Masami Chinen was an Okinawan martial arts

Okinawan martial arts

Okinawan martial arts refers to the martial arts which originated among the indigenous people of Okinawa Island in Japan, most notably karate, tegumi, and Okinawan kobudō....

 master who formed Yamani ryu

Yamanni ryu

Yamanni-ryū is a form of Okinawan kobudō whose main weapon is the bo, a non-tapered, cylindrical staff...

. He taught Bōjutsu

Bojutsu

, translated from Japanese as "staff technique", is the martial art of using a staff weapon called bō which simply means "staff". Staffs are perhaps one of the earliest weapons used by humankind. They have been in use for thousands of years in Eastern Asia. Some techniques involve slashing,...

 privately at his home in the village of Tobaru, in Shuri, Okinawa.

Life

Like many martial arts masters Chinen had been a policeman. During the Second World War he lived with the martial arts master Horoku Ishikawa in Tainan

Tainan

Tainan City is a city in southern Taiwan. It is the fifth largest after New Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, and Taipei. It was formerly a provincial city, and in 2010, the provincial city merged with the adjacent Tainan County to form a single special municipality. Tainan faces the Taiwan Strait in...

, Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

. He also worked at the Shuri City Hall in Shuri, Okinawa.

Yamani Ryu Bōjutsu

Chinen named the style after his father Sanda Chinen who was also a teacher of Bōjutsu and known as Yamani USUMEI and Yamane TANMEI.

Legacy

Although the style ceased to exist after his death some of his katas were preserved by Seitoku Higa of the Bugeikan and Shūgorō Nakazato

Shugoro Nakazato

is a Japanese martial artist. Described as a "one punch artist" by some of his American students, Nakazato has developed his karate sparring into a fine fighting art. He has several large photographs of himself on his dojo wall, and has given many demonstrations on the Japanese mainland, as well as...

 of Shōrin-ryū

Shorin-Ryu

is one of the major modern Okinawan martial arts. It was founded by Choshin Chibana in 1933. Shōrin-ryū combines elements of the traditional Okinawan fighting styles of Shuri-te.-History:Chosin Chibana was a top student of the great master of shuri-te, Anko Itosu...

. Another student of Chinen's, Chogi Kishaba

Chogi Kishaba

Chogi Kishaba, also Choji Kishaba, is an Okinawan martial arts master and founder of the Ryukyu Bujutsu Kenkyu Doyukai .Kishaba's older brother, Chokei Kishaba, was also an Okinawan martial arts master.- Ryukyu Bujutsu Kenkyu Doyukai :...

 and his student Toshihiro Oshiro

Toshihiro Oshiro

is a martial arts master and instructor from Haneji, Okinawa , Japan.-Early life:He began his study of Karate at age 6, eventually expanding his study to include Judo and Kendo. As a teen he began studying Yamanni Ryu with Chogi Kishaba, the direct student of Masami Chinen who was the only...

 also privately practised Yamani Ryu katas. Oshiro teaches Bōjutsu

Bojutsu

, translated from Japanese as "staff technique", is the martial art of using a staff weapon called bō which simply means "staff". Staffs are perhaps one of the earliest weapons used by humankind. They have been in use for thousands of years in Eastern Asia. Some techniques involve slashing,...

 today and so does Chinen's grandnephew Teruo Chinen

Teruo Chinen

is a prominent Okinawan master of Gōjū-ryū karate. He founded the Jundokan International karate organization and holds the title Shihan. Chinen is one of the last surviving students to have learned directly from Chōjun Miyagi, founder of Gōjū-ryū karate...

.

External links

• Interview with Teruo Chinen (Masami Chinen's grandnephew)