In 1924 Koesi Kokuba left his homeland of Okinawa for the larger islands of Japan, For several years he lived near Tokyo in the mountain village of Fuji-Yoshida-Shi, one of the small towns located at the foot of Japan’s awe-inspiring Mount Fuji.
Kokuba-sensei continued to teach in the style of Motobu-sensei, and when Motobu died in 1944, Kokuba-sensei became the second Soke or “Family Head” of the Ryukyu Karate-do Motobu-ha.
In 1940 Kokuba-sensei settled in Osaka where he opened a business and also began formal teaching of the Okinawan Karate of Sensei Motobu. On June 6, 1943, Kokuba-sensei founded the Seishin Kan Dojo. He took the name partly from the Kanji for the temple located at the end of the street where he lived, Shotoennoji. The character Sho can be read as Sho or Sei and the meaning is “pure”. Kokuba-sensei believed that true Karate-do comes from the heart, so he called his Dojo – Seishin or “pure heart” Dojo.
From: ” A Primer of Kuniba-ha Karate-do: The Style of Shogo Kuniba,” Shihan James Herndon, 1984, 2009
