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The family altar of Sakugawa.

Unfortunately, there is not much historical documentation about the bujin of Sakugawa’s era, or Okinawa’s Kingdom period in general. However, two centuries later, To-te Sakugawa is still regarded as the principal figure in the history of that fighting tradition which surfaced in Shuri. Knowing this, I knelt humbly before his memorial tablet in the house of the Sakugawa family, joined my palms together, and, in the privacy of my own thoughts, honored the memory of this great warrior.

Chapter 3

BUSHI MATSUMURA SOKON OKINA:

SHURI’S BUJIN

A MASTER OF JIGEN-RYU KENJUTSU

Bushi Matsumura Sokon was born in 1809 in Shuri’s Yamakawa village. Known to the Chinese as Wu Chengda, he wrote under the pen names of Unyuu and Bucho. Who first taught Matsumura te remains the subject of some curiosity. However, it is certain that he was interested in martial arts since childhood. From a good family, by the age of seventeen or eighteen years Matsumura had already displayed the characteristics of a promising bujin. Strong, intelligent, and courteous, Matsumura learned from an early age the importance of bun bu ryo dō (balancing physical training with metaphysical study). In addition to his relentless pursuit of the combative disciplines, he deeply embraced Confucianism, and also became known as a brilliant calligrapher.