scoring 28.72 against 27.66 for Damian Quintero of Spain, and became the first Okinawan with an Olympic gold. He was world kata champion in 2014, 2016 and 2018. On 20 November 2021 he won in Dubai with the kata Ohan dai a fourth title in a row, which according to Ryukyu Shimpo nobody had done before. In December 2020 he won the All-Japan Emperor's Cup for the ninth straight time, which the paper calls a record. According to the American Ryuei-ryu association, the head of the family art in the fifth generation is Nakaima Kenji.
Did you know
Nakaima Kenko cited the old Chinese dictionary Shuowen Jiezi, which explains the character jutsu as a path inside a village, and asked whether calling karate kobujutsu does not mean going back in time. The kobudo name Kenshin-ryu was created by Hayashi Teruo from the character Ken in the name of Nakaima Kenko and Shin from the name of Taira Shinken. According to Ryukyu Shimpo, Sakumoto Tsuguo, Kiyuna's coach, won three world kata titles in a row in the second half of the nineteen-eighties. Kiyuna surpassed him with a fourth title in a row.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Ryuei-ryu and when did it arise?
Ryuei-ryu is the family karate of the Nakaima family. The family traces it to Nakaima Norisato, who is said to have studied in China, but researchers dispute this. The name is documented in 1964, and the style began to be taught publicly around 1970 under Nakaima Kenko.
Is Ryuei-ryu similar to Goju-ryu?
Partly. Ryuei-ryu has the kata Sanchin, Seisan, Seiunchin and Sanseru very similar to Goju-ryu, whereas Ohan, Pachu, Anan, Paiku and Heiku are unique to it.
Which famous competitor practises Ryuei-ryu?
The best known is Kiyuna Ryo, the Olympic kata champion from Tokyo 2021 with a score of 28.72 and a four-time world champion in a row. His coach is Sakumoto Tsuguo.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.