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Shorin-ryu is one of the major modern Okinawan martial arts. Said to have been founded by Sokon Matsumura during the 1800s, Shorin-ryu combines elements of the traditional Okinawan fighting styles Shuri-te and Tomari-te. Shorin-ryu is widely considered to be one of the two major modern styles of Okinawan karate, along with Goju-ryu, which is rooted in the other traditional Okinawan style, Naha-te.Sokon Matsumura was a renowned warrior of his time; he has been called the Miyamoto Musashi of Okinawa. However, while he is often referred to as the "founder" of Shorin-ryu, he did not invent all the components the style, and perhaps didn't ever call it "Shorin-ryu" himself. It is quite possible that he synthesized his knowledge of Okinawan arts with Chinese fighting styles that he learned on his travels and taught it as a coherent system to some eager students, who subsequently refined it, labeled it, and passed it on. (Highlighting Shorin-ryu's Chinese heritage is the fact that "Shorin" is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese 少林, " Shaolin"; "ryu" means "way", or "style".)
Along with being a style on its own, Shorin-ryu is also perhaps the most influential single ancestor of modern Japanese karate. One of Matsumura's best-known students, Anko (or "Ankoh") Itosu became a great practitioner and teacher of Okinawan karate and developed the five Pinan kata, which are now taught not only in Shorin-ryu, but also in a wide variety of Okinawan, Japanese and derived martial arts. In addition, Itosu and another student of Matsumura's named Anko Asato were among the primary influences on a fellow Okinawan named Gichin Funakoshi. Funakoshi introduced his Okinawan martial arts to mainland Japan in 1922, and in subsequent decades was instrumental in developing what he termed simply " karate" or "karate-do" as a popular Japanese sport and art. (The style Funakoshi taught on mainland Japan is now called Shotokan karate.)
Shorin-ryu is generally characterized by natural breathing, natural (narrow, high) stances, and direct -- rather than circular -- movements. Shorin-ryu practitioners will say that deep stances are not important for powerful moves, and that only correct motion matters. In fact, Okinawan traditionalists often claim that deep, wide stances are a development of Japanese-styled karate, and useful only for show.
There is not now, and perhaps has never been, a single unified school of "Shorin-ryu," although many dojos use the term for simplicity's sake. Some of the best known schools of Shorin-ryu include Matsumura Orthodox Shorin-ryu, Kobayashi Shorin-ryu ( Kobayashi-ryu ), and Matsubayashi-ryu, but there are many others, most with long and distinguished histories that trace back to Matsumura and his students.
Martial arts
