An international group of martial artists converged in Naha on 25 October 2025 to drink in the sights, practice martial arts, enjoy Ryuku Awamori, breathe in island life, and experience International Karate Day. The group, led by Colin Wee were intending to trace the steps taken by karate pioneers Itosu Anko and his mentor Matsumura Sokon. See Colin’s related article that foreshadows the tour How Jion Reshaped my Training and Led me to Anko Itosu.
It was amazing to have a group of high-level martial artists trusting me to plan this tour – taking a leap of faith purely based on my work on Okinawa and its history. While I planned the trip to have breadth and depth, to get this incredible commendation from Shihan Leonard was very gratifying! Thank you, Leonard! A 5-star review is always amazing, but more so impressive considering this trip was the first tour I’ve ever organised.
Have you planned a martial arts tour before? I would love to hear your experiences.
Perth, Western Australia, May 2025: Editor David Moore and myself are videoed talking about our project The Lost Scrolls of Ryukyu. This project is inspired by true events which start with the annexation of Ryukyu in the 19th century, and leads us to then track the lives of a few martial art masters affected by the cultural subjugation.
If you’ve read Breaking Through, you’d probably see the throughline. The Lost Scrolls is me adamant once more to follow the breadcrumbs back in time. Breaking Through had done its job looking at what was bequethed us, but it stopped way short of looking at the lived experiences of the architects of our martial arts.
As I gained an appreciation for the enormity of this story, I never felt more compelled to finish what my first book had started.
I’d love to hear what you think. Would you expect a historical fiction novel to teach you anything about martial arts? Would you be interested to read about the pioneers of your martial arts set in a fictionalized story? If you’re on Goodreads, drop a question there.
Bio: Colin Wee is a Singaporean author, martial‑arts instructor, and cultural historian whose four‑decade practice spans Asia, Australia, and the United States. Known for his analytical approach and deep tactical insight, Colin blends historical research with lived experience to illuminate the human stories behind martial traditions. He is the founder of Joong Do Kwan in Perth, Western Australia, and serves as Secretary of the Australasian Martial Arts Hall of Fame (see About the Author).
Lithograph taken by Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 of two Ryukyuan Attendants and a stand in for the Regent
新里酒造 Shinzato Shuzo, established in 1846, is the oldest existing awamori dstillery in Okinawa, known for traditional distilling techniques and the quality of its products.
While researching the story of the pioneers of karate, I happened on a claim by Shinzato Shuzo that when Commodore Matthew Perry and his black ships sailed up to Ryūkyū in 1853, there were only three villages on the island that were sanctioned as distillers by the government.
I had long known Perry had “landed two cannons and two companies of U.S. Marines … Along with 50 naval officers and two brass bands” at Naha port, and then marched them over two hours all the way up to Shuri Castle (Clayton, Shotokan’s Secret p77).
Thanks to Dr Clayton I also know a terse stare down occurred, though the Commodore was amendable to the Ryukuan’s reluctant hospitality, happily imbibing the proferred rice wine, and possibly enjoying sweet chinsuko cookies the royal kitchen was famed for. While there, the Commodore decided to stop and capture the moment, taking a lithograph (as seen above). His happy snap includes historical Tode masters, and a stand-in for the Ryukyuan King. Lo and behold, the image also shows a small table with the receptacles likely used to serve the royal awamori.
Discovering there was the chance that the awamori Perry may have enjoyed could have come from the Shinzato Shuzo distillery, I immediately ordered a bottle of their かりゆし Kariyushi Awamori for tasting. As it transpires, the protagonist and his friends as featured in my upcoming historical fiction novel reached for this libation often and in copious amounts.
Zuisen Awamori tasting with some of the participants of the international Martial Arts Cultural Exchange Group, led by Colin Wee. October 2025. L->R Elaine Ogden, Vivica Lamarche, Leonard Montagnana, Peter James, and Colin Wee. Note: Zuisen Distillery was founded in 1887 – just after annexation happened.
What happened during the Ryukyu Annexation?
The book is not comic relief about historic martial artists going on an epic bender. It recreates the incredible challenges which happen after the arrival of the Commodore, where a sequence of events lead to Ryukyu being subjugated by Japan. What ensued then was a real threat to their culture from Japanification, and options to build solidary and protect their identity were extremely limited.
While their life situation might seem foreign and so distant, the more I plunged into my research, the more I became acquainted with them as people. Unexpectedly, a bond developed across time.
This blog post is a Hail Mary move. I’m using it to reach out to Shinzato Shuzo or in fact any organisation that identifies with the Ryukuans desperate situation and their hopes for a better future. There is an opportunity to solidify a presence in this project, to help the publication of their life’s story, and give voice to an era that is too much at risk of simply fading away.
We need to help give a voice back to Ryukyu
Together, with your support, we can honour the lives of those Ryukyuan martial art pioneers, and remind everyone of what they did to help uplift all indivudals who need guidance, training, and were overwhelmed by life and modernization. Also together we can get more people to enjoy awamori.
On the palate, Shinzato Shuzo is fruity and has refreshing drinkability. With aging, sweetness and umami are enhanced, eventually taking on a smooth caramel flavor.
Bio: Colin Wee is a Singaporean author, martial‑arts instructor, and cultural historian whose four‑decade practice spans Asia, Australia, and the United States. Known for his analytical approach and deep tactical insight, Colin blends historical research with lived experience to illuminate the human stories behind martial traditions. He is the founder of Joong Do Kwan in Perth, Western Australia, and serves as Secretary of the Australasian Martial Arts Hall of Fame (see About the Author).
