I've been rereading "Karate-Do Kyohan" and it has, once more, brought up more questions than it has answered. From clues dropped in the text and other sources I'm trying to piece together the groups of karateka Funakoshi was associated with during his Okinawa days.
Funakoshi writes that he was associated with a group of senior karateka making public demonstrations in 1914/15. The group included Mabuni, Motobu, Kyan, Gusukuma, Ogusuku (Ogosoku in Richard Kim's book), Tokumura, Ishikawa and Yabiku.
So, here's my first stumper. If these guys were the public face of karate, and they performed all over Okinawa including Naha how come Naha-te karateka were not involved? Was it a class issue? Was it an intentional snub? It seems like the Shuri-te guys often seemed to come from higher classes than the Naha-te men. Was there some other bias present? Or, did the Naha-te people choose not to publicize their karate (note, I don't think this is true because there were Naha style public school programs)?
Question number two: Was the Kyan mentioned in this group Chotoku Kyan or the Kyan listed as a student of Kentsu Yabu in Richard Kim's "Weaponless Warriors" (not a great source, but I haven't seen another Kyan listed anywhere else).
Question Three: Who were Tokumura and Ishikawa? I haven't found record of them anywhere else. This group seems heavy on Itosu's students, so perhaps they were from Itosu's stable?
Once I get these questions hashed out I have a whole other batch of mysteries related to the 1920 Okinawa Martial Arts Association and subsequent friendships and animosities exhibited by the masters, but first things first.
Thanks for all your help!