Ravenswood Shorin-ryu Karate Dojo

世界松林流空手道連盟シカゴ支部烏森空手道場

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Ravenswood Shorin-ryu Karate Dojo
c/o Ravenswood Fellowship UMC
4511 N. Hermitage
Chicago, IL 60640

E-Mail only, please:
ravenswoodkarateclub@gmail.com

* Please do not show up unannounced. Send us an e-mail and we will respond with an introductory questionnaire to get to know you prior to your first visit. We would like to hear from you!

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Hours & Info

4511 North Hermitage Avenue
Chicago, IL 60640
(Ravenswood UMC gymnasium)

Mondays, 7:30pm-9pm

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Flashback to exchange training with Joe Takehara on October 6, 2014. Takehara sensei was an original member of the Illinois Aikido Club in 1961, the first aikido dojo in the Midwestern U.S., and remains the region’s most senior aikido practitioner. - Takehara focused on breathing, centering, & taking away an opponent’s center. A truly humble man, he insisted he line up with the rest of the students to bow in. He then participated in our warm-ups and kihon out of respect for what we do. He even refused to wear his hakama for the karate portion of the class, adorning it only for his portion. Classy. - Born in San Diego of Issei parents in 1931, he was among 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry forcibly removed and incarcerated as a result of Executive Order 9066 during WWII. While at the Poston camp, he learned the sweet science of boxing from Teruo Tsuchiyama, which would aid in self-defense when his family resettled on Chicago’s West Side in 1945. "I used to carry a roll of pennies in my fist and a switchblade, walk in the middle of the street at night on the way home from school," he recounted. - Takehara earned a D.D.S. from the University of Illinois School of Dentistry and opened practice at 3355 N. Clark in 1961. That same year, he was approached by John Omori, an optometrist from 3206 N. Clark (at the time, East Lakeview was Chicago's J-town) to join a newly formed aikido club in the basement of Nisei police detective Tony Muranaka’s residence at 3324 N. Clark. They would later move the dojo to 3223 N. Clark. - Early members were Norman Miyagi, Sab Tanaka, Red Sakamoto, Carl & George Kita, Lester Katsura, Mike Mamura, and June & Mary Tanaka. - Takehara retired from dentistry at the age of 80. (Little known fact, he once gave the legendary aikido teacher Koichi Tohei an emergency root canal.) As of this writing, he continues to lead Sunday morning aikido at the Japanese American Service Committee (@jasc_chicago). - It was truly an honor to have hosted him at our dojo. - #aikido #合気道 #松林流 #matsubayashiryu #shorinryu #illinoisaikidoclub #japaneseamerican #nisei #japantownchicago

Our dojo advisor, Art Ishii, receiving 5-dan grade from Takayoshi Nagamine at Ishii sensei’s Los Angeles home in 1999. The late Nagamine sensei, second soke of the Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu system of Okinawan karate, would regularly stay at Ishii sensei’s home while visiting Southern California. - The son of Matsubayashi-ryu founder Shoshin Nagamine, Takayoshi sensei was born and raised in Naha, Okinawa. Having trained under his father’s tutelage from age 7, he inherited the system upon his father’s passing at the age of 90. He traveled prolifically, promoting Shorin-ryu worldwide until his unexpected and untimely passing in 2012 at the age of 66. - Ishii sensei is a 3rd generation (三世) Japanese American born in Chicago of Nisei resettled from unjust incarceration at Heart Mountain during WWII. He was raised in postwar LA, CA, where he attended elementary school in Little Tokyo and practiced judo from ages 10-25 under Frank Emi, Art Emi, Frank Watanuki, Takashi Kikuchi, and Gene LeBell. - In his mid-20s, Ishii decided to investigate stand-up arts, studying Wing Chun Gung Fu for 4 years under Randy Williams sifu at the New Chinatown Gung-Fu Club in Chinatown, until Williams sifu moved to Asia for work and to further his studies; Goju-ryu Karate for 4 years under Guy Kurose sensei at Tenri Dojo in Boyle Heights, until Kurose sensei returned to his hometown of Seattle; and finally Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu under Eihachi Ota sensei at his dojo in Central Los Angeles. - In 1990, Ishii sensei was invited to start a dojo at Centenary UMC, in Downtown LA’s Little Tokyo, as a means to continue the church’s community partnership. Centenary has been a fixture of outreach, service, and goodwill among the Los Angeles Nikkei community since its establishment by Japanese immigrants in 1896. - 30 years on, Ishii continues to impart traditional Okinawan karate under the aegis of the World Matsubayashi-ryu Karatedo Association. In 2015 he was elevated to the 6-dan grade by Yoshitaka Taira, as well as given the title of Renshi, or “Polished Teacher.” - #松林流 #shorinryu #okinawankarate #japaneseamerican #littletokyo

