History

What is Karate (空手)?
Karate (空手) is a martial art (or self-defence) which was developed in Okinawa (Ryukyu Islands). Karate originated from the fighting methods of 'te' (手) as is characterised by punching, kicking, sharp blows & strikes as well as using pressure-sensitive points on the body of the opponent. Karate literally means empty (kara 空) hand (te 手).

Style Summary
While Matsubayashi-Ryu (松林流) Karate did not exist before Shoshin Nagamine Osensei founded it, it's beginnings had existed for hundreds of years before. Matsubayashi-Ryu can trace it's lineage from Chinese Gung-Fu and the original Okinawan Karate. The original Okinawan Karate was named "to-te" which means "Chinese hand" (唐手) , and was divided into Shuri-Te (首里手), Naha-Te (那覇手) and Tomari-Te (泊手). Shorin-Ryu was primarily developed from a combination of Shuri-Te and Tomari-Te forms, and is now divided into the four schools; Matsumura Seito (Pine Village Orthodox 松村正), Kobayashi-Ryu (Young Forest 小林流), Shobayashi-Ryu (Small Forest 少林流), Matsubayashi-Ryu (Pine Forest 松林流). In 1936 the term "Te" was changed by Okinawan masters who met, and agreed on the term "karate" which means "empty hand", as they felt it reflected the nature of the art better.

Nagamine Osensei named his school in recognition of masters which he viewed as two of the most important and influential forbearers of Shorin-Ryu. These people were Sokon Matsumura and Kosaku Matsumora. The name which Nagamine chose for his school comes from the kanji characters that can be pronounced in Japanese either as "Matsubayashi" or as "Shorin". Most people refer to it as "Matsubayashi" as to avoid confusion with the other "Shorin-Ryu" associations.

"Matsubayashi-Ryu Kodokan Karate and Ancient Martial Arts Studies" was the official formation of the Matsubayashi-Ryu in 1947 by Nagamine Osensei. Matsubayashi is the Okinawan pronunciation of the words for "Pine Forest". "Matsu" meaning "Pine" and "Hayashi" meaning "Forest", however when the two words are placed together the "H" of "Hayashi" is pronounced as a "B" turning it into "Matsubayashi". Furthermore, "Shorin" is the Japanese pronunciation of Chinese word "Shaolin", which comes from the Shaolin Buddhist Temple in China. "Ryu" (流) is means style or school, however the literally meaning is "stream" or "flow" which apparently reflected Nagamine Osensei's thoughts of karate, and specifically Matsubayashi-Ryu is a living, and flowing thing.

According to documentation another theory to how the name was formed is that Nagamine Osensei's nickname was "Gaajuu Maachuu" which was sometimes pronounced "Chippai Matsu", which means "tenacious pine tree".

Style Lineage
Click here for a detailed view at the history/lineage of Matsubayashi-Ryu Karate-do, its founders, teachers and Australian division.