“Karate ni sente nashi” There is no first attack in Karate
Gichin Funakoshi from Shuri, Okinawa (November 10, 1868 – April 26, 1957) was the founder of Shotokan karate. Master funakoshi has also been accredited with being the ‘father of modern karate.’ He was also a poet and philosopher.
He began practicing karate with two karate masters, Anko Itosu and Yasutsune Azato, then later on trained under other masters, including the legendary Sokon “Bushi” Matsumura.
Master Funakoshi visited Japan in 1922 and gave a karate demonstration, the demonstration went so well, he stayed in Japan and in 1939 built the first Shōtōkan dojo in Tokyo. In 1949 the Japan Karate Association (JKA), was formed and Master Funakoshi was made chief instructor.
Many believe Funakoshi did not agree with free sparring in karate and instead preferred the ‘old way’ of training, which was predominately based around the karate kata and in depth study into these karate forms.
Master Funakoshi believed karate practice should be predominately about character development, as can be seen in one of his quotes, ‘The ultimate aim of the art of karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the characters of its participants’.
He really disapproved of some of the new training methods that were implemented after karate’s introduction into Japan. He especially disliked the idea of competition in karatedo.
After the master died, some of his original students formed the shotokai and hoped to reclaim the original karate teachings of Master Funakoshi.
The name Shotokan comes from the great master’s pen name ‘shoto’, which translates as ‘pine waves’. ‘Kan’ translates as ‘hall’. So Shotokan translates as ‘the hall of pine waves’.
‘Kara’ translates as empty and ‘te’ translates as hand. So Karate translates as ‘empty hand’.
As karate evolves and changes, there are still many karate sensei who believe in the original teachings of master Funakoshi, so I will finish with another Funakoshi quote ~
The correct understanding of Karate and its proper use is Karate-do. One who truly trains in this do [way] and actually understands Karate-do is never easily drawn into a fight.
Ossu
Linden Huckle