About Shotokan Karate

Master Gichin Funakoshi is widely considered as the ‘father’ of modern day karate. He was born in the Shuri prefecture in Okinawa in 1868 and at the age of 11 began to study Karate under two of Okinawa’s top masters, Anko Itosu and Yasutsune Azato. In time, he became a master in his own right and in 1922 he was invited to demonstrate karate to the Japanese public for the very first time. The demonstration was such a success he was invited to stay in Japan and teach, which he did with great success.

For Funakoshi Sensei, the word ‘karate ’ eventually took a deeper meaning than just martial arts training, transforming into what has become known as karate-do, the ’way of the empty hand’. He was to modify the Okinawan art by taking inspiration from traditional Japanese budo (Kendo, Judo, etc.) and integrating their philosophical aspects into his and his students’ training. This became a total discipline, which represented a synthesis of Okinawan and Japanese schools. In 1936 Sensei Funakoshi established the ‘Shotokan’ style of Japanese karate which was greatly influenced also by his son, Yoshitaka (Gigo), and Masatoshi Nakayama, first headmaster of the Japan Karate Association.

Whereas his father was responsible for transforming karate from a mere fighting technique into a philosophical martial ‘do’ (way of life), Yoshitaka, together with other martial artists, developed karate technique that separated Japanese karate-do from the local Okinawan art, thus giving it a completely different and at the same time a distinct Japanese ‘flavor’.

It is upon these concepts that in 1948, the Japan Karate Association (JKA) was founded. The establishment of the JKA led the way to the spread of Shotokan karate throughout the world. Master Masatoshi Nakayama, one of Funakoshi’s greatest students, succeeded him as headmaster of the JKA and during his time there he further developed Shotokan, based on his own research, into the style we know today.

It was through master Nakayama’s vision that Shotokan has spread throughout the world by enriching many people’s lives in many countries, while other senior instructors stayed in Japan to teach the next generation of Shotokan masters.

Notable modern instructors who emerged from Funakoshi’s dojo:

• • Hirokazu Kanazawa – Shotokan Karate International (1931-2019)

• • Hidetaka Nishiyama – International Traditional Karate Federation (1928-2008)

• • Tsutomu Ohshima – Shotokan Karate of America (1930- still living)

• • Teruyuki Okazaki – International Shotokan Karate Federation (1931-2020)

• • Tetsuhiko Asai – Japan Karate Association (1935-2006)

 

Today, many Shotokan Karate organizations exist all over the world. Some of the most popular are the Japanese Karate Association (JKA), International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF),  Shotokan Karate-do International Federation (SKIF), Shotokan Karate of America (SKA), International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF), World Shotokan Karate-do Association (WSKA), Funakoashi Shotokan Karate Association (FSKA), Japan Karate Shotorenmei (JKS), and many other smaller, more local organizations. 

Currently, our dojo and instructors are unaffiliated, but have been largely influenced by the teachings and instructors from Nishiyama Sensei’s lineage, amongst others. 

Most important to note about modern karate is that some dojos may choose to primarily focus on competition style karate while others may focus on self-defense and more realistic applications. Our approach is to include both, but to mainly focus on traditional teaching methodologies and applications while incorporating modern training technologies.