A study of the man responsible for Okinawa Kenpo Karate

Shigeru Nakamura the Youth

(1894-1969)
Shigeru Nakamura was born January 20, 1894 in Nago City. His father Keikichi was a successful merchant and a man who valued education. Despite the fact that they lived in a relatively distant northern city, young Nakamura was slated to go to the prestigious Icchu Middle School, which had developed a reputation for quality.
Unfortunately Nakamura’s father died when he was only 10. Although it is believed Nakamura received a brief introduction to “te” from his father, his earliest training is thought to have come from his uncle Teiichi and family friend Choki Motobu of Tomari Te
. It is also believed that Nakamura was introduced to the Naihanchi kata through Motobu. Nakamura’s father was also friends with Kentsu Yabu - so naturally between his father’s wishes for an Icchu education and Yabu’s influence within the karate program, it was inevitable that Nakamura would get involved with the martial arts. Nakamura made the trek from Nago to Shuri and spent five years under the direct tutelage of Hanashiro, Yabu, Higashoanna, and Itosu.

Shigeru Nakamura Post-Graduation

After his graduation from Icchu, Nakamura began study at the Prefectural Teacher’s Training College where he continued his pursuit of martial arts. While there he interacted with other artists in the nearby city of Miyazato and continued studying with his Icchu teachers outside of the confines of the school program, including more significant time with Itosu Anko
After the Prefectural Training College Nakamura returned to his hometown of Nago City. To his surprise he discovered that hinkichi Kuniyoshi, a well-known practitioner of Naha-te/Tomari-te and student of famed Kitoku Sakiyama, had moved to Nago. Nakamura’s penchant for seeking out top practitioners led him to Kuniyoshi, whereupon he requested instruction. Nakamura’s karate résumé and dedication impressed Kuniyoshi, who accepted him as a student.
This training went on for 10 years; during that time, Nakamura became a preferred student to Kuniyoshi, who proceeded to share his experience in the ways of Chinese Kempo. Due to Nakamura’s excellent karate foundation laid in Icchu, he thrived under Kuniyoshi’s advanced system. Nakamura was able to take hard karate and combine it with old style Chinese arts,
following in the footsteps of the original progenitors of te.
Kuniyoshi, known as ‘Iron Fist Warrior’, was renowned for his striking ability. He passed on his knowledge to Nakamura, who in his own time was renowned for his punching prowess and became known as Chiki Bushi (Punch Knight).
After his extensive study with Kuniyoshi, Nakamura’s methods had been forever changed, and his karate had become an integrated collective of experiences.

The Birth of Okinawa Kenpo (The Style)

Prior to Nakamura’s time, “Okinawa Kenpo” and “Okinawa Te” were general terms used to describe the martial arts of the Ryukyu islands. Te meant “hand” and Kenpo roughly meant “sword hand”. They were both allusions to the actions of an unarmed individual in combat.
In 1953, Nakamura opened his first stand-alone dojo in Nago City (he had taught students in his home prior to this, but his house was burned down during the battle of Okinawa). After combining his experiences in naha, shuri, and tomari-te, he chose to name his new style Okinawa Te, which would come to be known as Okinawa Kenpo.
Nakamura Sensei did this with the eventual intent of gathering all the splintering groups ofkarate under a single banner.