HISTORICAL PROFILE
Gichin Funakoshi Sensei
Gichin Funakoshi is widely recognized as one of the central figures in the development of modern karate. His work helped bring karate from Okinawa to mainland Japan, where it continued to grow and eventually spread throughout the world.
Born in 1868 in Shuri, Okinawa, Funakoshi began studying karate at the age of eleven. He trained under two of the most respected Okinawan masters of his time, Anko Azato and Anko Itosu, and developed a deep understanding of the major karate traditions practiced in Okinawa.
For Funakoshi, karate became karate-do: the “way of karate” or the “way of the empty hand.” This reflected a deeper purpose behind training. Karate-do was not only physical practice, but a lifelong discipline involving character, effort, humility, and self-development.
Funakoshi was the first major karate expert to introduce karate-do to mainland Japan. In 1916, he demonstrated karate at the Butokuden in Kyoto. On March 6, 1921, he was asked to demonstrate karate during the Crown Prince’s visit to Okinawa. The following year, in 1922, he travelled to Tokyo to present karate at the First National Athletic Exhibition, organized by Japan’s Ministry of Education.
After his demonstrations in Japan, Funakoshi was encouraged by influential groups and individuals to remain there and continue teaching. He did so, and he never returned to live in Okinawa.
Funakoshi taught karate as one complete discipline, drawing together his understanding of the Okinawan styles he had studied. This method became known as Shotokan. The name comes from “Shoto,” Funakoshi’s pen name for his poetry, meaning the sound of wind moving through pine trees. “Kan” means hall or house. Shotokan therefore refers to the house or training place of Shoto.
For students of Shotokan karate today, Funakoshi’s influence remains central. His legacy is not only the spread of karate, but the idea that karate practice should develop the whole person through discipline, respect, and steady training.