Shorin-ryu Seibukan
少林流聖武館Okinawan Shorin-ryu school from 1962, founded by Shimabukuro Zenryo, a student of Kyan Chotoku. It added its own kata Wanchin.
Quick Facts
JapanCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
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.
Catalogs & Databases for Shorin-ryu Seibukan
About Shorin-ryu Seibukan
Shorin-ryu Seibukan is an Okinawan karate school opened in 1962 by Shimabukuro Zenryo. Sources disagree on the place of founding: Wikipedia gives Jagaru, the Ryukyu Bugei website Chatan Yoshihara. The founder's year of birth also differs, 1906 or 1909, and he died in 1969 in Osaka. Shimabukuro Zenryo met Kyan Chotoku in 1935 and trained with him for roughly ten years until Kyan's death in 1945. Seibukan stands on Kyan's line, whereas many other Okinawan branches of Shorin-ryu descend from Chibana Choshin. According to Wikipedia the syllabus includes the katas Fukyugata Ichi and Ni, Seisan, Ananku, Wansu, Passai, Gojushiho, Chinto and Kusanku. The founder added his own kata Wanchin, which draws on Kusanku, Passai and Gojushiho. Wikipedia translates the name Seibukan as school of the sacred art, and the school is also called Sukunaihayashi. In 1967 Zenryo received the rank of hanshi, tenth dan. After his death in 1969 his son Shimabukuro Zenpo took over the leadership and in 1975 founded the international Seibukan association with branches in a number of countries.
History
Shimabukuro Zenryo was born in Kubagawa in Shuri, with the year of birth given as 1906 by Wikipedia and as 1909 by the Ryukyu Bugei website. In 1926 he went to Osaka for work and in 1931 he returned to Okinawa. In 1935 he met Kyan Chotoku and, according to Ryukyu Bugei, regarded him as his only teacher until Kyan's death in 1945. In 1960 he founded the Okinawan branch of the Zen Nihon Karate-do Renmei and in 1965 the Okinawa Karate-do Rengokai. He completed the Seibukan dojo in 1962, according to Wikipedia in Jagaru, according to Ryukyu Bugei in Chatan Yoshihara. He died in 1969 in Osaka of a sudden illness.
How it differs
Seibukan descends from the line of Kyan Chotoku, whereas Kyudokan, Shidokan and Shorinkan come from Chibana Choshin. According to the Matsubayashi-ryu website, Kyan learned the katas Seisan and Gojushiho from Matsumura, Chinto from Matsumora, Wansu from Maeda, Passai from Oyadomari and Kusanku from Yara. Seibukan's own kata is Wanchin.
Technique
Per the Ryukyu Bugei website, Shimabukuro Zenryo created his own kata Wanchin, drawing on Kusanku, Passai and Gojushiho. Wikipedia translates the name Seibukan as school of the sacred art, and the Shuriway website also gives the school the name Sukunaihayashi.
Training
According to Wikipedia, the Seibukan syllabus includes the katas Fukyugata Ichi and Ni, Seisan, Ananku, Wansu, Passai, Gojushiho, Wanchin, Chinto and Kusanku, with Chinto taught mainly at the second dan level. Shimabukuro Zenpo learned the katas Pinan, Naifanchi and Jion from Nakama Chozo and, according to Wikipedia, preserved their movements and bunkai interpretation unchanged. Kobudo includes the staff kata Tokumine no Kun.
Ranks and progression
According to the Ryukyu Bugei website, Shimabukuro Zenryo received the rank of hanshi, tenth dan, in 1967. His son Zenpo leads the school as chief instructor with the title hanshi, and the Shuriway website gives ninth or tenth dan.
Today
The international association International Okinawan Shorin Ryu Seibukan Karate-do Association was founded by Shimabukuro Zenpo in 1975. The Shuriway website lists branches in sixteen foreign countries, Wikipedia in more than eighteen. Shimabukuro Zenpo was born on 11 October 1943 in Chatan.
Did you know
In October 1969 Shimabukuro Zenryo performed the kata Ananku at the first All-Japan Karate Championships at the Nippon Budokan. His son Zenpo went to teach in Philadelphia in September 1963 and in 1964 won Jhoon Rhee's tournament and the Canadian national championship.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Shorin-ryu Seibukan?
Shimabukuro Zenryo, a student of Kyan Chotoku, who completed the dojo in 1962. After his death in 1969 the school is led by his son Shimabukuro Zenpo.
Which katas does Seibukan practise?
According to Wikipedia Fukyugata Ichi and Ni, Seisan, Ananku, Wansu, Passai, Gojushiho, Wanchin, Chinto and Kusanku.
How does Seibukan differ from other branches of Shorin-ryu?
It descends from the line of Kyan Chotoku, not from Chibana Choshin, and has its own kata Wanchin.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.