was an Okinawan martial arts master who formed Yamani ryu. He taught Bōjutsu privately at his home in the village of Tobaru, in Shuri, Okinawa.
Life
Like many martial arts masters Chinen had been a policeman. During the Second World War he lived with the martial arts master Horoku Ishikawa in Tainan, Taiwan. He also worked at the Shuri City Hall in Shuri, Okinawa.Interview with Teruo Chinen on May 31, 1997 (Masami Chinen's grandnephew).
Yamani Ryu Bōjutsu
Chinen named the style after his father Sanra Chinen who was also a teacher of Bōjutsu and known as Yamani Usumei and Yamane Tanmei.In Okinawan dialect of Naha area, when referring to a man older than you, usumē/usumei was used for a commoner meaning uncle, grandpa or old man. Originally, an older person from a family with traditional Ryukyu Kingdom rank had been called tanmē/tanmei, which has been applied as a honorific meaning sir or grandpa mainly on Okinawa island.
Legacy
Although the style ceased to exist after his death, some of his katas were preserved by Seitoku Higa of the Bugeikan and Shūgorō Nakazato of Shōrin-ryū. Another student of Chinen's, Chōgi Kishaba and his student Toshihiro Ōshiro also privately practised Yamani Ryu katas. Ōshiro teaches Bōjutsu today, and so did Chinen's grandnephew Teruo Chinen.
See also
Okinawan martial arts
References
Further reading
External links Interview with Teruo Chinen (Masami Chinen's grandnephew) (as of May 21, 2018.) Chinen Masami and "Sakugawa no kon" (bojutsu) archived February 17, 2015.