Mission Statement
The United Ryukyu Kempo Alliance is an organization formed to bring
sincere Martial Artists together in brotherhood.
A group of Martial Artists who believe in the traditional concept of
One Heart, One Mind and One Spirit who uplift each other with pride in friendship.
An Alliance of Karateka who unite together to represent and promote
all that is good in traditional karate.
Allan Amor
United Ryukyu Kempo Alliance Head Instructor
Naihanchi Kata History
Naihanchi Kata History
The history of the Naihanchi kata is that of karate itself. The Naihanchi Shodan kata is considered to be a kata of the Shuri Te lineage of karate. Tode (Shungo) Sakugawa is considered to be the first true practitioner of karate, particularly Shuri Te. His art was a mixture of Shuri Te, the native Ryukyu fighting art, and Chinese Kempo. Sakugawa was a student of a Chinese military envoy Kusanku. After training with Kusanku, Sakugawa also became known as Tode Sakugawa, Tode referring to Chinese Kempo.
Sakugawa became the teacher of Soken Matsumura. Soken Matsumura became a well-known and highly skilled martial artist. So revered for this skill was Matsumura that he served as the personal bodyguard for the 17th, 18th & 19th Kings of the Ryukyu Islands and as the Chief Martial Arts Instructor as well. Matsumura was also called Bushi Matsumura. Bushi means warrior.
Matsumura studied with other martial artists of the day as well. This included Chinto, Iwah & Wai Shin Zan who were all Chinese martial artists living on Ryukyu. Matsumura also travelled to China and studied martial arts in the city of Foochow, in the Fukien province. It is from here he brought back the Naihanchi Shodan kata which is believed to be from the Shouting White Crane style of Kung Fu.
Soken Matsumura passed on the Naihanchi Shodan kata to his grandson Nabe Matsumura who passed it on to Chomo Hanishiro. Nabe was also later known as Nabe no Tan Mei.
Chomo Hanishiro then passed the Naihanchi Shodan kata to his student Shigeru Nakamura. Nakamura Sensei was the founder of the Okinawan Kempo Association. It was while studying with Nakamura that Seiyu Oyata learned this kata.
The Naihanchi Shodan kata was then passed from Oyata to Kaicho Amor.
Kaicho Amor developed the Naihanchi Kuzushi Katas as a way to develop complete body action and movements that reflect life protection technique. These movements are manifested by the footwork and provide a link that exposes the hidden techniques of the original Kata.
This interpretation of the Naihanchi Kata is unique to the United Ryukyu Kempo Alliance.