HISTORY
Shotokan (松濤館, Shōtōkan) is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868 – 1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906 – 1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do". In 1924, Funakoshi Sensei adopted the Kyū/Dan rank system and the uniform (keikogi) developed by Kano Jigoro, the founder of Judo. This system uses coloured belts (obi) to indicate rank. Originally, karate had only three belt colours: white, brown, and black (with ranks within each).
Gichin Funakoshi had trained in both the popular styles of Okinawan karate of the time: Shōrei-ryū and Shōrin-ryū. After years of study in both styles, Funakoshi Sensei created a simpler system that combined the ideals of the two. He never named this system, however, always referring to it simply as "karate". Funakoshi's karate reflects the changes made in the art by Ankō Itosu, including the Heian/Pinan kata series. Funakoshi changed the names of some of the kata in an effort to make the Okinawan kata names easier to pronounce in the Japanese Honshū dialect.
Funakoshi Sensei had many students at the university clubs and outside dojos, who continued to teach karate after his death in 1957. However, internal disagreements (in particular the notion that competition is contrary to the essence of karate) led to the creation of different organisations, including an initial split between the Japan Karate Association (headed by Masatoshi Nakayama) and the Shotokai (headed by Motonobu Hironishi and Shigeru Egami), followed by many others, so that today there is no single "Shotokan school", although they all bear Funakoshi's influence.
As the most widely practiced style in the world, Shotokan is considered a traditional and influential form of karate.
Gichin Funakoshi had trained in both the popular styles of Okinawan karate of the time: Shōrei-ryū and Shōrin-ryū. After years of study in both styles, Funakoshi Sensei created a simpler system that combined the ideals of the two. He never named this system, however, always referring to it simply as "karate". Funakoshi's karate reflects the changes made in the art by Ankō Itosu, including the Heian/Pinan kata series. Funakoshi changed the names of some of the kata in an effort to make the Okinawan kata names easier to pronounce in the Japanese Honshū dialect.
Funakoshi Sensei had many students at the university clubs and outside dojos, who continued to teach karate after his death in 1957. However, internal disagreements (in particular the notion that competition is contrary to the essence of karate) led to the creation of different organisations, including an initial split between the Japan Karate Association (headed by Masatoshi Nakayama) and the Shotokai (headed by Motonobu Hironishi and Shigeru Egami), followed by many others, so that today there is no single "Shotokan school", although they all bear Funakoshi's influence.
As the most widely practiced style in the world, Shotokan is considered a traditional and influential form of karate.