This unique community would later play a vital and influential role in the geopolitics between Japan and China however, of greater interest to practitioners of karate, is the influence it had on the origins and evolution of Okinawan karate. Their presence was likely an enhancement of existing trade and exchange between the Chinese kingdom and the Ryukyuans. Very little is known with certainty about this initial 36-family-transplant from Southern China (Fujian province) however, it is believed that they settled in Naha, near the Shuri capital, in a community known as Kumemura (Lewis, 1993 Nagamine, 1998).

Part of this exchange included the settlement of Chinese families as a form of cultural exchange and diplomatic representation to live among the people of Okinawa. However, in 1392, Okinawa's King Satto exchanged diplomatic delegations with the Ming Emperor. It is unknown when the first exchange of martial arts techniques and practices occurred. It was inevitable that martial art traditions and practices from these countries would migrate to Okinawa as well (Hall, 1970).

Moreover, they established trade with Arabia, Java, Sumatra, and Malacca.

Over the course of the next century, Okinawa witnessed a rapid increase in formal relations with China, Korea, and Japan. 13th century) built various fortifications throughout the island and his successors followed suit. They brought various weapons to Okinawa as well including the katana and the tachi (swords), the yari (spear), the nanigata (halberd), and the yumi and ya (bow and arrow). The survivors of this struggle and their knowledge of martial skills and weapons systems flooded into the Ruykyus. As fate would have it, these two families entered into a conflict that reverberated throughout Japan and the surrounding islands. During the tenth and eleventh centuries, Japan was witness to the emergence of two powerful families, the Tairo family and the Minamoto family. At that time, Okinawa wasn't unified instead, the island was ruled by regional chieftains. Written records of the seventh and eighth centuries in Okinawan history are filled with accounts of island warfare. It later developed as a trade center for southeastern Asia, trading with Japan and China, as well as part of southeast Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippine islands. Being at the crossroads of major trading routes, its significance as a port of opportunity and interest was discovered early on by the Japanese. It is situated 400 nautical miles east of mainland China, 300 nautical miles south of mainland Japan and a similar distance north of Taiwan. Okinawa is approximately 6 miles wide and only about 70 miles long (a total area of approximately 460 square miles). Okinawa, meaning 'rope in the offing,' is an appropriate name for the island, which is a linked chain of volcanic land that looks somewhat like a rope that has been caste away into the sea. Okinawa is the principal island within Ryukyu. The Ryukyu archipelago is an island chain that extends from the southern tip of Japan to the island of Taiwan.

Meaning of name shiira in okinawan