Eizō Shimabukuro
Eizō Shimabukuro (April 19, 1925 – ) Born in the village of Gushikawa on April 19, 1925, Grandmaster Eizō Shimabukuro had the good fortune to have been taught by the legendary teachers of both Shōrin and Shōrei-ryū.
Grandmaster Shimabukuro began his studies in 1937 under Chōtoku Kyan, an expert of Tomari-te. The kata shown in these videos from Kyan sensei are Seisan, Ananku, Wanshu, Gojūshiho and Chintō.
In 1938, Grandmaster Shimabukuro began training in Shōrei-ryū under Gōjū-ryū's founder Chōjun Miyagi. He trained simultaneously in Shōrin-ryū and Gōjū-ryū under both Kyan and Miyagi sensei and continued to practice and teach both systems until 1950. Since then he has concentrated primarily on preserving and teaching Shōrin-ryū. The kata shown in these videos from Miyagi sensei are Seuinchin and Sanchin.
In 1943, Grandmaster Shimabukuro left Okinawa for Osaka. Living next door to his cousin in Osaka was Motobu Chōki. Grandmaster Shimabukuro was able to avail himself of Motobu-sensei's expertise in regards his legendary and powerful punches.
In May 1948, Grandmaster Shimabukuro opened his first dojo. This was the beginning of, what came to be 58 years of continuously teaching traditional karate. For 20 years the U.S. Marine Corp contracted Grandmaster Shimabukuro to teach their troops at several different dojo. To date, Grandmaster Shimabukuro estimates he has personally trained as many as 35,000 troops.
In 1955, Grandmaster Shimabukuro trained with Zenryo Shimabukuro, a long time student of Chōtoku Kyan. They were good friends and Grandmaster Shimabukuro credits Zenryo Shimabukuro as one of his teachers.
In 1960, Grandmaster Shimabukuro was recognized as an expert in Okinawan karate and was awarded his 10th Dan by Kanken Toyama. He was appointed to the position of Chairman of the Okinawa, General Headquarters, All Japan Shōrin-ryū Karate-dō International League, one of the founding organizations on Okinawa.
In 1961, Shimabukuro, concerned with the changes he began to see in Shōrin-ryū Karate, went to see the oldest Shōrin-ryū grandmaster alive at that time, Chōshin Chibana, a grandmaster of Shuri Te. Wanting to preserve the old "Castle Karate" of Shuri, Grandmaster Shimabukuro trained with Chibana sensei. The kata shown in these videos from Chibana sensei are Naihanchi Shodan, Nidan and Sandan, Pinan Shodan, Nidan, Sandan, Yondan and Godan, Passai Shō and Passai Dai and Kusanku Shō and Kusanku Dai.
Grandmaster Shimabukuro also preserves and teaches traditional Okinawan kobudō. From Kyan sensei he learned Tokumine no Kun and Sakagawa no Kun. These kata were devised by "Tode" Sakagawa and passed on via "Bushi" Matsumura.
Grandmaster Shimabukuro's sai kata consist of Tawata no Sai as taught by Tawata via Taira Shinken to Shimabukuro and Toyei no Sai, a kata Grandmaster Shimabukuro originated in 1948.
Grandmaster Shimabukuro also teaches his own kama kata that he devised in 1946 called Toyei no Kama.
Grand Master Shimabukuro considers himself fortunate to have had five great teachers. They are Chōtoku Kyan, Chōjun Miyagi, Tatsuo Shimabukuro (his older brother and founder of Isshin-ryū), Motobu Chōki and Zenryo Shimabukuro.
Footnotes
This history is taken, verbatim and without the permission of, Toyei Productions, a company owned and operated by Eizo Shimabukuro and one of his students. Toyei Productions provides a series of instructional DVDs of the kata, kobudō, bunkai, and ippon kumite of Eizo Shimabukuro. All content, including historical information, pictures, and video are copywritten and are the sole property of Toyei Productions.