|
Home
Zenji Shimabukuro, his nephew, entered the All Japan Karate Western Championship in 1961 and took 2nd place in the Kata competition. His favorite Kata was Chinto. Later a student of his by the name of Sakimukai named the organization Chintokan, in honor of his Sensei. He designated his patch to be the same design as Seibukan with Sensei Zenryo Shimabukuro’s approval. Zenpo Shimabukuro will be remembered for his tournament career in the United States. He won the 1963 Pennsylvania State Championship. In 1964 he won the National Kata Championship and the Canadian International Championship. Sensei Zenryo Shimabukuro also produced some strong students and one exceptional student named Edward Takae a “Sansei” (Japanese-Hawaiian) originally from Hawaii who defeated seven black belts and won the All Okinawa Grand Championship in 1964 at Nago, Okinawa. In May of 1960, Sensei Zenryo joined the All Japan Karate-Do Federation (Zennipponkaratedorenmei) and was the President of the Okinawa Regional Headquarters. On January 5, 1964 the Board of Directors of the All Japan Karate-Do Federation awarded Sensei Zenryo the rank of “Hanshi-Judan” “Red Belt” (10th Degree Black Belt). In 1965, the Okinawan Branch resigned and joined the All Okinawa Karate-Do Federation (Zenokinawakarate-Dorenmei), which had been formed in 1956. The All Okinawa Karate-Do Federation was lead by:
At that time, the “Shorin-Ryu” styles decided to divide the members of the association into two geographically divided branches:
The Board of Directors of the ALL OKINAWA KARATE-DO FEDERATION awarded Sensei Zenryo Shimabukuro for the second time, the highest rank obtainable in Karate, “HANSHI-JUDAN”. To our knowledge, this is the first and only time that an Okinawan Karate Sensei received a “HANSHI-JUDAN” from both the ALLNIPPONKARATEDORENMEI as well as the ALLOKINAWAKARATEDORENMEI. Sensei Zenryo died while visiting Japan on a Karate-related trip in 1969. He was succeeded by his son, Zenpo Shimabukuro. Since Sensei Zenryo's death there have been two different “CHUBU” Karate organizations. In 1971, the NANBU and CHUBU SHORIN branches of the ALL OKINAWA KARATE-DO FEDERATION amalgamated into the CHUBU KARATE-DO UNITED ASSOCIATION. This organization did not last long, and it soon disbanded, except for Chinsaku Kinjo and Shinsuke Kaneshima who remained with the still functioning ALL OKINAWA KARATE-DO FEDERATION. Former students of Sensei Zenryo Shimabukuro with Katsushide Kochi as President formed the CHUBU SHORIN-RYU KARATE-DO ASSOCIATION and our style became known as CHUBU SHORIN-RYU. Members of the CHUBU SHORIN-RYU KARATE-DO ASSOCIATION included: Kosuke Chinen, Yushin Tomei, Masao Yonamine, and Zenpo Shimabukuro. In the United States, the INTERNATIONAL SEIBUKAN KARATE-DO ASSOCIATION was formed on October 8, 1978 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Previous students of Sensei Zenryo Shimabukuro and their students were united in the formation of this Association. Sensei Edward Takae, being the senior Sensei in the United States, accepted the position of President and Zenpo Shimabukuro, the late Sensei Zenryo’s son, was named Supreme Sensei of this Association. |
Zenryo
Shimabukuro was born in Shuri. At the age of 24, he moved to Chatan
Village to start a bakery with his brother and later a tatami shop. He
studied under Chotoku Kyan for 10 years. After the death of his
Sensei, he started teaching his son (Zenpo) and nephew (Zenji),
and gradually other school age children. In late 1959, soldiers from the
2/503 Airborne Battle Group (now the 173rd Airborne) came to see him in
hopes of persuading him to teach them. After much persistence, the Sensei
consented to teach them. Since then, he produced many superior Karateka.