Listening to Okinawa Karate

The book is available digitally on Amazon, with a printed hard-copy edition available via the link below.

Over the past decade, it has become increasingly clear that the growing interest in Okinawan Shōrin-ryū—particularly the teachings of Chōtoku Kyan—has created a need to preserve the history and methods unique to Shōrin-ryū Seibukan. Due to the absence of a single, comprehensive source documenting the Shōrin-ryū principles and practices transmitted from Chōtoku Kyan to Zenryō Shimabukuro, this work brings together essential material to ensure their continuity.

Included are the foundational training methods, the complete corpus of Kyan kata, an overview of the history of Shōrin-ryū, and the historical context of both the Kyan and Shimabukuro families. The purpose of this collection is to support members of Shōrin-ryū Seibukan, as well as others seeking a deeper understanding of Okinawan Shōrin-ryū, in preserving and transmitting Kyan’s methods.

The material presented follows Chōtoku Kyan’s instructional premise: one must first learn the forms and fundamental movements of karate; then practice the basic applications of blocking, striking, kicking, seizing, and movement; and finally study kata as a means of understanding the true fighting methods of Okinawan karate.