Itosu-Anko, a classmate of Asato Anko, was born in Shuri prefecture in 1830 and lived until 1915. Itosu was also known as Yatsutsune. Itosu was small in stature, shy, and introverted as a child. He was raised in a strict home of a noble family and was educated in the Chinese classics and Calligraphy. Itosu began his Tote (karate) study with Master Nagahama but his desire to master the art led him to the legendary Bushi Matsumora. Itosu was a firm believer in the use and practice of the makiwara (talyun tae or talyun bong in Korean) . Itosu fabricated a makeshift makiwara by tying an old leather sandal to a stone wall. After several strikes, the stone fell from the wall. He kept moving the sandal until he had destroyed the wall. Legend claims that tosu once wrestled and escaped bull to the ground and held it there until it was tied and taken away. Another legend claims that he had trained his body to withstand repeated blows and that he regularly allowed his students to strike him while he was sipping drinks, with no apparent signs of the strikes affecting him in any way. Itosu-Anko served as a secretary to the last king of Okinawa until Japan abolished the Okinawa-based native monarchy in 1879. In 1901, Itosu was instrumental in getting karate introduced into Okinawas School systems. In 1905, Itosu was a part time teach of Tote at Okinawas first junior prefecutural High School. t was here that he developed the systematic method of teaching karate techniques that are still in practice today. He created and introduced the Pinan forms (Heian Kata in Japanese, Pyong An Poomsae in Korean) because he felt the older forms were too difficult for school children to learn. The five Pinan forms were created by drawing from Kusanku. Itosu also separated Naihanchi form into Naihanchi Shodan, Naihanchi Chi Nidan, and Naihanchi Sandan and Kusan-ku Shodan and Kusan-ku Nidan kata. He was almost eighty when Tote was introduced to the school systms and though he was the creative force behind the program, most of the classes were taught by his student, Kentsu Yabu. Itosu passed away in 1901.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 18:38:16 +0000
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