Peichin Takahara was a monk, a mapmaker and an astronomer. He was born in the village of Akata Cho in Southern Shuri and was a famous warrior of the Okinawan fighting arts.
He belonged to an upper class family of Okinawan society. The term "Peichin" stands for "senior". Some sources claim that he was a Buddhist monk from Shaolin and Martial Art expert. He was well educated person. His expertises were astronomy and mapping and he indeed mapped Okinawa.
Takahara travelled a lot during his lifetime. He was well known as a great fighter who emphasized ethical principals as "Ijo" (compassion, humility and modesty), "Fo" (seriousness, devotion and dedication) and "Katsu" (deep understanding and essence of techniques). Takahara regarded Martial arts as way of life and he is considered as "father of Okinawan Karate".
Takahara attributed a major importance to Kata and its significances. He saw Kata as an efficient instrument to understand and improvement fighting techniques.
He was a student of Chatan Yara and his most famous student was "Tode" Sakugawa.
Sakugawa respectfully asked Takahara to become his student, and was accepted. He studied under him diligently.
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