Shorei-Kan
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Okinawa Budo Kaisai · Shorei-Kan

Kaisai-do

An Okinawan budo for understanding the kata, not for competing.

What it is · 尚礼館

Kaisai means uncovering the techniques the kata keeps hidden.

Kaisai-do practice in the dojo

Okinawa Budo Kaisai-do is the full name of what we practise. Every classical kata hides techniques that cannot be seen at first glance; the work of Kaisai is to bring them to light, study them with a partner and make them your own.

For decades it was called karate. Today the school prefers the word Budo: nobody competes here — you walk a path.

  • Kata
  • Bunkai
  • Kumite
  • Hojo Undo

The pillars

Three pillars. No scoreboard.

  1. Kata

    The forms handed down by the Okinawan masters. Not a choreography, but a text you learn to read.

  2. Bunkai

    The kata performed by two people. Every movement makes sense in front of a partner.

  3. Kumite

    Partner practice, from the agreed to the free, with a method that lets you learn without getting hurt.

  4. No competition

    No trophies, no rivals. You train to understand, to look after your body and to practise for a lifetime.

«You move on when you understand, not when it is your turn.»
— The Shorei-Kan method

Origin

A root in Okinawa

Heir to Okinawan Goju-ryu. It passed from Higaonna Sensei to Miyagi Sensei, and from him to Toguchi Sensei, who opened the first Shorei-Kan dojo in Koza in 1954. In 1982 Saiko Shihan Tamano brought it to Europe.

See the full lineage →
  1. Naha-te Higaonna Sensei
  2. Goju-ryu Miyagi Sensei
  3. Koza · 1954 Toguchi Sensei
  4. Europe · 1982 Saiko Shihan Tamano

The door is open.

Find a dojo near you or write to us. The first class is the first step on the path.