Kanga Sakukawa

Meeting with Kusanku Oral tradition describes Sakugawa as a mischievous youth, some stories say that he was walking near a river one day when he saw an older Chinese gentleman gazing upon the water. As a prank, he went to push the man into the river and instead was grabbed by that man in an iron grip. The man turned out to be the Chinese martial artist Kusanku. Kusanku chastised the youth but then a student of Kusanku introduced him to Tode Sakugawa, then Kusanku offered to instruct him further in Chinese martial arts. Sakugawa consulted with his instructor at the time, Takahara, who encouraged him to learn from the Chinese master.

Influences on modern Karate Kanga Sakugawa's most famous student, Matsumura Sōkon, went on to develop Shuri-te which later develop into a number of karate styles including Shotokan, Shito-ryu, Wado-ryu and Shōrin-ryū.