The history of our style starts with the life of
Choki Motobu
, a student of Sokon Matsumura.
MOTOBU Choki
Choki
Motobu
was
born
on
Okinawa
in
1871
and
was
the
son
of
an
Okinawan
noble
family.
Since
Choki
was
the
third
son,
there
was
not
much
time
for
him
and
for
instruction
in
the
family
style.
The
tradition
was
for
the
first
son
to
have
the
instruction
of
the
family
style.
Choki
would
observe
his
father
teaching
his
brother
and
incorporate
what
he
saw into his later fights.
Eventually
Choki
Motobu
moved
to
mainland
Japan
and
with
the
permission
of
the
Dai
Nippon
Butoku
Kai
opened
a
dojo
called
the
“Dai
Do
Kann”
Dojo.
This
dojo,
the
"large
road
hall",
was
opened
to
accept
and
teach
all
students
who
wished to learn. This dojo was one of the first to teach women in the martial arts.
There
are
many
interesting
stories
around
Choki
Motobu.
He
was
an
excellent
fighter.
He
also
studied
with
Kanryo
Higashionna and Yasutsune „Anko“ Itosu and developed his unique style, one that made him virtually invincible.
Choki Motobu died 1944 at the age of 73 years.
Kosei
Kokuba
was
born
1901
in
the
village
Kokuba,
today’s
Naha
City,
on
Okinawa.
He
was
the
youngest
son
or
a
royal
Okinawan
family,
the
Sho
Shi
family.
At
the
age
of
14
years
he
began
with
Karate
under
the
guidance
of
Choki
Motobu.
He
left
his
home
in
1924
and
lived
many
years
near
Tokyo
in
a
mountain
village
called
Fuji-Yoshida-Shi,
one
of
the
little
villages
near
the
mountain
Fuji.
The
Kanji
for
“Kosei
Kokuba”
(in
Okinawa)
were
pronounced
“Yukomori
Kuniba”
in Japan. In order to prevent any confusion he changed his family name to “
Kuniba
”.
Kuniba’s
son
Kosho
was
born
on
5th
February
1935
in
the
Yamanashi
prefecture
near
the
mountain
Fuji
in
a
village
called
Fuji
Yoshida-Shi.
His
son
began
at
the
age
of
five
with
Karate
training
at
his
father’s
Dojo.
Born
in
a
royal
family
and
as
Samurai,
Sensei
Kuniba
believed
in
the
old
traditions
of
Samurai
training.
He
taught
his
son
Kosho
the
true
Samurai
tradition.
At
the
age
of
eight
he
was
sent
to
take
lessons
from
Sensei
Tomoyori
Ryusei
(Kenyu
Ryu).
Kuniba
wanted
his
son
to
become
a
true
Samurai
like
his
ancestors
and
gather
the
knowledge
of
all
martial
arts.
Kosho
also
started
to
train
in
Judo
in
a
Dojo
in
Osaka.
He
trained
in
Judo
for
ten
years
and
reached
the
3rd
Dan
(Sandan).
Kuniba
moved
to
Osaka
in
1940
where
he
opened
a
shop
and
also
started
to
teach
the
Okinawa
Karate-Do
of
the
founder
Moto.
On
6th
June
1943
Sensei
Kuniba
founded
the
Seishin
Kan
Dojo.
He
took
parts
of
this
name
from
the
Kanji
of
the
temple
“Shotennoji”
at
the
end
of
the
street
where
he
lived.
The
symbol
“Sho”
can
be
either
interpreted
as
“Sho”
or
“Sei”
which
means
“pure”.
Sensei
Kuniba
believed
that
the
true
Karate-Do
comes
from
the
heart.
This
is
why
he named this Dojo “Seishin”, which means “pure heart”.
Many
Okinawan
Karate-Ka
left
their
homes
during
the
difficult
years
of
World
War
2.
Most
of
them
(including
Choki
Motobu
and
Kenwa
Mabuni)
moved
to
Osaka
and
visited
their
old
friend
Sensei
Kuniba.
