Kanken Toyama

Tōyama Kanken ( Japanese 遠山 寬 賢 Tōyama Kanken ; born September 24, 1888 in Shuri , Okinawa ; † November 24, 1966 ) was the developer of the Shudokan karate version . He was born under the name Kanken Oyadamari as a member of a noble family.

At the age of 9 he began training under Yasutsune "Ankoh" Itosu, whose student he remained until the master's death in 1915. Toyama learned in Itosu's Dōjō not only from the master himself, but also from his advanced students. At this point the names Kentsu Yabu and Chōchin Chibana should be mentioned. Toyama, however, was one of the only two students who received the title Shihanshi ( Protégé ) from Itosu , the other was Gichin Funakoshi . Thus he got access to O Kuden (secret teaching) Itosu, and as one of the inner disciples of Itosu, Toyama also introduced Toyama to his friend Higashionna Kanryō , who also accepted him as a student, and from whom he learned the art of Naha-te . In addition, he also studied the art of Tomari-te under Ankichi Aragaki. Kanken Toyama's training in karate thus encompassed all three major Okinawan styles. Toyama saw himself, however, throughout his life as a representative of the Shuri-te that he had learned from Itosu.

In 1924 Toyama, now a primary school teacher, moved to Taiwan for professional reasons , where he learned Hequan (Japanese Hakutsuru-ken ) under masters Cheng Tong-Tai in Taipei and Master Lim Tung-Tong in Taichung . This martial art system of the white crane is described in the Bubishi and is considered the basis of almost all karate styles.

The Bubishi is an ancient Chinese document, illustrated with simple drawings and difficult to translate. It has been kept a secret for a long time and no one knows exactly when it was written. It consists of three parts dealing with the Baihequan (White Crane Style), notes on the art of fighting and the treatment of injuries with the help of Chinese herbal medicine. A version of the book was brought to Okinawa by Higashionna Kanryō. What is certain is that Itosu also had a version of the book, and Funakoshi and Kenwa Mabuni, another of Itosu's students, also quoted from it. This makes it likely that Toyama also had knowledge from the Bubishi and was now trying to learn the origins of karate in Taiwan. However, there is no evidence for this. All that is documented is that he learned "inner", soft Quanfa in Taiwan.

Toyama returned to Japan in 1930 and opened his first dojo in Tokyo in March 1930 , which he called Shu-Do-Kan ( place to learn the way ). Toyama never wanted to create his own style, he only taught a combination of the directions he had learned. He called his karate Okinawa Seito Karate ( Orthodox Okinawa Karate ). It was a combination of Shuri-te , Nahe-te , Tomari-te and the Hequan , whereby Toyama, as mentioned above, always saw himself as a representative of Master Itosu's Shuri-te .

At Nihon University, Toyama met the Korean Yoon Byung-in (also Yun Pyung-in), a martial arts master, and trained with him. A deep friendship developed between the two, and Yoon returned to Korea with the rank of 5th Dan (according to the Shu-Do-kan register), where he made a significant contribution to the founding of modern Taekwondo , as he learned the Chang Moo on his return Kwan, or the YMCA Kwon Bup Bu, and one of his students founded the Kang Duk Won in 1956. After Korea's declaration of independence on August 15, 1945, Yoon Byung-in met with the founders of the other four major Korean kwan (schools) and they decided to form an association to unify the various kwans. Modern Taekwondo was born. Yoon did not experience the unification under General Choi Hong Hi in 1961, because he was captured by North Korea during the Korean War (1950-1953).

In 1946, Toyama Kanken founded the All Japan Karate-Do Federation (AJKF), with the aim of uniting all Okinawan karate directions and creating a space to exchange ideas and techniques. Due to his enormous achievements and qualifications in Okinawan karate and Kobudo (traditional Okinawan weapons), which Toyama also mastered under his teachers, the Japanese government awarded him the title of Dai-Shihan ("great teacher") and the right to any title in 1949 to be awarded to every Okinawan karate style. This honor was next to him only Chibana Chochin bestowed (they were the last two "grandmasters" after the Second World War).

During his life he did not want to found his own karate style, instead he said: "A name is nothing more than a name: all styles are basically the same, regardless of the names by which they are known."

Toyama Kanken could not prevent his karate from splintering after his death on November 24, 1966.

Kaneshima Shinsuke († 1992) founded the Tozan-ryu , Takazawa Masanao (1931-2010) founded the Keishinkan , Ichikawa Isao (1935-1996) the Doshinkan , Shimabukuro Eizo (1925-) took over the AJKF and founded the Shobayashi-ryu . Walter Todd (1927–1999) brought a form of Shudokan to the USA and Hanaue Toshio (1930–1983) taught Shudokan in the Hombu Dojo .

Web links

• Shudokan Dojo in Münster (Westphalia)
• Shudokan Dojos in Austria

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus, Tōyama is the family name, Kanken the first name.