Unpublished manuscript Anko: The Lost Scrolls of Ryukyu is what happens when a four‑year kata obsession leads to a year‑long disappearance. After Breaking Through cracked open Bassai Dai, I disappeared into 19th‑century Ryukyu, living with my protagonist, walking the old roads, and pulling apart the political collapse that shaped the men behind modern karate. I ran their tactical concepts at AKATO’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2026, sharing the very ideas my characters were fighting to protect. This book isn’t a sequel. It’s the next step in the same journey: stripping history down to its bones and asking what did it feel like to survive the end of a kingdom?
As the Ryukyu Kingdom falls under Japanese rule, one man stands at the crossroads of history. Anko Itosu, civil servant, bodyguard, and reluctant visionary, must decide whether his fists serve the fading world he was born into or the future his people desperately need. Anko: The Lost Scrolls of Ryukyu uncovers the human story behind the fighting system that survived Ryukyu’s collapse and became the art the world now calls karate.
Although Anko: The Lost Scrolls of Ryukyu is written first and foremost as historical fiction, readers who come from the martial arts world will find an added layer of depth. Alongside the narrative, the book includes a technical appendix that brings Itosu’s world into your training hall:
- 10 combative lessons, distilled from the tactics woven through the story
- 130 annotated photographs demonstrating angles, traps, takedowns, and transitional mechanics
- Tactical insights that challenge assumptions entrenched in modern training
This section isn’t just an add on. It’s a bridge between the world of the novel and the practice of hard style martial arts today.
Anko: The Lost Scrolls of Ryukyu is ultimately a story about what people do when the world they know is taken from them. It follows ordinary men caught in extraordinary pressure, forced to navigate loss, fear, and the slow erasure of everything familiar. In the collapse of a kingdom, it reveals the quiet courage, the impossible decisions, and the stubborn hope that allow a culture, and the people within it, to endure.
Title: Anko: The Lost Scrolls of Ryukyu
Author: Colin Wee
Publisher: To be confirmed
ISBN: To be assigned
Length: 370~390 pages
Publication Date: 旧盆 Kyubon, the Lunar Obon Festival, 13th to 15th Day of the 7th Lunar Month, the Year of the Fire Goat; with hard launch at Australasian Martial Arts Hall of Fame’s Gala 2027 in Hobart, Tasmania
What Others Say
“What makes this book a standout is its narrative vehicle. Instead of a dry, academic timeline of
how Ryukyuan Tode evolved into modern Karate, the story is told through the eyes of a fellow master and the closest friend of Itosu Anko.”
Jeff Palm
2nd Dan, JDK USA Affiliate
“Master Wee presents an entertaining and thought provoking work of historical fiction which will be of interest to all karate practitioners today.”
Dr Allan Wang
Orthopaedic Surgeon
Goju Ryu Practitioner
About the Author
Colin Wee is a martial artist, cultural historian, and author whose work explores how traditions evolve under pressure. His research into Ryukyuan history, political collapse, and the lives of figures like Anko Itosu and Anko Asato informs both his fiction and his technical writing. Colin’s first book, Breaking Through: The Secrets of Bassai Dai Kata, examined the mechanics and hidden logic of traditional forms. With Anko: The Lost Scrolls of Ryukyu, he turns to historical fiction to illuminate the human stories behind a culture fighting to survive. He is the founder of Joong Do Kwan in Western Australia, where he teaches and continues his research into traditional martial arts.
Join the Conversation
- Discover what led the author to his protagonist Anko Itosu
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