goldenglory86
White Belt
Who are the first people to synthesized Te with Quan Fa?
Who are the first people to synthesized Te with Quan Fa?
- Thread starter goldenglory86
- Start date
isshinryuronin18 18
Senior Master
I would name Sakugawa as the main one. In the early 1800's he trained with Takahara, an Okinawan monk skilled in Te, and Kusanku, a master of Quan Fa. Sakugawa's student, Matsumura, developed the Shuri-te branch of karate.
It's true that some foreign MA filtered into Okinawa before that, but it seems Sakugawa made the most impact in synthesizing the arts into early karate.
Same Trick74 25
Master of Arts
Where did Te come from, and what was it like ?
punisher73
Senior Master
I second Sakugawa as the first recorded person to blend the two. BUT, the "36 Families" first came and lived in Okinawa in the late 1300's and there was probably mixing back then as well, just not documented.
"Te" simply means "hand" and it was the indigenous method used by Okinawans. It involved both grappling and striking. But, to my knowledge it was never formalized or structured. To use an analogy, think of a dad back in the 1940's in America teaching his kid in the garage how to fight. "If he does this...do this", and teaching him some basic punches and a kick to the groin and/or how to trip him and throw him.
"Te" simply means "hand" and it was the indigenous method used by Okinawans. It involved both grappling and striking. But, to my knowledge it was never formalized or structured. To use an analogy, think of a dad back in the 1940's in America teaching his kid in the garage how to fight. "If he does this...do this", and teaching him some basic punches and a kick to the groin and/or how to trip him and throw him.