For
food
and
lodging,
they
taught
his
young
son
Kosho
private
lessons
in
Seishin
Kan
Dojo.
This
Dojo
became
a
famous
meeting
point
in
Osaka
for Budo men. The training was lead by the men who are known as the founders of the Karate that we practice today.
Sensei
Kuniba
continued
teaching
the
style
of
Sensei
Motobu
and
when
Sensei
Motobu
died
1944,
Sensei
Kuniba
became
the
second
Soke
or
patriarch
of
Ryu-Kyu
Motobu-Ha
Karate-Do.
His
son
Kosho
started
training
under
the
lead
of
Kenwa
Mabuni
(Shito-Ryu)
and
soon
was
promoted
to
1st
Dan
(Shodan).
In
1950,
he
was
promoted
to
2nd
Dan (Nidan) and in 1952, to 3rd Dan (Sandan) by Mabuni and Tomoyori.
Kosho
was
elected
president
of
the
Karate
club
as
a
high
school
student.
At
the
age
of
17
he
started
to
give
Karate
training
lessons
at
the
Osaka
prefecture.
Even
today
there
is
a
Seishinkai
Dojo
at
this
place.
After
high
school
he
practiced Karate at the Keio University and later at the Doshisha University during his time as a student.
In
1955
Kosho
was
promoted
to
4th
Dan
(Yondan)
by
Sensei
Tomoyori.
In
the
same
year
he
was
also
promoted
to
3rd
Dan
(Sandan)
in
Iaido
and
4th
Dan
(Yondan)
in
Kobudo.
In
1956
he
travelled
to
Okinawa,
the
home
of
his
father
where
he
practiced
Shojin
Shorin-Ryu
at
Sensei
Nagamine.
During
his
time
on
Okinawa,
he
studied
Kobudo
at
Taira
Shinken and Nakaima Kenko (Ryuei Ryu). At Yamaguchi Junko he practiced the usage of the Tonfa.
In
1957,
Kosho
published
a
book
with
the
title
KARATE-DO
BIN
RAN,
a
text
with
the
basic
techniques
of
his
style.
In
1958 he was promoted to 5th Dan (Godan) in Motobu-Ha Karate-Do and 6th Dan (Rokudan) in Kobudo.
His
father,
Sensei
Kuniba,
continued
to
give
Kosho
training
until
he
became
ill
in
1956.
After
his
father’s
death
in
1959,
the
young
Kosho
became
the
third
Soke
of
Ryu-Kyu
Motobu-Ha
Shito-Ryu
Karate-Do.
At
the
age
of
24
years
he was the youngest Soke in Karate in Japan and took over the name “Shogo” which means “strong warrior”.
In
1962,
Soke
Kuniba
was
promoted
to
6th
Dan
(Rokudan)
in
Karate-Do
by
Nippon
Karate-Do
Rengo
Kai.
During
his
career
he
received
a
lot
of
recognition.
One
of
the
highest
honours
he
received
was
an
entry
in
the
Encyclopedia
Japonica (a four page article about Karate and Kobudo). In 1966 he was promoted to 7th Dan (Nanadan).
In
1970
he
was
chosen
by
Zen
Nippon
Karate-Do
Remnei
(today’s
Japan
Karate
Federation)
to
give
a
demonstration
in
the
Budo-Kan
at
the
first
World
Karate-Do
Championship
in
Tokyo,
and,
in
1972,
he
was
chosen
to
give
a
demonstration in the second World Karate-Do Championship in Paris, France.
In
1973
at
the
age
of
38
years
he
was
promoted
to
8th
Dan
(Hachidan)
by
Rengo-Kai.
At
the
same
time,
he
baptised
his
system
of
self
defence
Goshin-Do,
based
on
his
knowledge
of
Judo,
Jiu-Jitsu
and
Aikido
and
integrated
this
art
into the structure of Seishinkai.
In
addition
to
his
Karate
work,
Soke
Kuniba
was
one
of
the
first
men
to
participate
in
a
Japanese
martial
arts
movie.
