KENWA MABUNI
(1889 - 1952)

A student of Itosu and Higaonna (Karate) and Ankichi Arakaki (Kobudo).
Moved to Japan from Okinawa in 1928; established his base in Osaka.

Blended the 'hard and soft' techniques of Shuri-Te (Shorei-Ryu) and Naha-Te (Shorin-Ryu) to create Shito-Ryu. To name his style, he combined the kanji characters from his two instructor's names: "Shi" (or Ito) from Itosu and "To" (or Higa) from Higaonna.

His eminent students include Ryusho Sakagami; Chojiro Tani; his son Kenzo; Shogo Kuniba and Ryusei Tomoyori.

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