In agreement with the historical stories of the Okinawan martial arts, the islanders had more influence of Chinese culture than that of the Japanese, and although they had commercial interchanges with both countries, the interest of accepting Chinese products always prevailed “the commercial relations between these countries mainly took place between century XII and the XIV”. On the other hand, in 1392 the great immigration to Okinawa of the 36 Chinese families took place, putting them in charge of imposing their custom to the islanders. Later, in 1609, the Japanese invade the island, led by Shimasu and from then on the island stayed governed by them. Nevertheless, the Okinawan did not assimilate the Japanese culture, and they never forgave the abuses committed during the Japanese occupation, and they only showed the stoicism of a subjugated colony. The idiosyncrasy of the Okinawan stayed rooted to the one of its ancestors.

The Chinese customs were manifested in the way the islanders live, for example: the use of table and chairs; the floor of the houses was made of wood and the traditional Japanese kimono was not used. In addition, Shintoism, “which was the official religion of Japan,” did not penetrate the heart of the Okinawan either. On the contrary, Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism spread quickly on the island.

In the martial arts, these differences were also manifested, since, for the islanders it was very easy to train Karate-do in shorts, with or without a shirt, as this was the Chinese custom.