Peichin Takahara

Name	Peichin Takahara
Born	1683 Akata Cho in Southern Shuri, Okinawa
Where Trained
Teachers	Kusanku, Chatan Yara
Died	1760
Takahara was a monk, mapmaker and astronomer. Takahara Peichin was born in the village of Akata Cho in Southern Shuri. Takahara who 67 at the time and was a famous warrior of the Okinawan fighting arts. Sakugawa respectfully asked Takahara to become his student, and was accepted. He studied under him diligently. He belonged to an upper class family of Okinawan society. The term "Peichin" stands for "senior". Some sources claim that he was a Buddhist monk from Shaolin and Martial Art expert. He was well educated person. His expertises were astronomy and mapping and he indeed mapped Okinawa. Takahara traveled a lot during his lifetime. He was well known as a great fighter who emphasized ethical principals as "Ijo" (compassion, humility and modesty), "Fo" (seriousness, devotion and dedication) and "Katsu" (deep understanding and essence of techniques). Takahara regarded Martial arts as way of life and he is considered as "father of Okinawan Karate". Takahara attributed a major importance to Kata and it's significances. He saw Kata as an efficient instrument to understand and improvement fighting techniques. He was a student of Chatan Yara and his most famous student was "Tode" Sakugawa. back to biography list of Masters.....