Shoshin Nagamine
Shoshin Nagamine 1907 – 1997
“A Man of Humility”
Shōshin Nagamine was a Japanese author from Okinawa as well as a soldier, police officer, and karate master.
In 1992, Grand Master Shoshin Nagamine wrote a detailed autobiography. The document highlights his journey in Karate, the Okinawan masters who would shape his life, and his own spirit, drive, and motivation as a remarkable Karate man, who held a 10th Dan black belt, and was awarded the title of Hanshi.
Nagamine writes: “The notion that I should scientifically
study Okinawa Karate which had never been systematically analyzed in the past,
as a means of cultivating and training of body and mind was always in my
mind.” From December 1931 to August
1936, he was influenced by Sensei Mr Chotoku Kyan, his second teacher. In April 1936, he was sent to the Tokyo
Metropolitan Police Department for six months, during which time he received
advice on kumite movements from celebrated Karate master Mr Choki Motobu. In May, 1940, Nagamine was given the title of
Renshi on the recommendation of Sensei Chojun Miyagi.
In December 1941 he was sent as a trainee to Police University in Tokyo, where he demonstrated the mysteries of Karate to the Metropolitan Police Special Guard Division. As chief of an Emergency Ration section of Naha Police Station during WW II, he was stationed in the fiercely fought battle covering Shuri to Shimajiri village in the southern part of the island. He became a POW of the US Armed Forces, and while transporting casualties, found a book by Sensei Gichin Funakoshi, entitled “Introduction to Karate”. The book strengthened his determination to lead a life of Karateman.
In January 1953, he built a full-scale Karate dojo in Naha named Shorin-Ryu Matsubayashi-ryu Karate Kodokan in honour of Sokon Matsumura and Kosaku Matsumora. He served three terms in the Naha City municipal assembly, resigning in 1957. After reading the Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi, and a book entitled Buddhist Layman and Master Swordsman Teshhu’s True Self, he adopted Zen meditation as part of his Karate. He became a disciple of Zen priest, Sogen Sakiyama, with further teachings from Zen priests Keisho Ikamoto and Shuzen Kise. The final words in his autobiography read: “Under the conviction that the togetherness of Zen and Karate is the only way to master the real way of Karate, and hoping that many young Karate experts will be nurtured, I am enjoying Karateman’s life in the spirit of wholeheartedness.”
Nagamine taught Matsubayashi-ryu Kodokan Karate until
his death in 1997, and was succeeded by his son Takoyoshi until his death in
2012. Students of Nagamine include: Chokei Kishaba, Takoshi Nagamine, Katsuhiko
Shinzato, Ansei Ushiro, and J. Eduardo Castro.
To learn more about Shoshin Nagamine please watch any of these DVD's or read these books.
