International Shuriway Karate & Kobudo Society

•  OUR CREST (KAMON) & ASSOCIATION NAME

The term "Kamon" refers to a crest used in Japan for centuries to indicate one's origins, it gradually became a cultural component that preserves the history of Japanese families and expresses their ancient roots. It takes inspiration from a plant or geometric shape. In the Samurai era, "Kamon" was used to distinguish between friends and enemies during battle.

The International Shuriway Karate & Kobudo Society crest consists of an outer area where at the top we have the kanji for Okinawa Te Reflecting our commitment to passing down the knowledge and skills of the Ryukyu martial arts through the generations.

The outer red ring is chosen to represent a closed "Enso" (円相), with no beginning and no end. "Enso" a Japanese word meaning “circle” and a concept strongly associated with Zen. It symbolizes a moment when the mind is free enough to simply let the body or spirit create. We use it to symbolize growth, development in our training and the struggle for perfection, which is never realized.

We use the red outer section with the five raised parts to represent the five sections of the “Oda Mon” of Oda Nobunaga, 16th century warlord, often regarded as ‘the first great unifier.’ Our interpretation is the unification of the martial arts of Okinawa.

Contained within our logo in the center, is the red "hidari-gomon", the symbol that is synonymous with Okinawan karate worldwide and the original coat-of-arms of the Royal Sho Family of Ryukyu, symbolizing the roots of our karate, Okinawa, with the name of our association placed below.

At the bottom we have the kanji for Shuri way. Reflecting our belief of the importance of the 'Shuri' area of Okinawa of old.

The color red, or “aka”, is very popular in Japan. Many shrines and temples are red, and has a very ancient meaning, seen as a way to scare away evil spirits, and also symbolizing peace and the prosperity of the family. The color red can also be seen on the Okinawan and Japanese flags.

•  ASSOCIATION NAME

The name of our association, International Shuriway Karate & Kobudo Society, is hugely significant within the traditional karate from Okinawa. We chose the name 'SHURIWAY' to represent the path taken by many of Okinawa's past karate masters.

Our name International Shuriway Karate & Kobudo Society (国際首里道唐手と古武道会) accurately conveys the meaning of a Ryukyu Traditional Association. Ryukyu (琉球) the historical kingdom encompassing present-day Okinawa and other local islands. We also chose the older kanji for karate (唐手) to further represent that we have no interest in the modern sport karate.