Chomo Hanashiro
( 1869 - 1945 )
The following biography is quoted in a number of different sources on the internet. The original author is undetermined.
Some of the information is excerpted from The History of Karate, by Morio Higuonna.*
Chomo Hanashiro was originally a shuri-te student of Sokon "Bushi" Matsumura (c. 1809-1901). He studied later on with Yasutsune Anko Itosu (1832-1916). Being one of Itosu's top students, along with Kentsu Yabu, became an assistant (along with master Kentsu Yabu) to Master Itosu.
The following details about his life were compiled from various books on the history of karatedo.
He was among the first to suggest the change in meaning of the kanji (style of writing) in karate to mean 'empty hand' as opposed to 'Chinese hand.' This was reflected in his personal writings as far back as 1905 in his publication
"Karate Kumite". However, the term Tode remained in common use among practitioners until at a meeting in 1936 -- sponsored by Chofu Ota, chief editor of the Ryukyu Shinpo Press -- Chojun Miyagi, Chomo Hanashiro, Choki Motobu, and Chotoku Kyan agreed that the art should be called karate, meaning
'an empty-handed self-defense art', or 'weaponless art of self-defense'.
While studying at the Metropolitan Police Academy in Tokyo in 1936, Shoshin Nagamine met Hanashiro and Yabu. Hanashiro warned him that the karate katas in Tokyo had been changed considerably and that Nagamine should take "pains to keep them in their original form."
[Note: Nagamine was a student of Arakaki who in turn was a student of Hanashiro. Nagamine is founder of Matsubayashi Shorin Ryu.]
This and other references suggest that Hanashiro was a well-known teacher of the Sakugawa-Matsumura-Itosu tradition of Shuri-te. While he was instrumental in the modernization of karate through his proposal of the alternative 'kara'
ideogram and his participation in karate's introduction into the public school curriculum, he was also a proponent of tradition who urged Okinawan karateka
to preserve orthodox kata.
Hanashiro, was an instructor to many Great masters of Karate including some of these well known karateka: Arakaki, a famous Shuri karateka; Chojun Miyagi, considered the father of Goju Ryu; he taught Hiroshi Kinjo and Chozo Nakama, also he taught the kata Chinte to Seitoku Higa.
In Masayuki Kukan Hisataka's book, " Essential Shorinjiryu Karatedo ", it is noted that, "Chomo Hanashiro occasionally gave instruction to Kori Hisataka" (founder of Shorinjiryu Kenkokan Karatedo).
As an aside, Hanashiro's favorite kata was Jion.
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