ITOSU-RYU KARATEDO DEMONSTRATION by 4th Soke Sadaaki Sakagami

ITOSU-RYU KARATEDO DEMONSTRATION
by 4th Soke Sadaaki Sakagami and Shihan Fumikazu Ichikawa

On February 17th, 1980
At Nippon Budo-kan (Japan Martial Arts Stadium)


Itosu-ryu karatedo stems from the lineage of Shuri-te master Sokon Matsumura(1798-1890). It was founded by Anko Itosu(1830-1915), who is popularly regarded as one of the fathers of karatedo.
Anko Itosu further developed and refined tode-jutsu, a form of self-defense, into a form of physical exercise suitable to be included in the physical education curriculum. At the same time, he changed the focus from being a means of combat to being a means of character development.
Anko Itosu also created many kata, including the five Pinan kata, which are the most widely practiced kata in the world today. In some schools they are known as Heian kata.
Of all his students, his senior student, Kenwa Mabuni(1889-1952), learned Anko Itosu's kata most accurately and succeeded him as the 2nd Soke of Itosu-ha. Kenwa Mabuni also studied under Kanryo Higaonna of Naha-te. Taking the first characters of his two teachers' names and founded Shito-ryu ("Ito" also read "Shi" and "Higa" also read "To").
Kenwa Mabuni passed on the Itosu-ha lineage to his senior student Ryusho Sakagami(1915-1993). Ryusho Sakagami became the 3rd Soke of Itosu-ha. In April 1969, Ryusho Sakagami officially renamed his style of karate Itosu-ryu to distinguish it from Shito-ryu, ang called his organization Japan Katatedo Itosu-kai.
Sadaaki Sakagami, the first son of Ryusho Sakagami, succeeded him to the position of the 4th Itosu-ryu Soke and has cherished the traditional kata that have been preserved over three generations, and is eager to spread it.
Karatedo is said to start and end with kata, and in Itosu-ryu we mainly focus on the traditional kata and study techniques and applications to use in practical techniques.
The long history and techniques of Itosu-ryu karatedo were so acknowledged that Japan Kobudo Association admitted the entry of Itosu-ha in 1979, and it is the only karate organization in the association.
With the internationalization of karatedo, our school also aims to develop intercultural relationships and understanding throughout the world. To this end, we formed an international organization called Itosu-ryu Karatedo International Federation(IKIF) in August 2002 comprising 16 countries. IKIF now has over 20 member countries.