What is Shotokan?
Gichin Funakoshi is widely considered as the 'father' of modern day karate. He was
born in Shuri in Okinawa in 1868 and at the age of 11 began to study Karate under two of Okinawa’s top masters. In
time sensei Funakoshi 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 on a deeper meaning
synthesising, into what was to become karate-do, the 'way of the empty hand’. He was to modify the Okinawaan
art by taking inspiration from traditional Japanese budo (kendo, judo, etc) and emphasising their philosophical
aspects. This became a total discipline, which represented a synthesis of Okinawaan and Japanese schools and in
1936 he established the ‘SHOTOKAN’ style of Japanese karate which was to be greatly influenced by his son
Yoshitaka (Giko) 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 was put in charge of developing, helped by
other important martial artists, a karate technique that definitively separated Japanese karate-do from the
local Okinawaan art, thus giving it a completely different and at the same time notoriously Japanese
flavour.
It is upon these concepts that in 1948, the Japan Karate Association (JKA) was
founded. The establishment of the JKA lead the way to the spread of Shotokan karate throughout the world.
Master Masatoshi Nakayama, one of Funakoshi's greatest students, succeeded him as the 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 at the Sohonbu to teach the
next generation of Shotokan masters.
DOJO KUN
Seek perfection of Character
Be faithful
Endeavor (To Excel)
Respect others
Refrain from violent behavior
Love yourself and love others
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