Our Patches
Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan Karate Patch

1. Like most karate patches, the Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan patch is circular. The circle has no beginning and no ending, representing the never ending study of karate.
2. Yellow is the royal colour in China and Okinawa, and also represents light.
3. The tori gate is used in Japan and Okinawa to represent the entrance to a sacred, spiritual or holy place. The gate represented on the Shorinkan patch is the Port of Courtecy, the second of six gates to Suri Castle in Naha, Okinawa, where the rulers of the Ryu-Kyu Islands resided.
4. The writing on the gate itself (Shurei No Mon) means “Keep the Ceremony Door”.
5. Sho – Small or Little
6. Rin – Forest or grove of trees
7. Ryu – Short for Ryuha, meaning System, Style or School
8. Kan – Public building or meeting place, but thought of here as a place of understanding, academics and learning.
9. Shorin-Ryu (in Kanji), therefore translates to “Small Forest” or “Young Forest” system of karate. In addition, Shorin is the Japanese pronunciation of Sholin, the Chinese temple from which Pechin Takahara originally came, and where the roots of Okinawan karate are found. Shorin-Ryu therefor also means “School of Sholin”.
10. Shorinkan (in Kanji) translates to “Place where Shorin is practiced”.
Kobudo Patch

1. Like most karate patches, the Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan patch is circular. The circle has no beginning and no ending, representing the never ending study of karate.
2. Yellow is the royal colour in China and Okinawa, and also represents light.
3. The tori gate is used in Japan and Okinawa to represent the entrance to a sacred, spiritual or holy place. The gate represented on the Shorinkan patch is the Port of Courtecy, the second of six gates to Suri Castle in Naha, Okinawa, where the rulers of the Ryu-Kyu Islands resided.
4. The writing on the gate itself (Shurei No Mon) means “Keep the Ceremony Door”.
5. The Sai is a traditional Okinawan Kobudo weapon.
6. Ko – Old
7. Bu – Fighting
8. Do – Way
9. Okinawa – The island where Shorin-Ryu came from.
10. Kobudo – The Old Fighting Way
11. Kokusai – International
12. Rengokai – Association
