Gichin Funakoshi

The father of modern karate

Gichin Funakoshi (船越 義珍) was born on November 10, 1868, in Shuri, Okinawa. He began his training in to-te jutsu around the age of eleven under two of the greatest masters of the era: Anko Azato and Anko Itosu. He studied both Shōrei-ryū and Shōrin-ryū, blending their principles.

From Okinawa to Japan

In 1917 — and again in 1922, this time by invitation of the Japanese Ministry of Education — Funakoshi travelled to mainland Japan to introduce karate. He chose to stay, devoting the rest of his life to spreading the art. He changed the written characters of karate from "Chinese hand" (唐手) to "empty hand" (空手), giving the discipline a more universal and philosophical reading.

Shotokan

Shōtō (松涛, "waving pines") was Funakoshi's poetic pen name. His students named the hall where he taught Shōtōkan — "the house of Shōtō." In 1936 the first Shotokan dojo was built in Tokyo.

Legacy: the Twenty Precepts

Funakoshi distilled the essence of his teaching into the twenty principles of karate (Niju Kun) and the Dojo Kun. He did not see these as technical rules, but as guides for "becoming better human beings." He died on April 26, 1957, leaving a heritage we carry today.

"The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants." — Gichin Funakoshi