From The Martial Arts Encyclopedia

Shotokan is often considered the original form of “Japanese” Karate and has greatly influenced the development of other Japanese and Korean striking Arts since its founding in the early part of the 20th century. Its history, is to a certain extent, the history of modern martial arts.

Contents 1 History 2 Shotokan Technique 3 Pros of Shotokan 4 Cons of Shotokan 5 Sources and Notes

History

Shotokan was founded by Gichin Funakoshi. Funakoshi was born in 1868 in Okinawa, during the first year the Meiji Restoration. During his youth he trained with Yasutsune Azato (1832-1916) (1) Azato’s style was a version of Shorin-ryu which he had learned from Sokon Matsumura (1809-1901). (2) According to Historian Mark Bishop, Azato simplified the Naihanchi Kata (form) he learned from Matsumura “developed the Chinese corkscrew punch into its present form and made up the Pinan katas, Shodan, Nidan, Sandan, Yondan, and Godan.” (3) Funakoshi then studied with a number of other instructors, including Yasutsune Itosu, (1830-1915) whose style was a derivative of his own study with Sokon Matsumura and Kosaku Matsumora. (4)

Funakoshi was a primary school teacher, and starting in 1903, some Okinawan primary and middle schools started teaching Karate as a form of physical education to help improve their student’s health and well being. (5) Later in 1921 Funakoshi traveled to Japan for a demonstration on the request of educational authorities. He would reside in Japan for the rest of his life. Funakoshi was first sponsored in Japan by Kano Jigoro, the Founder of Judo. He would start his first Karate school in Tokyo in 1922, and later in 1936 his students built the first building specifically designated as a Karate Dojo. Funakoshi’s calligraphic pen name was “Shoto” and the Dojo was called “Shotokan” or “The Hall of Shoto” (6) Its important to note however, that Funakoshi never called his own art Shotokan, preferring the more generic term, Karate. (7)

After World War Two the Strategic Air Command contracted with Funakoshi’s Japanese Karate Organization to provide karate lessons to its airmen. This established contacts that later led to many talented Shotokan instructors traveling to the United States to teach during the early 1960s. (8) Funakoshi died in 1957 after his organization had undergone its first schism. There were disagreements concerning how aggressively to promote the art, whether to charge money to teach the art, and whether to promote martial arts sports competitions. According to John Corcoran and Emil Farkas, much of the friction was between high ranking JKA members who had studied Karate at the equivalent of the Japanese Ivy Leagues, and graduates of Takushoku which was more of a business school. The Takushoku graduates used their import-export training to internationalize their art to the horror of their more socially high class contemporaries. (9)

Funakoshi’s influence is also felt in two other ways. He was an advocate of changing the Japanese characters for Karate from “Chinese Hands” to ones that meant “Empty Hands”. (10) While Funakoshi said that this was a more accurate description of their martial arts practice the unpopularity of China at the time was also a likely motivation. There is a good argument that other Okinawans other then Funakoshi suggested this change before he did, and it was not a controversial change as Funakoshi later would claim. (11) Rightly or wrongly, Funakoshi has popularly received credit for this change.

Secondly, while there were other Okinawans teaching Karate in Japan after Funakoshi, a number of important martial arts pioneers studied what we call Shotokan as their formative art, and later used it to create or synthesize their own version of Karate. Among these people were Hironishi Ohtsuka (wado-ryu, founded 1935), Masutatsu Oyama, (Kyohushinkai, 1961), and Gen. Hong Hi Choi who is often considered the father of Tae Kwon Do, see our discussion at [1] and a history at [2] Choi is said to have earned either a first or second dan in Shotokan while in Japan, and has asserted in his condensed enyclopedia "Taekwon-Do" (p. 513) that he earned a first dan while there. Certainly a number of the Shotokan katas such as pinians 1-5 made their way into Taw Kwon Do, through Choi and others.

Shotokan Technique

According to Funakoshi he spent years in the backyard of Azato’s house, usually training by lantern light. He would practice the same kata over and over again to perfection before being allowed to start learning another one. Typically this process would take months. (12) The unsurprising result is that Shotokan people love their kata, and spend a great deal of time practicing them. The basic fifteen are called:

Heian Shodan, Heian Nidan, Heian Sandan, Heian Yondan, Heian Godan, Tekki Shodan, Bassai-Dai, Kanku-Dai, Enpi, Jion, Gankaku, Jutte, Hangetsu, Tekki Nidan, and Tekki Sandan.

