Hakuda Ryu Kempo Jutsu Essex

There are many different forms that can be said to be called Okinawan Te or Ti. Te or Ti as a grappling art has its origin in the Okinawan grappling arts of Tegumi and Mutou, the first term describes the grappling styles that were were popular around the district of Naha, whilst the second term describes the type of grappling that was popular around the districts of Shuri and Tomari. Each one of these three districts is said to have been the source of the village Te's which were combined with local Chinese influence to form Ryukyu Kempo Jutsu which then became Toudi, To Te or Tang Te (China Hand) and later Karate (Empty hand). The Karate styles that have emerged in the Shuri and Tomari district have become known as Shorin Ryu whilst those that emerged around the Naha district became Shorei Ryu. However even the classification of Shorei and Shorin Ryu which has often been used to designate Kata to particular schools is also inadequate in some respects.

In the district of Naha there emerged the Shorei Ryu style of karate, this is said to have been in the 19th Century with the teachings of Kanryo Higaonna who according to Nagamine was 'deeply concerned with awakening the fighting traditions practised in and around the old district of Naha' (2000:64-65). It was in this district in the village of Kuma in 1392 the Chinese Monk and artisans first arived and are believed to have first introduced Kempo to Okinawa. The arrival of the Chinese in 1392 led to the eventual establishment of an Okinawan community in Fuzhou, in the Fukien district of China, where Higaonna studied from 1875 for 12 to 15 years.

It should be noted that there is a substantial amount of grappling techniques in Shorei Ryu's succesor Goju Ryu, these grappling techniques may to some extent have been part of Naha Te, if Naha Te can be considered as having a grappling aspect, it is certain that in the district a form of wrestling called Tegumi which was practised as a form of competitive sport is a form of wrestling. The native form of Okinawan Wrestling form known as Tegumi eventually became Okinawan Sumo.

The Chinese Martial arts known as Kempo in Okinawa from which the strikes and kicks of Karate are said to have originated also had its own grappling art known as Chin Na. Chin Na is seen in many Chinese Martial arts especially Fukien White Crane Gong Fu which is believed to have influenced both the Okinawan Shorin Ryu style which are based on External Shaolin fighting techniques and the Shorei Ryu styles of Okinawan Karate that are believed to be based on the internal Chinese Martial Arts. White Crane Chaun Fa has both internal and external aspects to its training curriculum, but the content of these varies depending upon local variations of the Crane style. The internal martial arts include Pau Kua and Hsing I and Tai Chi Chaun which is the most well known of the Internal Martial Arts. Most styles of Tai Chi Chaun also have their own grappling system known more commonly as Chin Na.

Shuri Te (and Tomari Te) when combined with Chinese Kempo became known as Shorin Ryu Karate which resulted in the Okinawan Karate styles of that name, Shorin simply means small forest and is generally used to refer to the Fukien Shaolin Temple. The form of grappling which is associated with the styles that surfaced around the areas of Shuri and Tomari was known as Mutou and this was later combined with the Chinese styles to create Shorin Ryu, where as in  Naha  Tegumi became part of the Shorei Ryu styles. The Mutou of Shuri is often been regarded as the most appropriate form of grappling for dealing with an armed adversary when one is unarmed (Arakaki 2000).