Gichin Funakoshi
1868 - 1957
In about 600 AD, the Indian monk Bodhidharma left his country to spread the word of Buddhism. When he reached China , he started to teach the monks of the Shaolin Temple . But they passed out during his strenuous training, so Bodhidharma decided to show them exercises to help improve their physical condition. As the monks perfected these exercises, they gained a reputation for their skills. The exercises were developed into a fighting style called Kempo (Shaolin/Chinese boxing).
In 1609 the island of Okinawa was invaded by the Satsuma Clan (from Japan) and all weapons were banned. So the native fighting style (te, tode or Okinawa-te) was learnt and developed as a means of unarmed self-defence. Due to the laws this had to be practiced in secret. As Okinawa is situated about half way between Japan and Formosa (Taiwan), it came into contact with many other oriental combat systems, especially kempo (Chinese boxing) from China , as well as styles from Japan and the Ryukyu islands . These fighting methods were brought to Okinawa through the trading that took place between these countries.
Some of these styles were combined to form different styles of Te. Three styles were developed around the main towns: Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te. Gichin Funakoshi Sensei learned Shuri-te and Naha-te from Yatasune Azato Sensei and Yatasune Itosu Sensei respectively (he started training in 1879). They were eventually refined into two styles of karate: Shorei-ryu and Shorin-ryu. The first placed the emphasis on very powerful, but slow techniques. The other relied on faster, but less strong attacks. Funakoshi Sensei combined the 'best' aspects of each art into a new style that he would later name Shotokan ('Shoto' being Funakoshi Sensei's pen-name, ' Kan ' meaning building or house. Shotokan = 'House of Shoto').
In 1917, Funakoshi Sensei was invited to Japan to demonstrate his style of karate. In 1922 he was asked to demonstrate again in Tokyo , and he chose Bassai Dai and Kanku Dai to perform. By 1935 karate
Dojos were established at most of the leading Japanese universities and karate was more widely practised. In 1936 Funakoshi Sensei established the 'Shotokan' in Tokyo, and this led to the start of the Japan Karate Association in 1955 with him as Chief Instructor.
In 1965 karate was brought to the UK by H'enry de Please and Vernon Bell. They were accompanied by four Japanese
instructors, including Hirokazu Kanazawa Sensei and Enoeda Sensei.