Shotokan

Shotokan is a school of karate, reflecting the style of the initial students of Master Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957). Gichin Funakoshi was the man who 'officially' brought karate from Okinawa to mainland Japan. He had trained in both of the popular styles of Okinawan karate of the time: Shorei-ryu and Shorin-ryu. He combined and modified the styles thus creating his own, though he never named it, always referring to it simply as "karate". As his martial arts influence developed he changed the names of the kata included in his curriculum in an effort to make the "foreign" Okinawan names more palatable to the then nationalistic Japanese mainland. In several cases, Shotokan kata have since been modified, in some places favouring athleticism over practicality.

 

JKA

The largest faction of Shotokan Karate is the karate that was endorsed by the old Japan Karate Association. The JKA style is practiced by over 20 different factions of Shotokan experts around the world. Originally the largest karate organization on the Earth, the JKA's many highly trained instructors have moved around the world, spreading their interpretation of karate to people in almost every civilized nation. Thanks to infighting and political maneuvering, however, the JKA eventually collapsed with the death of the Chief Instructor in 1987. From that collapse, a myriad of organizations have arisen, all using the JKA style to a greater or lesser degree, and none of them holding the political governing power of the original JKA.

There is still a JKA headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, however, it is but a shadow of its former self. Most of the JKA's preeminent instructors have left Japan or have dropped out and founded their own organizations. The JKA is more of a style now than an organization, and the group calling themselves the JKA today certainly have no monopoly on the JKA style of Shotokan.

JKA experts are noted for practicing 26 kata including Heian, Tekki, Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai, Enpi, Jion, Gankaku, Hangetsu, Jutte, Jiin, Chinte, Bassai-Sho, Kanku-Sho, Nijushiho, Unsu, Sochin, Gojushiho Dai, Gojushiho Sho, Meikyo, and Wankan.

JKA style Shotokan is noted for the erect posture of the participants and the particular way that they keep the shoulders square during the impact of a punch. Also notable is the head-on collision approach to fighting that JKA enthusiasts tend to employ. JKA style stances require the expert to bend the knees deeply so that he is at only 75% of his original height or lower. JKA karateists have been accused of moving in a robotic, stiff way by people used to more fluid and graceful martial arts. Fluid and graceful Shotokan players are not - not until very late in their training careers.

 

The Hall of Pine Waves

The word Shotokan is composed of three kanji characters in Japanese. They are properly pronounced "show-toe-kahn" (like Madeline Kahn). The sho character is taken from the word matsu which means pine tree. To is the character for waves. Pine Waves is supposed to mean "the sound that pine trees make when the wind blows through their needles." Some people also translate this to mean the waves that pine trees seem to make visually when bending in the wind. The founder of the style, Funakoshi Gichin, signed his works of calligraphy with the pen name Shoto. That is where the first part of the name of this type of karate came from. The word kan means building. Together, Shotokan refers to the building in which Funakoshi taught karate.

Kanji characters for "Hall of Pine Waves" or Shotokan

Practitioners of Shotokan Karate in Japan almost never refer to their karate by the name Shotokan. In Japan, many Japanese novices taking classes in Shotokan Karate were not even able to name the style of karate they were taking. They simply called it "karate." Outsiders usually refer to those studying the JKA style of Shotokan as "Kyokai", which is taken from the name of the JKA in Japanese Nihon Karate Kyokai.

The name Shotokan comes from the world's first karate dojo, which was constructed in 1939 by Funakoshi's students. They placed a plaque over the door that said "Shotokan," in honor of Funakoshi. The Hall of Pine Waves. This dojo was destroyed in an American bombing raid on Japan in 1945 and was never rebuilt.

 

Shotokan & Weapons

Shotokan is a very time consuming experience. Considering the size of the syllabus that is already required of students, and the level of detail that is required in performing on an exam, usually there is no time to practice weapons. Most organizations do not endorse the practice of playing with weapons when one should be improving other areas of kata, kumite, and kihon.

The Shotokan philosophy is that people who waste time with weapons usually are not very good at the empty handed actions of Karate itself. However, after ten years of training or so, many people like to take up a weapon art as another outside hobby, but, you will not practice with weapons in a Shotokan club. That is not to say that weapons training has nothing to offer. It simply means that Shotokan has been structured in such a way that it is very time intensive to learn even the most basic skills. If you spend time on other things like another martial art in your first decade of training, you will probably never acquire any basic skills that will impress anyone.

So, before you pick up a pair of nunchaku or a sword, think about what your Shotokan instructor is going to say, "Can you perform a flawless kata for me? No? Then why aren't you doing that kata?" However, do balance your fun with your training. All work and no play makes Shoto a dull kan. Many experts claim that after a decade or so of training, picking up a weapons art can be beneficial and a lot of fun. Did you like violin lessons as a child? Don't punish yourself in order to meet your instructor's goals for you. Make sure you are working toward your own goals. If you take up karate for no other reason than fun, then you should enjoy playing with weapons all you like.

 

Throws & Grappling

Throwing is covered by most instructors for a brief time, but is usually not a major part of the curriculum of the class. Karate training emphasizes hitting people with various parts of the body, blocking such blows, and occasionally taking people to the ground. Your training in this regard will depend largely on the instructor, but don't expect much of it. Shotokan experts enjoy attacking someone's balance, but don't necessarily require the person to fall hard. The Shotokan attacks to the ankles are only designed to disrupt the opponent's stability and composure so that punching and kicking will get through.

 

Will I learn cool moves to escape from different holds?

Applications are being reverse engineered by many instructors today. Bored with the punching and kicking training that never ends, many have taken it upon themselves to design alternative applications for the techniques in the kata that range from brilliant to insipid depending upon the engineer. However, most Shotokan students never see any applications other than the simple block-kick-punch routines shown in the backs of most karate books.