Chōmo Hanashiro

was an Okinawan martial arts master who is notable for aiding in the evolution of Shōrin-ryū karate. Early in his childhood, he became a student of the renowned master Matsumura Sōkon, of the Shuri-te style. In addition to being a recognized expert in martial arts, Hanashiro was the first to formally use the kanji kara (空) instead of "to" or "tang" (唐), a term by which Okinawa's martial art became known: "karate".

Biography

Chōmo Hanashiro was born in Shuri. He started karate practice at a very young age under Sōkon Matsumura. Hanashiro later on became Itosu's assistant and remained so until his Itosu's death in 1915. Unlike Matsumura, Itosu aimed to promote karate as a modality of physical and social development in the public school system of Okinawa, influenced by Hanashiro.

Hanashiro died in 1945, during World War II bombardments by the American military on Okinawa. These bombings caused 60,000 civilian casualties in 82 days.

His most eminent disciples were Shigeru Nakamura (1892–1969),dr. Chitōse (1898–1984), (founder of Chitō-ryū, not to be confused with Kenwa Mabuni's Shitō-ryū), Nakama Chōzo (1899–1982), who later became a disciple of Choshin Chibana, Shimabukuro Zenryō (1904–1969), founder of the Shōrin-ryū Seibukan"Seibukan Shōrin-ryū school) and Kinjō Hiroshi (1919–2013).