Seiken Shukumine
Seiken Shukumine (祝嶺正献, Shukumine Seiken), (1925-2001) was born 9 December 1925 in the city of Nago on Okinawa, Japan. He passed away on 26 November 2001 at 06:50 AM local Japanese time.
Seiken Shukumine was the founder of Genseiryu in 1953 and Taido in 1962.
Biography[edit]
Born on 9 December 1925 in Nago-shi on the Japanese island of Okinawa, Seiken Shukumine began karate lessons at the age of 8 from Anko Sadoyama, a grandmaster of Ko-ryu karate. His teacher's lessons focused on building body condition, rather than teaching techniques. He trained under the supervision of Anko Sadoyama for four years.
When Shukumine was about 14, he was accepted as an apprentice by sensei Soko Kishimoto. The book "Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and Secret Techniques" by Mark Bishop indicates that Kishimoto tested Shukumine before accepting him as a student. When Kishomoto and Shukumine first met, Kishimoto grabbed a poker and threw a piece of wooden coal with full force towards Shukumine, who dodged and parried. Because of this, Kishimoto accepted him as a student on one condition: To keep the secret of the techniques to himself and not to share it with others. Kishimoto accepted only nine students in his lifetime, the last two of which were Seiken Shukumine and Higa Seitoku (founder of Bugeikan]).
In 1955 he was awarded 8th dan Kyoshi by the Dai Nippon Butokukai.
Bibliography[edit]
- Shin Karate-do Kyohan, Ed.Bungeisha, 1964, Japanese.
- Karate-do Tanren Sankagetsu, Ed.Bungeisha, 1978, Japanese.
- Taido Gairon, Ed.Gendai Shorin, 1988, Japanese.
