Chōshin Chibana

Okinawen karateka (1885-1969)

知花朝信 · 지바나 조신

Born

5 June 1885, Shuri

Died

26 February 1969, Tokyo

Citizenship

Japan, Empire of Japan

Sport

karate

Occupation

samurai, karateka

Chōshin Chibana (知花 朝信, Chibana Chōshin; 5 June 1885 – 26 February 1969) was an Okinawan martial artist who developed Kobayashi Shōrin-ryū karate based on what he had learned from Ankō Itosu. He was the last of the pre-World War karate masters, also called the "Last Warrior of Shuri" He was the first to establish a Japanese ryu name for an Okinawan karate style, calling Itosu's karate "Shorin-Ryu" (小林流 or "the small forest school") in 1929.

Teachers

• Ankō Itosu

Students

• Ankichi Arakaki
• Katsuya Miyahira
• Shūgorō Nakazato
• Nakama Chozo
• Higa Yuchoku

External links

• Wikipedia
• Wikidata

Facts from Wikidata Q1071733 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.