The origin and development of Karate is intimately tied to the history of the Okinawan people, who brought it to its present form and preserved its tradition of centuries.  A major root of the discipline, however, can be traced to ancient China, where in about the year 486 A.D., Daruma Tashi developed an exercise form for the use of Buddhist Monks. The exercise form was first taught by Daruma Tashi at the Shaolin Temple.  The exercise discipline concentrated upon the art of learning to control and master the body, mind and spirit.

In the 8th century, Chinese feudal warlords invaded and occupied the Ryukyu Islands, known then as Uruma (Okinawa).  They brought with them the techniques of a fighting art that had developed from the exercise of the Shaolin Temple.  The Okinawan people had already developed a system of self-defense called "Te" or "Hand".  The Okinawan King, Sho Neopashi, was impressed by the discipline attained through this art developed from the Shaolin Temple and he ordered it combined with the teaching of Okinawan Te.  The combination of the Chinese and Okinawan systems was the beginning of Karate.

During the 17th century, Okinawa was overrun and occupied by the Japanese.  The Okinawan warriors were disarmed and forbidden to own, use or carry any weapons.  Faced with the necessity of defending themselves and their people from their oppressors, and having only their bare hands with which to fight, the warriors turned to the ancient forms of Karate.  In those desperate years they developed and refined the techniques of Karate until their bodies and hands were as deadly and as effective in their defense as the weapons that were taken from them.  Karate was taught in secret and was only known to the King and his most loyal subjects.  Where and how it was taught was a mystery to most Okinawans.

In the more settled times that followed, Karate, although remaining a secret and known only through word of mouth in Okinawa, became a course of exercise valued for its health and character building.  In the late 18th century, Matsumura Sobi collected and studied the various forms of Karate.  His system was called Shur-Te.  Matsumura's most famous student Itosu Anko of Shuri is credited as the first person to introduce Shuri-Te to the public.  He taught at Naha's secondary schools and at various religious and military institutes.

Itosu passed his legacy to Chosin Chibana who was the first to call "Shuri-Te" Shorin-Ryu Karate Do. Shorin-Ryu Karate Do is based on the principals of physics and the laws and dyanmics of physiology. Chibana spent a life time refining Shorin-Ryu to its present form.  Most present day forms of Shorin-Ryu can trace their lineage back to Master Chosin Chibana because all the great Shorin-Ryu Masters of today studied with him.  Master Eizo Shimabuku and Master Chosin Nakamine came to Master Chibana for special instruction as did many others.  Chibana's number one discipline was Shuguro Nagazato, who is the present leader of Shorin-Ryu as its supreme instructor and the inherited 10th Degree Black Belt.