Fifty aspects of history

Five key sources

  1. Funakoshi
  2. Motobu
  3. Nagamine
  4. Bishop
  5. Kerr

Five key figures prior to the modern era

  1. Kusanku
  2. Sakugawa
  3. Matsumura
  4. Itosu
  5. Higaonna

Five influential modern figures

  1. Kyan
  2. Motobu
  3. Funakoshi
  4. Mabuni
  5. Miyagi

Five key …aspects… of Okinawan history

  1. Okinawa was a Chinese tributary state from 1372 until 1870
  2. Piracy in the South China Sea was an ongoing threat to Okinawan national security interests
  3. Chinese tribute and diplomatic missions to Okinawa often carried military personnel
  4. In 1609, the Satsuma clan invaded Okinawa, imposed high taxes, and left a garrison of well-trained soldiers in Okinawa
  5. The Okinawan aristocracy was completely dependent on the profits generated for tribute trade. Being appointed to a trade mission was a critical life goal for many of Okinawa’s ruling class

Five important military events in Chinese history

  1. Warring states
  2. Taiping rebellion
  3. Mongol attack on Japan
  4. Ming conquest of the Mongols
  5. The building of the Great Wall

Five aspects of tribute trade

  1. 300 people
  2. 6 months
  3. Every two years
  4. Changed dramatically after 1609
  5. Nagamine’s text on requirements for fighting

Ten principles of tote

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Summary of military hints

  1. Okinawans were seafarers, and dependent on tribute trade at a time piracy was rampant
  2. Chinese sent military authorities
  3. Funakoshi names military attachees
  4. Secrecy
  5. Nagamine mentions the use of spears to defend ships

Five standard elements of karate history that warrant further analysis

  1. Prior to Nagamine’s text “Okinawa’s Great Masters” there was little attention given to the defense of maritime trade.
  2. The importance of the 1609 invasion of the Satsuma on the development of karate.
  3. The practice of karate in secrecy was the result of the Satsuma banning of weapons
  4. Little distinction was made between Chinese instruction in Okinawa, and Okinawans seeking instruction in China.
  5. The role of Chinese military authorities in the instruction of Okinawans in fighting arts.