Shitō-ryū (糸東流) is a form of karate that was founded in 1934 by Kenwa Mabuni (摩文仁 賢和, Mabuni Kenwa). Shitō-ryū is synthesis of the Okinawan Shuri-te and Naha-te schools of karate and today is considered one of the four main styles of the art.

Kenwa Mabuni (Mabuni Kenwa 摩文仁 賢和) was born in Shuri, Okinawa in 1889. Mabuni was a 17th generation descendant of the warrior Uni Ufugusuku Kenyu.[2] He began his instruction in his home town in the art of Shuri-te (首里手) at the age of 13, under the tutelage of Ankō Itosu (糸州 安恒, Itosu Ankō) (1831–1915). He trained diligently for several years, learning many kata. It was Itosu who first developed the Pinan kata, which were possibly derived from the Kusanku form. One of his close friends, Chōjun Miyagi (宮城 長順, Miyagi Chōjun) (founder of Gojū-ryū Karate) introduced Mabuni to another great of that period, Kanryō Higaonna (東恩納 寛量, Higaonna Kanryō). Mabuni began to learn Naha-te (那覇手) under him. While both Itosu and Higaonna taught a “hard-soft” style of Okinawan “Te”, their methods and emphases were quite distinct: the Itosu syllabus included straight and powerful techniques as exemplified in the Naihanchi and Bassai kata; the Higaonna syllabus stressed circular motion and shorter fighting methods as seen in the kata Seipai and Kururunfa.