What is Chito-ryu Karate-Do?
The Okinawan men, such as Sensei Gichen Funakoshi and Dr. Chitose, who introduced Karate to Japan in the 20th century and made 'karate' into an internationally recognized word resisted for years any attempt to break karate into different styles or ryu. However, for reasons too complex to discuss here, Japanese arts, from flower arranging to jui jitsu, always fraction into schools with divergent techniques, training methods and philosophy.
Dr. Tsuyoshi Chitose (1898-1984), began to call the style of Okinawan Kempo karate that he taught "Chito-ryu" in the 1950's. Dr. Chitose distilled the merits primarily of two Okinawan disciplines, Shuri no Te (now known as Shorin-Ryu) and Naha no Te (now known as Shorei-Ryu) to produce a more healthy and effective art. Although it sounds like the name of the style is based on Dr. Chitose's name, it is actually his tribute to the long history of Karate and to its Chinese origins.
| The Characters in the name Chito Ryu translate as |  |
Often, the practitioners of a particular style of karate or other martial art will make claims that what they practice is 'the best.' There is a wise saying from way back: "There is no superior martial art, only superior martial artists." Here are some reasons why Chito-ryu can become an effective system of self-defense, and a successful 'Do', or way to personal improvement, for a person seriously interested learning the karate way:
Dr. Chitose changed many of the practice methods and techniques of traditional Okinawan karate, based on his medical knowledge, to make Chito-ryu both safer for the student and more effective at utilizing proper body mechanics to achieve maximum speed and generate power. His philosophy that karate training should make the student more healthy, not injured and less healthy, permeates what we practice.
Chito-ryu, perhaps because its founder, Dr. Chitose, started his karate training by practicing the same kata for seven years, has always placed a premium on precision and excellence of technique. There are other styles that promise quicker advancement to black belt, but serious karate practitioners are more interested in the skill they posses than in the color of belt they wear.
Technically, for those with experience in other Okinawan and Japanese styles of karate, Chito-ryu is distinguished by an emphasis on more inward tension stances and the use of more vibratory core muscle movements to generate speed and power than most other Japanese styles. In Japan, and for a time in the US, Chito-ryu was one of the few styles that used full kendo-like armor for full-contact kumite. This is not considered safe because of the risk of brain and neck injury by American medical experts and isn't practiced in the Koshin-ha Chito-ryu organization.
The Koshin-ha Chito-ryu Federation is a group of the intellectual and technical leaders of US Chito-ryu that is devoted to studying, preserving and further developing the style of Chito-ryu. The art that was introduced to the world outside of Okinawa by the founders of modern Karate-Do such as Dr. Chitose and Sensei Gichen Funakoshi has grown too far, many now argue, from its roots. As it was introduced as part of the school curriculum, as tournament competition began to play a greater role, many of the techniques that are part of karate kata -- because they didn't follow tournament rules -- became forgotten, misinterpreted and misunderstood. As an example, karate is now viewed as primarily a striking art, while juijitsu or aikido are the grappling/close-combat arts, but the fact that the kata we practice in Chito-ryu include numerous holds, joint locks and throws, reveals this sharp demarkation to be a recent artifact. A major focus of the Koshin-ha Chito-ryu Federation is to re-examine and teach the bunkai, or true applications, of the foundation of karate training, kata. A unique feature of the Koshin-ha Chito-ryu organization is its very democratic structure, which is intended to avoid the personality cult power structure that preoccupies and undermines many, if not most, marital arts organizations.