MASTER TATSUO SHIMABUKU

FOUNDER OF ISSHINRYU

Tatsuo Shimabuku (1906-1975) was recognized in Okinawa as a leading practitioner of both Shorin ryu and Goju ryu karate, but he was also a businessman by profession. However, when World War II reached the island of Okinawa, Sensei Shimabuku’s manufacturing plant was destroyed, and he was bankrupt from the outset of the fighting.  

He then worked as a farmer and laborer for many months in the area around his home. Sensei Shimabuku would have been in danger of being conscripted into the Japanese army, but stories tell that the Japanese soldiers agreed to keep his whereabouts secret if he would teach them karate. Whether this is true or not, Sensei Shimabuku managed to avoid being enlisted in the army, and he did teach karate to Japanese (and later, American) soldiers during and after the war.  

After WWII, he began experimenting with the creation of a new system of karate that combined the styles he already knew. He spoke with other karate masters on the island about a synthesis of styles, which he felt would lead to the betterment of martial arts in general among modern practitioners. At first the masters agreed that this was a good idea, but after some time those same masters began to change their minds and resist Shimabuku’s ideas. It seems that many of the teachers of particular karate styles feared that by combining their arts into something new, they may lose prestige or influence themselves, and they decided to remain separate and continue teaching their own styles.

 And so, Sensei Shimabuku began to design his own system, and eventually called his work Isshin Ryu. On January 15, 1954, Tatsuo Shimabuku officially announced his new karate style to the world.

MASTER KICHIRO SHIMABUKU

10^TH Dan, Isshinryu Karate

    Kichiro Shimabuku is the son of founder Tatsuo Shimabuku, and is currently the President of the Isshinryu World Karate Association (IWKA). Master Shimabuku lives in Gushikawa City, Okinawa, the headquarters for Isshin Ryu karate.

    Master Kichiro has a degree in Business Administration from Tokyo University. He makes periodic trips to the United States to promote Isshinryu and help unify and educate the practitioners of the system, carrying on the work his father did to strengthen and teach the martial arts.

MASTER ANGI UEZU

10^TH Dan, Isshinryu Karate

    Before Angi Uezu trained in Isshinryu, he married one of Tatsuo Shimabuku's daughters, Yukiko. Because Shimabuku's son Kichiro was not interested in studying Isshinryu at this time, Uezu started training in 1962 with Tatsuo Sensei. He quickly became one of the master's best students.

     In 1967, when Uezu was a fourth degree black belt, Master Shimabuku sent him to the United States as his personal representative. Uezu spent roughly one year in the States (with Sensei Harry Acklin), instructing some of Shimabuku's students.

     In 1990 Uezu decided to separate himself from Kichiro Shimabuku and form his own Isshinryu organization, the OIKKA (Okinawa Isshinryu Karate Kobudo Association).  In 1996, Master Uezu retired from active participation in teaching karate, but he still practices privately and loves to talk to people about Isshinryu.

HARRY ACKLIN SENSEI

7^th Dan

Sensei Acklin (Aug 30, 1929—Dec 17, 2000) was one of three people responsible for bringing Master Tatsuo Shimabuku to the United States for the first time, in 1964 (the other two were William Duessel and Jim Morebeto). He had also visited Master Shimabuku three times in Okinawa. Sensei Acklin was promoted to shichi dan (7^th degree black belt) by Master Tatsuo Shimabuku.

Sensei Acklin was a former Army paratrooper who started studying Isshinryu just as an exercise, and then pursued the martial art for years. At one point, Master Shimabuku’s son-in-law, Angi Uezu, came to stay in Sensei Acklin’s home for a year, and teach in Sensei Acklin’s dojo. Sensei Acklin was inducted into the Isshinryu Hall of Fame in 1994.

Harry Acklin was a retired Deputy Sheriff in the Detective Bureau of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department in Ohio.

WILLIAM SHANK SENSEI

8^th Dan

      Sensei Bill Shank is a hachi dan (eighth degree black belt) in Isshinryu, and is the owner and head instructor of the Carlisle Isshin Ryu Karate Club in Carlisle, PA.

      Sensei Shank began studying the martial arts in 1972.  He received his first level black belt from his original Isshinryu instructor, Rich Garnish (who was a second dan). He began studying with Harry Acklin 1975, and received his second through sixth degree black belt promotions from Master Acklin.                

      Sensei Shank was later promoted to seventh and eighth dan by Master Georg Iberl and Master Angi Uezu. Master Iberl is a ninth dan under Master Uezu. 

       Besides operating his own karate school, Sensei Shank has been an instructor at Dickinson College in Carlisle since 1975, teaching a physical education course in introductory karate and self-defense each semester.

CHRISTOPHER CECIL SENSEI

4th Dan

      Christopher Sensei began studying Isshinryu in 1988 under Bill Shank. He received his promotions up to san dan (3rd level black belt) from Sensei Shank, and later was promoted to yon dan (4^th degree) by Sensei Vernon Graham, who is also a student of Bill Shank.  Christopher has been a member of the United States Martial Arts Association since 2002.

    Christopher is a Spanish teacher at Cumberland Valley High School. He is also the school district's advisor for the Cumberland Valley Martial Arts Club, a student group composed of martial artists from many different styles who train together.

      From 2000 through 2002, Christopher ran a small karate school in Duncannon, PA. He was later the head instructor of the Newville Isshinryu Dojo from the Spring of 2003 until October 2005. He now raises llamas and alpacas on a small mountainside farm.