In 1470 the Japanese had occupied the island of Okinawa. At that time, the law of the land dictated that the carrying of weapons was forbidden and punishable by death.
The Zen Buddhist Monks on the island developed the empty-hand system to protect themselves from local bandits who ignored the law prohibiting weapons.
At first the system was known as t'ang (''China-hand''), then it was known as Okinawa-te (''Okinawa-hand''). Finally, in the 20th Century it developed into karate-do ''empty hand''.
Shotokan is a style of karate developed from various martial arts by Gishin Funakoshi (1868-1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906-1945). The suffix ''do'' was added by Yoshitaka Funakoshi. It was in friendly opposition to his father's Okinawa-te style that was violent and allowed full contact. Yoshitaka transformed the system to focus strikes at skin level. The ''do'' suffix marked the move away from the ''aim of the warrior'' and towards physical and spiritual development.
Master Gichin Funakoshi is widely considered the primary "father" of modern karate-do due to his efforts to introduce the Okinawan art to mainland Japan, from where it spread to the rest of the world. Funakoshi was also the founder of what is now known as Shotokan Karate. His style of karate originated from him having trained under two famous Okinawan karate masters, Yasatsune Azato and Anko Itosu.
Shotokan is a style of karate developed from various martial arts by Gishin Funakoshi (1868-1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906-1945). The suffix ''do'' was added by Yoshitaka Funakoshi. It was in friendly opposition to his father's Okinawa-te style that was violent and allowed full contact. Yoshitaka transformed the system to focus strikes at skin level. The ''do'' suffix marked the move away from the ''aim of the warrior'' and towards physical and spiritual development.
Master Gichin Funakoshi is widely considered the primary "father" of modern karate-do due to his efforts to introduce the Okinawan art to mainland Japan, from where it spread to the rest of the world. Funakoshi was also the founder of what is now known as Shotokan Karate. His style of karate originated from him having trained under two famous Okinawan karate masters, Yasatsune Azato and Anko Itosu.
The Karate Academy is a Karate school in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. To find out more visit our website or Facebook page.
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