(1733 - 1815; photo Creative Commons)
One of the most influential masters of Okinawa's indigenous martial art Te ["hand"]. Te was practiced mainly in the Okinawan towns of Shuri, later called Shuri-Te [首里手], in Naha, later called Naha-Te [那覇手], in its port village Tomari, later called Tomari-Te [泊手], and in Itoman.
Click here to read about the three officially recognized Karate systems in Okinawa
(1800 - 1891; photo Creative Commons)
Prominent student of Sensei Sakugawa's and supposed to be the creator of the Shuri-Te system, which is considered to be the most indigenous style of Okinawan Te, less influenced by Chinese martial arts.
Click here to read about the three officially recognized Karate systems in Okinawa
(1831-1915; photo source below)
Image shared by Sensei Steven Franz
Influential student of Sensei Matsumura's, considered by many as the "father of modern karate", because he introduced the art to the Okinawan public, after it initially was practiced in complete privacy, even secretly, as a fighting art for Okinawa's gentry. He developed several new Kata and curricula to teach Karate at Okinawan schools.
The re-examination of previous findings, done since the creation of the Karate Kaikan in Okinawa, reveals new facts; e.g. that the popular photo of Anko Itosu, published 2006 in "Okinawa Times" actually shows the fencing instructor Miyake Sango. We heartily thank Sensei Franz for pointing us here into the right direction. The above image he shared was drawn by the artist Lara Chamberlain, based on a photo of Sensei Itosu the Okinawan research group found and published.
(1885 – 1969; Photo Wikimedia Commons)
One of Sensei Itosu's legendary students, who established the famous phrase "one strike, total destruction". In the early 1930s he organized Shorin Ryu as a tradition within the array of karate systems practiced in the Shuri area ("Shuri-Te"). Different forms of Shorin Ryu are distinguished by the use of different kanji, which all mean "Shorin", but are pronounced differently in Japanese, and the according karate systems use slightly different curricula. The kanji Sensei Chibana chose for "Shorin" (which is the pronunciation he always used) is pronounced "Kobayashi" in Japanese.
We are deeply grateful to Sensei Jason ("Jase") Scott for helping us to avoid the popular misconception of Sensei Chibana "re-naming Shuri-Te into Shorin Ryu": the term "Shuri-Te" was not replaced and is still in use today in Okinawa to name the family of styles that came from the Shuri area (e.g. Sukunai Hayashi Ryu, Kobayashi Ryu, Matsubayashi Ryu, Shobayashi Ryu, Seibukan, and others).
Click here to read about the three officially recognized Karate systems in Okinawa
(1920 – 2016; Photo Okinawan Times)
Most prominent student of Sensei Chibana's and custodian of Kobayashi Ryu. He created the Shorin Ryu Shorinkan organization and successfully spread it worldwide.
Sensei Nakazato was elected to demonstrate Karate at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. For this event he created the Kata Gorin ["five rings"] and integrated elements from all Okinawan karate styles. In 2000 he was designated as an "Intangible Cultural Asset Holder" by the Okinawa Prefectural Government
You can download a table containing all Okinawan Intangible Cultural Asset Holders
Today
Sensei Smith is one of the so-called “Original Seven“ black belts, directly trained by Sensei Nakazato and sent to the USA to promote Shorin Ryu Shorinkan. He has devoted his life to maintaining, teaching, and promoting (Kobayashi) Shorin Ryu in its initial form and purpose as it was taught to him in Okinawa by Sensei Shugoro Nakazato.
The mentioned famous "Original Seven" are, along with Noel Smith, the Okinawans Tadashi Yamashita (initially born in Japan) and Jiro Shiroma, and the Americans Eddie Bethea, Sid Campbell, Frank Hargrove, Robert (‘Bob’) Herten. While Bob Herten (2020) and Sid Campbell (2008) passed away, the other five are still teaching in the USA.
Click here to read about the three officially recognized Karate systems in Okinawa
Sensei Smith began his study of Okinawan Shorin Ryu karate with Sensei Nakazato Shugoro, 10th Dan Shorin Ryu, the founder of Shorinkan, in the mid 1960s while stationed in Okinawa during the Vietnam war. At that time he trained five to six hours per day, six days per week, during daytime and in the evenings. His daily sixty-to-ninety minute “lunch-time” trainings allowed many one-on-one sessions with the master, who then would share bunkai and deeper aspects of kata concepts. After living on the island, Sensei Smith visited the honbu dojo annually for training, what he and his OBI students still do today.
Sensei Smith teaches Kobayashi Shorin Ryu karate as, in his words, “it was intended to be,” in a no-nonsense, traditional approach. With this combat version of karate he trained members of the Navy SEALs and of the Virginia Beach police SWAT team. On the other hand he developed successful sports applications based on traditional moves, and his dojo produced many champion karateka over the years. From 1973 to 1978, he served as head coach for the U.S. karate team, competing internationally, including in the world championships of 1975 in California and of 1977 in Tokyo.
His dedication, contributions, and successes were recognized in 1976 with the “Distinguished Service Award—Man of the Year” and induction into the USA Karate Hall of Fame. His way of approaching the art sets an example of how to combine—not to be confused with “to integrate”—classic Okinawan karate with sports karate.
David Colaizzi, Kyoshi, 7th Dan Shorin Ryu, Shorinkan (middle). He has worked with Sensei Smith for 30+ years
Glenn Graves, 3rd Dan Shorin Ryu, Shorinkan (right). He has worked with Sensei Smith for 16+ years.
Raymond (Gene) Adkins, Renshi, 6th Dan Shorin Ryu Shorinkan.
Percy Santos, 5th Dan Shorin Ryu, Shorinkan
2021 is the 55th Anniversary of Sensei Noel Smith (top row left) teaching Kobayashi Shorin Ryu (photo 1973)