Kenwa Mabuni

Kenwa Mabuni was one of the first karateka to teach karate in mainland Japan and is credited as developing the style known as Shitō-ryū. Originally, he chose the name Hanko-ryu, literally "half-hard style", to imply that the style used both hard and soft techniques. Toyama Kanken, who was trained the same way he was, teased Mabuni endlessly about the name, implying it meant "semi erect". Finally, Mabuni chose Shito-ryu, the first characters of the names Itosu and Higaonna, his two primary teachers. I.E. ITOHIGA.