| Shorin-ryu is one of the oldest recorded styles of karate.
The interplay between Chinese and Okinawan martial arts gradually evolved into two main branches, Shorin-ryu or Shori-te (associated with the towns of Shuri and Tomari) and Shorei-ryu or Naha-te (associated with the town of Naha). Shorin-ryu eventually splintered into: Shobayashi-ryu ("small forest school"), Kobayashi-ryu ("young forest school") and Matsubayashi-ryu ("pine forest school"). All three names refer to the forest surrounding the original Shaolin Temple & are alternatively interpreted as "Shaolin Way", reflecting their Chinese roots. The lesser-known Matsumura Seito ("Matsumura Orthodox") is the fourth main Shorin-ryu offshoot. Though they are closely related, there are distinct differences among the Shorin-ryu styles. For instance, Matsubayashi-based styles are typically lighter and faster, while Kobayashi relies more on powerful stances and less on mobility. Most of these diffferences can be attributed to the relative influence of ancesteral Tomari-te and Shorei-te and the philosophical and physical preferences of style founders and their teachers. Shorin-ryu is distinguished from other styles by its upright stances and natural breathing. Rather than relying on constant forward pressure, like many Japanese styles, or indirect countering, like Chinese styles, Shorin-ryu blends these approaches. Shorin-ryu emphasizes upper-body techniques and low powerful kicks, traditional kata (forms) and bunkai (fighting and self-defense applications). Modern Shorin-ryu also incorporates yakusoku kumite (prearranged sparring), ippon kumite (one-step sparring) and jiyu-kumite (free sparring). |
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