Matsumura taught his art to Itosu Ankō (1831–1915) among others.Itosu adapted two forms he had learned from Matsumara. These are kusanku and chiang nan].
He created the ping'an forms ("heian" or "pinan" in Japanese) which are simplified kata for beginning students.
In 1901 Itosu helped to get karate introduced into Okinawa's public schools.
These forms were taught to children at the elementary school level. Itosu's influence in karate is broad.
The forms he created are common across nearly all styles of karate.
His students became some of the most well known karate masters, including Gichin Funakoshi, Kenwa Mabuni, and Motobu Chōki. Itosu is sometimes referred to as "the Grandfather of Modern Karate."
In 1881 Higaonna Kanryō returned from China after years of instruction with Ryu Ryu Ko and founded what would become Naha-te.
One of his students was the founder of Gojū-ryū, Chōjun Miyagi. Chōjun Miyagi taught such well-known karateka as Seko Higa (who also trained with Higaonna), Meitoku Yagi, Miyazato Ei'ichi, and Seikichi Toguchi, and for a very brief time near the end of his life, An'ichi Miyagi (a teacher claimed by Morio Higaonna).
In addition to the three early te styles of karate a fourth Okinawan influence is that of Kanbun Uechi (1877–1948). At the age of 20 he went to Fuzhou in Fujian Province, China, to escape Japanese military conscription.
While there he studied under Shushiwa. He was a leading figure of Chinese Nanpa Shorin-ken at that time.
He later developed his own style of Uechi-ryū karate based on the Sanchin, Seisan, and Sanseiryu kata that he had studied in China.
