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Other Styles

Various kobudo practitioners demonstrating different styles

Beyond the three major lineages, several further traditions preserve Ryukyuan weapon techniques, some focused on single weapons, others integrated into karate systems.

Motobu Udun-di (本部御殿手)​

The palace art of the Motobu royal family. Registered with the Nihon Kobudō Kyōkai as 琉球王家秘伝本部御殿手 (representative: 本部 朝正 Motobu Chōsei).

This art is described as a palace-guard style including both empty-hand methods and weapon use, particularly swords and dual-sword methods (nito). The royal family context means this tradition was not taught publicly during the kingdom era; modern transmission reflects 20th-century formalization.

Tokushinryū Kobudo (徳心流古武道)​

Tokushinryū is a post-war organization that assembled a curriculum drawing from multiple Okinawan lineages. Its bō kata list includes several families (Sakugawa, Shūshi, Chatan Yara, Tsuken) alongside others not central to the Taira or Matayoshi lists.

The Tokushinryū kata comparison table in the Kata section shows how the same family name can appear with distinct choreographies across four different organizations.

Okinawa Gōjū-ryū Bujutsu (沖縄剛柔流武術)​

Primarily an empty-hand karate system, Okinawa Gōjū-ryū Bujutsu is listed among the Nihon Kobudō Kyōkai's 空手・琉球古武術 entries. Representative: 東恩納 盛男 (Higashionna Morio).

In practice, some branches of Gōjū-ryū include ancillary weapon work (particularly with bō). Its primary significance for kobudo research is as context: many karate organisations added weapon curricula drawn from Taira-line or Matayoshi material in the late 20th century.

Karate-Based Weapon Curricula​

Several mainland and Okinawan karate organizations added weapon kata to their curricula in the post-war period, typically sourced from Taira-line instruction. Groups such as Shōrin-ryū, Isshin-ryū, and various Shotokan affiliates adopted bō kata like Shūshi no Kon and Sakugawa no Kon. These are listed in the Kata section under "Karate weapon syllabi."

Tokushinryū draws from multiple Okinawan lineages to build a broad bō kata list including Sakugawa, Shūshi, Chatan Yara and Tsuken families alongside others. It is listed among Nihon Kobudō Kyōkai's recognised weapon arts.

Ryukyu Kobudo Kongo-ryu (琉球古武道金剛流)​

Kongo-ryu is a kobudo style that descends directly from Taira Shinken. Its founder, Sakagami Ryusho (坂上隆祥), received the first shihan license Taira ever awarded (1959), followed by 8th dan in kobudo (1963). Sakagami was the third-generation head of Itosu-ha Shito-ryu karate (the Itosu-ryu line: Itosu Anko to Mabuni Kenwa to Sakagami).

The Kongo-ryu official site states that it is "the oldest Ryukyu kobudo dojo on mainland Japan." After Taira's death, Sakagami formalized his own kobudo as Kongo-ryu. The current shuseki shihan is his son Sakagami Sadaaki, who is also the head of Itosu-ryu karate internationally. Instructional DVD series covering bo, sai, nunchaku, tekko, and kama have been published under the Kongo-ryu name.

Okinawa Kobudo Kenshin-ryu (沖縄古武道憲心流)​

Kenshin-ryu was founded in 1961 (Showa 36) by Hayashi Teruo (林輝男), who is described in a 1964 Japanese magazine article as a "leading disciple who learned kobudo under Mr. Taira Shinken."

The style name is a deliberate combination: "Ken" (憲) comes from Nakaima Kenko (Ryuei-ryu karate), Hayashi's other main teacher, and "Shin" (心) comes from Taira Shinken. This makes the dual lineage visible in the name itself. The same source explains that Hayashi "created the Okinawan kobudo of Kenshin-ryu by adopting the two characters."

Hayashi was also founder and head of Hayashi-ha Shito-ryu-kai and held positions in the Japan Karatedo Federation. The current organization is the Japan Kobudo Kenshin-ryu-Kai, with Hayashi identified in the international Shito-ryu records as "Soke Hanshi 10th Dan Okinawa Kobudo Kenshin-Ryu."

Sources​

  1. Nihon Kobudō Kyōkai — Ryukyu Kobujutsu: Inoue Kisho / Taira line listing
  2. Nihon Kobudō Kyōkai — Matayoshi: Matayoshi Yasushi listing
  3. Nihon Kobudō Kyōkai — Motobu Udun-di: Motobu Chōsei, palace art listing
  4. Nihon Kobudō Kyōkai — Okinawa Gōjū-ryū Bujutsu: Higashionna Morio listing
  5. Okinawan kobudō — Wikipedia: Overview of the major lineages and their relationships