Ryu Ryu Ko



Xie Zhongxiang

 Ryū Ryū Ko (ルールーコウ,, 1852 - 1930), also known as Ru Ru Kou, Ryuko, Ryuru Ko, Liu Liu Gung, Liu Liu Ko, To Ru Ko, was a teacher of Fujian Gung Fu, notable for instructing many of the founders of Okinawan martial arts which later produced Karate. There is still no consensus of opinion neither about Ryu Ryu Ko’s exact identity nor about the exact martial art style that he taught, both Gojuryu and Ryueiryu claim Ryu Ryu Ko as the Chinese teacher who taught their patriarchs, however their accounts of Ryu Ryu Ko differ.

There are a few things that are agreed apon, it is widely believed that Ryu Ryu Ko was born into an aristocratic family, and was sent to study at the southern Shaolin Temple in the mountains of Fujian Province. Due to the internal strife that threatened the feudal system and therefore the Chinese aristocracy, the family was forced to conceal their status in order to survive. For this reason, Ryu Ryu Ko, worked as a bricklayer and a builder. In later life, he lived by making a variety of everyday goods such as baskets, furniture and other items from bamboo.

Ryū Ryū Ko is mostly known from the accounts of his Okinawan students, however today he is generally identified, based on the research of Tokashiki Iken and Patrick McCarthey, as Xie Zhongxiang, born in Changle, Fujian, to a noble family which lost its status in political turmoil of the time. He was the founder of Míng hè quán (鳴鶴拳, Whooping Crane Fist), which he based on the white crane he learned from his teacher Pan Yuban (Kwan Pang Yuiba), who’s teacher was Lin Shixian (who was a student of Fāng Qīniáng, the originator of the first White Crane martial art). He had to conceal his name and aristocratic lineage and took on the name Ryu Ryu Ko, under which he worked, making household goods from bamboo and cane. He has been teaching martial arts at his home to a very small group of students, which included Higaonna Kanryō, who stayed with Ryu Ryu Ko from 1867 to 1881. Ryu Ryu Ko expanded his class to an actual public school in 1883, running it with his assistant, Wai Shinzan (Wai Xinxian, Wu Lu Chin). It is also said that he had a son named Xie Tsuxiang. Xie Zhongxiang’s current living direct descendant is his great-grandson, Xie Wenliang.

Some historians do not agree with Xie Zhongxiang identification, it's been suggested that Ryu Ryu Ko taught other styles of southern Chinese martial arts, or even that Ryu Ryu Ko was the name of the place, rather than a person. Due to the lack of written records and the fact that most kinawan teachers passed there stories down by word of mouth, we will probably never have a difinative answer on who Ryu Ryu Ko really was.

The okinawan martial artists who are believed to have studied in Ryu Ryu Ko's school were Higaonna Kanryō (founder of Naha-te), Arakaki Seishō, Norisato Nakaima (1850-1927) (founder of Ryūei-ryū), Sakiyama Kitoku (1830-1914), Kojo Taitei (1837-1915), Maezato Ranpo (1838-1904), Matsuda Tokusaburo (1877-1931).