Sokon "Bushi" Matsumura

Born in Shuri, he began his training in karate-do under karate legend Sakugawa. He also trained under the Chinese military attaché Kusanku. Matsumura served as chief of the military and as court retainer for the king of the Ryukyu Islands. Matsumura originated the Pinewood kata Chinto and created the karate style of Shorin-Ryu. Among his noteworthy students were Yasutsune Azato, Yasutsune Itosu, Choshin Chibana, Choki Motobu and Chotoku Kyan.

It is also known that he served as a body guard to the last three Ryukyuan Kings. Matsumura traveled to Fuchou and Satsuma as an envoy on affairs of state. In Fuchou he visited several Chinese boxing schools and studied under military attaches Ason and Iwah. In Satsuma Matsumura trained in the Jigen-ryu sword fighting system under Master Yashichiro Ijuin. After retiring, Matsumura taught karate in Sakiyama village, Shuri.

Bushi Matsumura was born in 1797, and died in 1889. According to some sources, Bushi’s family name was Kiyo (Kayo). Matsumura grew up in Yamagawa village of the city of Shuri, Okinawa. He was partly Chinese. Sakugawa began training Bushi at Akata when he was 14 years old, in 1810. According to tradition, it was at Bushi’s father’s request that Sakugawa teach him. Some say that to train Bushi to block, Sakugawa tied to him to a tree so he could not move. Then he threw punches at him.

Sakugawa trained him up until his death, and then Sokon was probably on his own for a while. According to oral history, he studied under Sakugawa for 4 years.

Bushi was recruited into the service of the Sho family. At that time, Sho Ko, the king of Okinawa, desired to have him change his last name, as was the custom, and suggested the name Muramatsu (Muramachi), or “village pine.” After discussing the matter with some friends and relatives, he decided that Matsumura (Machimura), or “pine village”, would be more appropriate. Sokon asked the king to let him change the name to that, and the request was granted. Some say this happened at age 17, which would probably put it around 1813.

Many sources say that Bushi Matsumura trained in China, and it is certainly a strong tradition. Hohan Soken said that Bushi trained at “Fukien Shaolin” for 26 years and some months. We do not know for sure of his length of time spent in China. We do know that he spent at least 20 years there from the records that were kept for the Okinawan King.

Some prominent students of Bushi Matsumura were Yasutsune Itosu and Chotoku Kyan, although there were many more. Itosu’s head student and successor was Chosin Chibana, who formed Kobayashi Shorin-Ryu from Itosu’s version of Shuri-Te. Kyan’s students formed Shobayashi Shorin-ryu from his personal brand of Shuri-te. Another student of Itosu was Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan. Once in a while, Itosu would take him to study under Bushi Matsumura. He was also a student of Azato, a Shorei-Ryu master.