With the addition of other kata, there are now “the Twenty Six Kata” and other Shotokan teachers have added even more. (13) Do not take this art if you do not want to spend thousands of hours barefoot on a wooden floor perfecting your Kata, a process you will be told will take the rest of your life.

In Shotakan it is also considered more important to master fewer techniques to perfection then to learn a larger selection incompletely. To quote Corcoran and Farkas: “Shotokan is physically distinguished from other karate systems in adapting nearly every one of its techniques to a linear fighting style, . . . Shotokan maintains that a direct line of attack is the quickest, safest, and most effective. While Shotokan fighters may circle an opponent during a match, it is a diversionary tactic. Shotokan fighters are recognized by their excellent posture, low stances, and hip power—a trademark of Japanese Karate in general and Shotokan in particular. Foot sweeps and reverse punches are important weapons in a Shotokan fighter’s arsenal, as are lunge punches, front kicks, side kicks, and round kicks.

A Shotokan student will use the rotating power of the hips in every technique he can, whether spinning the hips around for the round kick or snapping out the hip on impact to generate extra thrust in the side kick. The dramatic, high kicks of Tae Kwon Do are not seen in Shotokan. Many times the highest kick is not the most effective; body kicks do far more damage. Shotokan students are taught ‘iken hisatsu’ (to kill with one blow) and are not unfamiliar with jumping, spinning and slashing. . . What is important in Shotokan then, is to develop each technique to its maximum, not necessarily scoring a point in a match but scoring it well.” (14)

Rob Redmond has similarly described Shotokan fighting technique: "When attacking, the Shotokan expert will drive directly forward with straight punches and kicks while sweeping at the ankles to unbalance the retreating opponent. Shotokan experts are familiar with other types of techniques, but they generally avoid them unless they feel secure in their superior firepower. When attacked, Shotokan fighters tend to stand their ground, in my experience. They may shift one step to the side in order to flank the attacker, but the most common defense used is a pre-emptive strike against an incoming opponent. While Shotokan is simple, predictable, and lacking in a wide variety of motions, the few techniques are designed to be mastered to such a high degree of precision and ease of use that they become extremely effective weapons." (15)

Pros of Shotokan

1) Disciplined and defined course of martial arts study.

2) Exhausting focus on mastering basic techniques.

3) Mastering this art will give you good striking power.

4) If you want to have your kid study karate, this is a good choice, especially since it has been less commercialized than TKD. He’ll get some of the “Karate Kid” experience.

Cons of Shotokan

1) Too much time spent on forms which are not an “alive” training method.

2) Next to no grappling.

3) Weapons study is not encouraged as in other martial arts.

4) The concept of killing with one blow is quite frankly unrealistic unless you out-weigh your opponent by 100 pounds. It also tends get in the way of the doctrine of continuous attack.

5) In fights against a much larger enemy, circular, evasive movement to close the gap may keep you from getting pounded. You won’t find this in some Shotokan. Some shotokan schools teach the concept of tai sabaki or body shifting.

Sources and Notes

(1) This name is also spelled as Anko Itosu. See Mark Bishop, Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles, and Secret Techniques (A & C Black, London, 1989). p. 99. In this profile I will use the spelling Yasutsune Azato which is how this man’s name was translated in Gichin Funakoshi’s own book Karate-Do: My Way of Life.

(2) See Bishop, p. 61, and p. 64 for the different dates given for this man’s death.

(3) Bishop, p. 99.

(4) John Corcoran and Emil Farkas, The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia: Tradition, History, Pioneers (Pro-Action Publishing, Los Angeles, 1993), p. 333.

(5) Corcoran and Farkas, p. 324.

(6) Corcoran and Farkas, p. 75.

(7) http://www.24fightingchickens.com/2006/01/29/funakoshi-man-vs-myth/

(8) Corcoran and Farkas, pp. 76, 230.

(9) Corcoran and Farkas, pp. 75-76.

(10) Gichin Funakoshi, Karate-Do: My Way Of Life (Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1st English language paperback ed, 1981), pp. 33-37.

(11) http://www.24fightingchickens.com/2006/01/29/funakoshi-man-vs-myth/

(12) Gichin Funakoshi, pp. 5-7.

(13) http://www.24fightingchickens.com/2005/11/17/what-is-shotokan/

(14) Corcoran and Farkas, pp. 74.

(15) http://www.24fightingchickens.com/2005/11/17/what-is-shotokan/