Kushanku is a Chinese word which is a diplomatic title. The kata was probably named after such a diplomat who lived in Okinawa around 1761 and taught or demonstrated his fighting style to Sakugawa and others. There are many variations of this kata, and some bear little resemblance to the others. The reason for all these variations is that Kushanku probably did not teach any specific kata (some suggest he was a boxer of the internal school); sometime later a number of martial artists developed different versions of the kata based on their perceptions of whatever he did teach. One author says that the kata was created by masters as a present to the King of Okinawa after karate had become popular among the nobles (this raises the question of the popular notion that all Karate was underground due to the occupation of the Japanese. It is hard to imagine that the Japanese would not have been aware of something happening with the Okinawan imperial court. Similarly, one suspects that they would have recognized the title "Kushanku" and not been terribly excited about this reference to China). The different versions of Kushanku kata are:

• Kushanku of the Matsubayashi-Ryu, which is Chatan Yara no Kushanku. Chatan Yara is believed to have been exposed to the teachings of the man Kushanku.
• Chibana no Kushanku, from Choshin Chibana.
• Matsumura no Kushanku
• Kunayoshi no Kushanku

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