Shorei-Ryu

[generalnotk]

I was wondering has anyone train in this style and is it difficult or not. And what are the advantages and disadvantages of this style.

thanks

[stoneheart]

The version I've been exposed to is an American style, which is not necessarily a bad thing. They focus heavily on sports karate and point fighting and work some decent self-defense applications.

I would look for other options however if you want to train in a legitimate Okinawan ryu.

[Fairfax_Uechi]

I was wondering has anyone train in this style and is it difficult or not. And what are the advantages and disadvantages of this style.

thanks

Where are you located?

I don't know much about Shorei-Ryu other than it's one of the 4 major styles of Karate from Okanawa.

Another style to consider is Uechi-Ryu which I study (another Okanawan style).

In any case, tell us where you're from and maybe someone can recommend a good Sensei. Besides the style itself, the instructor is as if not more important.

[stoneheart]

I don't know much about Shorei-Ryu other than it's one of the 4 major styles of Karate from Okanawa.

Actually, it's not. Both Goju-Ryu and Uechi-Ryu, the primary Naha-te systems, are generally considered to be "Shorei" styles, but there is no recognized Okinawan style called "Shorei-Ryu".

[Fairfax_Uechi]

I don't know much about Shorei-Ryu other than it's one of the 4 major styles of Karate from Okanawa.

Actually, it's not. Both Goju-Ryu and Uechi-Ryu, the primary Naha-te systems, are generally considered to be "Shorei" styles, but there is no recognized Okinawan style called "Shorei-Ryu".

I always get the Okaniwan styles that start with S confused as the spellings are so similar.

Agreed about the Naha-te, but I know that Uechi is most unique of the styles. But doesn't say much. Guess I need some rest, before I add more confusion.

[powerof0ne]

is Shorei Ryu related in lineage to Shuri Ryu? aka, Robert Trias? If so, just google Robert Trias, go on e-ebudo and talk to people that actually know something about karate. Don't take my word for it since we have "experts" on here that know everything Talk to people on e-budo such as Harry Cook, Bustillo, etc.

[Skeptic 2004]

Chosin Chibana was the first to designate any of the te practiced in Okinawa with a Japanese Ryu name, renaming his practice of Shuri-te "Shorin-Ryu" as early as 1928 (the kanji can also be read "Kobayashi", and that is the name that ended up sticking to distinguish Chibana's Shorin lineage from Nagamine's "Matsubayashi" or the Chuan Fa/Shaolin influenced "Shobayashi" whose kanji can also be read "Shorin"). Miyagi Chojun followed suit, renaming his practice of Naha-te "Goju-Ryu" around 1933 (?). "Shorin-Ryu" and "Shorei-Ryu" were the Japanese Ryu names used to distinguish between Shuri-te based and Naha-te based styles respectively. Classically, karate was never sorted into Shorin vs. Shorei. It always came down (and continues to come down) to THE THREE BRANCHES:

SHURI-TE (te developed and practiced in Shuri, mostly influenced by the indigenous te)

NAHA-TE (te developed and praticed in Naha, mostly influenced by Chuan Fa and other Fuzhou and Fukien Chinese boxing styles)

TOMARI-TE (te developed and practiced in Tomari, an amalgamation of both Shuri-te and Naha-te attempting to combine the best of both worlds)

I stress THE THREE BRANCHES, because if it has anything to do with karate, you can always trace it back to THE THREE BRANCHES.

By the way, there is no Shuri-ryu...unless someone recently made it up based on their study of styles derived from Shuri-te.

[generalnotk]

Fairfax_Uechi

I am located in Greenbelt, Maryland

[powerof0ne]

Chosin Chibana was the first to designate any of the te practiced in Okinawa with a Japanese Ryu name, renaming his practice of Shuri-te "Shorin-Ryu" as early as 1928 (the kanji can also be read "Kobayashi", and that is the name that ended up sticking to distinguish Chibana's Shorin lineage from Nagamine's "Matsubayashi" or the Chuan Fa/Shaolin influenced "Shobayashi" whose kanji can also be read "Shorin"). Miyagi Chojun followed suit, renaming his practice of Naha-te "Goju-Ryu" around 1933 (?). "Shorin-Ryu" and "Shorei-Ryu" were the Japanese Ryu names used to distinguish between Shuri-te based and Naha-te based styles respectively. Classically, karate was never sorted into Shorin vs. Shorei. It always came down (and continues to come down) to THE THREE BRANCHES:

SHURI-TE (te developed and practiced in Shuri, mostly influenced by the indigenous te)

NAHA-TE (te developed and praticed in Naha, mostly influenced by Chuan Fa and other Fuzhou and Fukien Chinese boxing styles)

TOMARI-TE (te developed and practiced in Tomari, an amalgamation of both Shuri-te and Naha-te attempting to combine the best of both worlds)

I stress THE THREE BRANCHES, because if it has anything to do with karate, you can always trace it back to THE THREE BRANCHES.

By the way, there is no Shuri-ryu...unless someone recently made it up based on their study of styles derived from Shuri-te.

BTW, there is such a thing as Shuri Ryu, it was founed by Robert Trias like I stated above and there is Shorei Ryu which has branched off from Trias's lineage...many have argued that Trias is the first person to teach Karate in the USA to caucasions. Remember, Hawaii wasn't a part of the USA for a while and that there is recoreded evidence that some Te was perhaps practiced by Okinawans or Japanese in CA in the 1890s....but was not being taught to the white man. (reference Joseph Svinth of EJMAS if you doubt me)

I brought up Shuri Ryu because someone brought up Shorei ryu being an Americanized system and Shuri Ryu definitely is "Americanized". Yes I'm ery aware of such styles such as shoreikan goju ryu and shorei this and shorei that....when I hear about an Americanized Shorei my antenna goes to Shuri Ryu and the history of the USKA..with guys such as Tullners, Skipper and even Wallace at one time being affiliated with 'em. Then again you might have to actually research more to verify what I say and not look on some easily found Karate history sight on the history and evolution of Karate...

[Skeptic 2004]

Two individuals - yourself and Stonehart - mentioned Shorei-ryu as an American derivative, but the gist of the conversation concerned confusion over the Okinawan "style." This is not the first time such confusion has aroused (nor will it be the last), so I felt compelled to clear it up.

The last line of my post was not definitive as I allowed for the fact that somone could have indeed created a Shuri-Ryu based on their study of Shorin styles. I was just too lazy to google Mr. Trias - I'm in the middle of writing a paper that determines whether or not I graduate this semester.

I'm actually fairly familiar with the history of karate in Hawai'i (seeing how I live and train here), and Okinawans had been practicing te in Hawai'i since at least 1900 when they began to immigrate here. They formed an instructor's association in Honolulu in 1933 called the Seinenkai, implying that they had established dojos and were teaching students (no haoles, of course) on Oahu since before then. Yabu Kentsu visited in 1927 and Chokki Motobu in 1932, and during these stays, they accepted and trained local students (no haoles, however, or naichi if I remember correctly).

The bottom line is that except for Mr. Trias and the Shorei-Ryu off-shoot from his lineage (I'm presuming), I've done my homework.