Bushi Matsumora-Sokon (1798-1890) was born in Yamagawa Village in Shuri prefecture, Okinawa. He was described as a tall, thin man who could unsettle you with a mere glance.As a martial artist, he was blindly fast and deceptively strong. He was challenged to death matches many times, never losing a match. Sokons father asked the famous and already aged Sakukawa-Kanga if he would teach his son Sokon. Sakukawa was reluctant to teach the young Sokon who was a bit of a street thug. However because of his promise to Sokons father, he did spend five years teaching Sokon-Matsumura his art. As a young man, Matsumura had already garnered a reputation as an expert in the martial arts. his reputation caused him to be recruited into the service of the Royal okinawan Sho family, serving the 17th King of the Ryukyu Sho dynasty, King So Ko. He was given the warrior title, Bushi (samurai) by the King. Sokon eventually became the chief martial arts instructor, an official of the Ryukyu Kingdom and bodyguard for the Okinawan King Sho Ko. He traveled on behalf of the Royal Ryukyu government to Fuchou and Satsuma in China where he studied Chuan Fa as well as other martial arts and brought what he learned back to Okinawa. Sokon is credited with developing all of the kata of the system that came to be known as Shuri Te
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 06:10:06 +0000
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