烏森空手部 / Karasumori Karate-bu / Ravenswood Karate Club - #松林流 #shorinryu #matsubayashiryu #ravenswoodchicago

(Uncredited circa 1937 photo in Okinawa. Kentsu Yabu, seated second from left, among various karate masters.) - In the 1920s, noted Okinawan Shuri-te expert Kentsu Yabu made two visits to his eldest son, Kenden, in California. Immigrating to the U.S. in 1909, in 1919 Kenden married Mitsuye Joko in El Centro, a town in the Imperial Valley region of Southern California. Soon after, they moved to the outskirts of Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles. - We can assume the legendary Yabu sensei strolled some of the same blocks existing today in LA’s historic Little Tokyo district, during his months-long stays. A bit of a misnomer, “Little Tokyo” was a community derived of immigrants from various prefectures of Japan, mostly rural and nowhere near Tokyo. - Kenden passed away in 1939 and his wife, Mitsuye, along with daughters Emmie, Rayko, and Miyuki would, three years later, be incarcerated at Heart Mountain War Relocation Center in Wyoming, among some 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry forcibly removed from the West Coast as a result of Executive Order 9066. Coincidentally, Ravenswood Dojo instructor Erik Matsunaga’s family and Little Tokyo Dojo instructor Art Ishii’s family were also incarcerated at Heart Mountain. - It is not known whether Yabu taught karate during his California visits, but he did teach in Hawaii while stopping over on his way home in 1927. His visits to the mainland U.S. were ostensibly to bring back his newborn grandson to Okinawa for a traditional rearing befitting the oldest son of the oldest son; however, Kenden went on to have four daughters. Yabu would pay his son no further visits. - Kentsu Yabu was a noted student of Sokon Matsumura and Anko Itosu, whose Shuri-te traditions would collectively come to be known as Shorin-ryu karate. His descendants continue to live throughout the U.S. - While Yabu sensei is not a part of our direct lineage, Matsubayashi-ryu does derive of the Shuri-te of Matsumura and Itosu, as well as the Tomari-te of Kosaku Matsumora. - #松林流 #shorinryu #japaneseamerican #eo9066 #littletokyo #uchinanchu #okinawankarate

Our dojo advisor, Art Ishii sensei with a mention in the Rafu Shimpo (Los Angeles Japanese American News, founded in 1903) during the 2018 Nisei Week Parade through Little Tokyo. - The article, entitled "Generational Change and Nisei Week," was written by Gwen Muranaka for the J-Town Beat feature. - Nisei Week is one of the longest running celebrations of Japanese & Japanese American culture, since 1934. Halted for six years during and immediately following WWII due to Executive Order 9066 and the mass incarceration of West Coast Japanese Americans, the festival resumed in 1946 and has run annually since. - #松林流 #matsubayashiryu #shorinryu #沖縄古武道 #okinawankarate #japaneseamerican #littletokyo #niseiweek #rafushimpo #sansei #三世

L-R: Ravenswood Dojo instructor Matsunaga, Takayoshi Nagamine sensei, Art Ishii sensei. November 29, 1999. Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu of Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, CA. - From the 1990s through the early 2000s, the Matsubayashi-ryu soke, Takayoshi Nagamine, would make regular visits to Los Angeles where he would lead classes at Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu of Little Tokyo and stay at Ishii sensei’s home. - Born and raised in Chicago and having trained in another style of karate since 1989, Ravenswood Dojo instructor Matsunaga moved to L.A. in 1998 to further his career. Soon after arriving, a mutual friend introduced him to Art Ishii’s dojo in LA’s historic Little Tokyo district. After meeting Ishii and some of his students, Matsunaga decided to empty his cup and start anew with Okinawan Shorin-ryu. - While sharing outward similarities to his previous experience, preconceptions had to be cast aside to fully appreciate and realize the principles espoused by Shorin-ryu. It wasn’t that it was better, just different in its approach and mechanics. But it was ultimately the character of Ishii and his students that attracted Matsunaga to the training, though it goes without saying that their skill was immediately recognizable. - Returning to Chicago in the early 2000s, Matsunaga would make regular trips to LA for continued training, as would Ishii visit Chicago. At Ishii’s encouragement, in 2012 Matsunaga founded Ravenswood Shorin-ryu Karate Dojo as a community-based program out of the gymnasium of Ravenswood Fellowship UMC. - #matsubayashiryu #okinawankarate #shorinryu #takayoshinagamine #松林流

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