PRESIDENT & FOUNDER
Onaga Yoshimitsu Kaichō, founder of the Shinjinbukan School, carries the oldest lineage of Karate. His teachings are based on Ti, the ancient Okinawan Martial Art, which preceded modern Karate. He is considered one of the last Masters able to understand and teach Ti.
Onaga Kaichō's family comes from Shuri, the ancient capital of Okinawa. He was born in China, as a result of his parents' trip and returned to Okinawa at an early age.
As a young teenager, he started learning Karate and eventually met his life-long teacher HIGA YŪCHOKU. He spent the next 35 years as Higa Sensei's Uchi Deshi, a disciple living in the Dōjō. In 1988, Onaga Kaichō founded Shinjinbukan. At that time, he wrote his DŌJŌ KUN or precepts, as a statement of his martial arts philosophy.
ABOVE: Onaga Sensei. Shinjinbukan Dojo, Okinawa, 1993.
As a member of ZENOKIKUREN, All Okinawa Karate Dō Federation, Onaga Kaichō has served in the following capacities:
— Acting President
— Ranking/Certification Executive Director
— Shōrin Ryū Chairman
— Kobayashi Ryū Representative
In 1995, he co-published the book Michi, The Way, A Journey Through the History of Zenokikuren, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Through the years, Shinjinbukan has remained an exclusive organization with a few international branches. Due to his intense training methods, Onaga Kaichō has always kept a limited number of deshi or disciples. However, in recent years, Onaga Kaichō founded SHINJINBUKAI, an organization created for the purpose of teaching Ti to other Martial Arts Master Teachers and their students.
BELOW: Michi cover book. Published, 1995.
Calligraphy by Yagi Meitoku Dai Sensei. Gōjū Ryū, Jū Dan, 10th Dan
