Styles & History
MSMA is built on three martial traditions: Korean Chung Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do, Japanese Shotokan Karate, and Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Karate. They share a common lineage and complement each other well, giving you a well-rounded foundation that’s difficult to match in a single-style school.
Chung Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do
KoreaFounded by Won Kuk Lee in the 1940s and named the Chung Do Kwan, the School of the Blue Wave. Lee learned Shotokan karate directly from its founder, Gichin Funakoshi, while studying in Japan, then brought the art home to Korea. His successor Duk Sung Son helped unify Korea’s martial arts schools under one name: Tae Kwon Do.
Characteristics: Solid stances, strong fundamentals, and explosive speed and power in its forms. Almost entirely a striking art.
Shotokan Karate
JapanThe most widely practiced style of karate, founded by Gichin Funakoshi. He trained in several Okinawan styles before carrying karate to mainland Japan and settling in Tokyo. In 1949 his students formed the Japan Karate Association, which shaped the Shotokan practiced worldwide today.
Characteristics: Deep, long stances and powerful, direct technique that grows fluid and economical at advanced levels. Strikes, throws, and some grappling.
Shorin-Ryu Karate
OkinawaOne of the oldest Okinawan martial arts, with roots reaching back to the Shaolin Temple in China. Known as Shuri-te for generations, it was brought into Okinawa’s public schools in 1901 by Anko Itosu and renamed Shorin-Ryu by his student Chosin Chibana in 1933.
Characteristics: High, natural stances and circular, mobile footwork. Strikes, throws, and some grappling.
Three styles, one root
These arts aren’t a random mix. Gichin Funakoshi, who created Shotokan, trained under the Okinawan master Anko Itosu, the same teacher behind Shorin-Ryu. And Won Kuk Lee, who founded Chung Do Kwan, learned directly from Funakoshi. Follow any of the three back far enough and they meet. That shared lineage is why they fit together so naturally, and why training across all three builds a deeper, more complete foundation.
Want the details?
Our full curriculum breaks down what you learn at every belt, and the class lineup shows where each style fits.