He
acted
in
a
total
of
22
movies
in
Japan
where
he
displayed
his
martial
arts
skills.
The
last
movie
was
a
documentary
in
1978
with
the
title
“EIEN
NARU
BUDO”
(eternal
martial
arts).
This
movie
won
the
Best
Documentary
of
1978
award
at
the
Miami
film
festival.
The
movie
was
released
in
the
USA
under
the
title
“MASTERS
OF
THE
MARTIAL ARTS”.
Soke
Kuniba
was
also
featured
in
many
magazines
and
newspaper
articles
in
USA
and
Europe.
He
was
also
listed
in
the
1984
edition
of
“WHO’S
WHO
IN
AMERICAN
MARTIAL
ARTS”
and
the
1985
edition
of
“MASTERS,
FOUNDERS
AND LEADERS OF AMERICAN MARTIAL ARTS”.
In
1984,
he
was
promoted
to
9th
Dan
(Kyudan)
by
Nippon
Karate-Do
Rengo
Kai.
And,
in1985
he
was
promoted
to
7th
Dan (Nanadan) by the Japanese Karate-Do Federation (JFK).
In
1983,
he
opened
a
Honbu
Dojo
in
Portsmouth,
Virginia,
USA
where
he
lived
until
this
death
in
1992.
After
his
death
he
was
promoted
to
10th
Dan
by
JKF,
an
honour
that
has
only
been
granted
to
four
other
Japanese
sensei,
all
now
deceased.
Kunio
Tatsuno
became
the
next
Soke
of
the
style
Motobu-Ha
Shito-Ryu.
He
was
born
in
Osaka
in
September
1942
and
started
with
Karate
at
the
age
of
nine
years
at
Shogo
Kuniba.
Sensei
Tatsuno
opened
the
Seishinkai
gates
for
the
whole
world.
His
goal
was
that
Karate
would
become
an
Olympic
discipline
(Olympia
2004).
He
was
the
driving
force
behind
the
“Karate
Promotion
Federation“
(WKPF)
project,
under
condition
of
the
International
Olympic
Committee
(IOC)
that
all
Karate
World
Federations
would
merge.
Unfortunately,
the
project
failed
due
to
differences
between the federations. Soke Tatsuno died in 1999.
Soke
Tatsuno’s
successor
was
Sadatomo
Harada
.
He
was
born
in
Osaka
in
1936.
In
March
1954
he
started
with
Shito
Ryu
Karate
at
the
Kansai
University,
where
Sensei
Kenwa
Mabuni
opened
the
first
Shito-Ryu
Karate
club.
In
March
1958
he
founded
the
“All
Kansai
College
Alumni
Karate-Do
Association”
and
was
their
first
president.
A
month
later
he
became
vice
president
of
the
“Japan
Student
Karate
Federation”
and
became
deputy
of
the
Shihan
of
Seishinkai
Karate-Do.
At
the
start
of
the
Japan
Karate
Federation”
(JKF)
in
April
1964
he
was
a
material
helper.
In
April
1974
he
became
President
of
“Shitoryu
Kansai
University
Alumni
Karate-Do
Club”.
In
April
1997
he
became
Technical
Adviser
of
“Seishinkai
Karate-Do
Union”
and
in
October
1997,
President.
Later
he
became
Soke
of
“Seishinkai
Japan“
(9th
Dan).
In
October
1999,
he
became
President
of
“All
Japan
Jiu-Jitsu
Federation”.
In
September 2003, he became Soke and honorary President of “International Seishinkai Karate”.
Seishinkai
is
exclusively
chaired
by
our
dojo,
we
are
autonomous.
Our
organization
is
a
member
of
the
Dai
Nippon
Butoku
Kai
International
Division
(DNBK).
Since
1st
January
2011
we
are
also
members
of
“Verband
asiatischer
Kampfkünste e.V.” (VaK) in Germany. All Dan promotions will be additionally handled by VaK and / or DNBK.