Tatsuo Shimabuku

Tatsuo Shimabuku (1908 to 1975) was an Okinawan martial artist and the founder of Isshin-ryū, a style of karate whose name means One Heart Way. Born on 19 September 1908 in Gushikawa village, the eldest of ten children in a farming family, he began karate at thirteen under his uncle and later trained with Chōtoku Kyan in Shōrin-ryū, with Chōki Motobu, and with Chōjun Miyagi in Naha-te, while also studying weapons under Shinken Taira. As a youth he won javelin and high jump events on the island. After years of combining these traditions with his own techniques, he announced Isshin-ryū on 15 January 1956. From 1957 he taught United States Marines stationed on Okinawa, and returning Marines spread the style across the United States. He died of a stroke at his home in Agena on 30 May 1975, and in 1980 was the first person inducted into the Isshin-ryū Hall of Fame.