HISTORY Shotokan Karate originated in Okinawa, a small island located between Japan and China. Because of its important location, conquering Okinawa was the first task whenever Japan and China would decide to invade one another. Being an independent people, the Okinawans would fight back against their conquers. Eventually the Okinawans would be subdued and their weapons taken from them.

This did not deter the Okinawans, however. They studied the samurai warriors and learned how the samurai moved their bodies in attack and defense. This style of fighting became known as te-do, “the way of the hand.” The Okinawans then began to fight back against the Japanese and Chinese, using whatever implements they had available to them. Many of the weapons now associated with martial arts began as farming implements. The Sai was originally a cotter pin to hold wagon wheels in place. Numchucks were tolls used to separate the rice from the chafe.

Eventually the Japanese and Chinese realized that their well-equipped samurai warriors were being beaten by locals with farm tools. To save themselves from further embarrassment, the conquers would confiscate the Okinawan’s farming tools at the end of each day. The Okinawan’s were forbidden from meeting in groups, thus preventing them from teaching others the skills they had learned. This ban on meetings is what led to the development of kata. Katas are forms which contain all of the skills necessary to learn Karate. The katas are easy to learn—it only takes five minutes—thus eliminating the necessity of large group meetings. Two Okinawans could meet on the street and teach each other a kata and then be on their way. The trick to kata is that while it takes only a few minutes to learn, a person must practice over and over again to learn how to do the moves correctly and how they can be applied to actual combat.

Karate was introduced to Japan in 1920 by Gichin Funakoshi. Funakoshi was invited to give a demonstration in the Royal Palace by the Emperor of Japan at the request of Admiral Dewa of the Japanese Imperial Navy. In 1912, Dewa and several other sailors in the Imperial Navy were housed in an Okinawan school where Funakoshi taught. Funakoshi and his students would put on impressive demonstrations to entertain the sailors. Funakoshi’s demonstration in the Royal Palace also impressed the Emperor, who asked Funakoshi to remain in Japan and teach te-do to the Japanese.

" There is no first attack in karate. " -Master Funakoshi

Funakoshi’s first dojo was known as Shotokan, meaning “house of Shoto.” In his earlier days, Funakoshi wrote poetry under the pen name of Shoto, which means “waving pines.” After being taught in Japan for several years, the original Okinawan name of te-do was changed to Karate-do, meaning “the way of the empty hand,” signifying that the style of fighting employed no weapons. The full name, Shotokan Karate-do, therefore means “the way of the empty hand [according to] the house of Shoto.”