Patrick McCarthy

Patrick McCarthy (born December 4, 1954) is a Canadian martial arts practitioner, competitor, instructor, historian, researcher and author. He is the founder and director of the International Ryukyu Karate Research Society (IRKRS; 琉球唐手術国際研究會) and the founder of Koryū Uchinādi (古流沖縄手), overseeing an international group with about 20,000 members. Subsequently, Fighting Arts International called McCarthy “the foremost Western historian of karate-do.” Over several decades, he has taught martial arts internationally, conducting seminars on six continents.

Early life and career McCarthy was born in 1954 in Saint John, New Brunswick, where he was raised until his family relocated to Toronto, Ontario in 1970. Growing up in Rockwood Court in Saint John, McCarthy participated in several sports and received his first exposure to organized fighting through boxing at the Allison Grounds community centre, where he trained under Ralph “Tiger” Thomas. Although McCarthy does not characterize himself as having been an accomplished competitive boxer, the experience introduced him to combative training. McCarthy's more direct interest in martial arts began during the mid-1960s after seeing the National Film Board of Canada documentary Judoka, which chronicled fellow Canadian Doug Rogers' win in the 1964 Summer Olympics. McCarthy subsequently sought out judo instruction at the local YMCA in Saint John, New Brunswick. He instead encountered Kyokushin karate, and started training under Adrian Gomes at 10 years old. While visiting Montreal during Expo 67 to compete with the South End Little League All-Star baseball team at the Canadian level, the twelve-year-old McCarthy attended the Japanese pavilion, where he recalls seeing separate karate demonstrations involving Chitose Tsuyoshi and Hisataka Masayuki. After moving to Toronto, he briefly studied Chitō-ryū karate under Mas Tsuroka, widely recognized as an important pioneer of karate in Canada.

The early 1970s coincided with an extraordinary growth of public interest in Asian martial arts. The emergence of Bruce Lee had a profound influence on McCarthy and countless other young martial artists of his generation. McCarthy became increasingly involved with Chinese and Southeast Asian fighting traditions, including Hung Gar and Indonesian Silat, while maintaining his interest in karate and becoming increasingly attracted to martial arts competition. It was around this time that he first started competing, in kata, weapons and Kumite on the tournament circuit throughout Canada and the United States. Competitors and instructors representing numerous traditions gathered at the same events, creating opportunities for exchange that rarely existed within individual schools. McCarthy consequently explored and cross-trained in systems including Wing Chun, Choy Li Fut, Dō Pai, Eagle Claw and several styles of karate, while encountering practitioners from Japanese, Okinawan, Chinese, Korean, Southeast Asian and Western fighting traditions. In 1979, McCarthy relocated to Vancouver and opened a dojo at the Vancouver Karate Centre. Over subsequent decades, the IRKRS developed into an international network of practitioners, instructors and affiliated dōjōs. McCarthy's international teaching career and research have remained closely connected with the organization. For approximately three decades, he has travelled extensively conducting seminars and educational programmes . In addition to writing several books on Okinawan martial arts, in 1995 McCarthy published the first English translation of the Bubishi, a collection of handwritten classic Quanfa texts about combat that were passed down from teacher to student dating back to the 17th century. Honors and legacy In 1994, at Kinjo's recommendation, McCarthy became the first Westerner to receive the Kyoshi 7th Dan (rank) Teaching License from the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai in Kyoto.

When inducting McCarthy in 2012, the Canadian Black Belt Hall of Fame stated, “McCarthy's groundbreaking efforts helped launch the kata-bunkai trend during the 1980s, making him one of the most sought after instructors around the world.” His Koryu Uchinadi philosophy and methods have been taught in seminars around the world, and have been adopted by dojos and are now practiced by thousands of martial artists in Australia, Japan, North America, Europe, Africa and Brazil.

Publications

Classical Kata of Okinawan Karate. (1987). Black Belt Communications. . Bubishi: The Bible of Karate. (1995). Tuttle. . Ancient Okinawan Martial Arts: Koryū Uchinādi, Volume 1. (1999). Tuttle. . Legend of the Fist. (2018). . Tales of Okinawa's Great Masters. (2000). By Nagamine Shōshin; translated by Patrick McCarthy. Tuttle. . Ancient Okinawan Martial Arts: Koryū Uchinādi, Volume 2. (2002). Tuttle. . Legend of the Fist. (2018). . Kensei, Kyan Chōtoku: The Man and his Art. (2023). . Funakoshi Gichin, Tanpenshu: A Collection of Short Stories. (2024). . Motobu Chōki, Karate: My Art. (2024). . Ryūkyū Kobudō Modern Pioneer: Taira Shinken. (2025). .