Choki Motobu: The Founder of Motobu-Ryu Karate

Every style has its philosopher. Karate also has its fighter — and his name was Choki Motobu (1870–1944), the founder of Motobu-Ryu. While other masters were modernizing karate for schools and universities, Motobu cared about one thing only: does it work in a real fight?

Motobu was born on April 5, 1870, in Shuri, Okinawa — the third son of a prince, from a branch of the Ryukyuan royal family. At the age of 12, he and his elder brother were invited to study karate under Anko Itosu. He went on to train with the greatest teachers of old Okinawa: Sokon Matsumura, Sakuma Pechin, and Kosaku Matsumora. But Motobu was no one's obedient disciple. He trained himself relentlessly — pounding the makiwara, lifting heavy stones, and testing everything in real encounters. His agility earned him the nickname "Motobu the Monkey", and by his twenties he was regarded as Okinawa's best in practical karate technique.

Motobu famously distanced himself from the modernization of karate. He focused on a single kata — Naihanchi — and on kumite above all. He learned kakidi, an ancient form of Okinawan kumite, from Sakuma and Matsumora, and practiced rules-based sparring matches called kakidamishi. His principle was simple and brutal: "The blocking hand must be able to become the attacking hand in an instant. Blocking with one hand and then countering with the other is not true bujutsu." He also taught Seisan, Passai, Wanshu, and Jitte — but always through the lens of fighting application.

In 1921 Motobu moved to mainland Japan. A year later, at the age of 52, he entered a challenge match in Kyoto against a tall, burly foreign boxer — and knocked him out with a single hand strike to the head. A 1925 magazine article spread the story across the country, and Motobu's name became instantly famous. The victory propelled karate itself into the Japanese public eye. In 1923 he opened a dojo in Osaka; in 1926 he published Okinawa Kenpo Karate-jutsu Kumite-hen — the oldest book on kumite, whose twelve drills are still practiced in Motobu-Ryu today. He later taught at his Daidokan dojo in Tokyo and became the first Shihan of the Toyo University karate club. On January 7, 1927, he demonstrated before Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, introduced as "Okinawa's Number One" in kumite.

Motobu's students went on to found styles of their own — including Hironori Ohtsuka (Wado-Ryu), Tatsuo Shimabuku (Isshin-Ryu), Shoshin Nagamine (Matsubayashi-Ryu), and Yasuhiro Konishi (Shindo Jinen-Ryu). Many masters of his era sent their students to Motobu specifically for kumite instruction. He wrote three books on Okinawan karate, and his son Chosei Motobu carries the style forward to this day.

So when you practice Naihanchi, remember the man who built an entire school on one kata and one conviction — that karate is proven not on paper, but in the fight.

← Back to Home