What is Shotokan?
Shotokan is a Japanese form, or style, of karate. This karate style originated in Okinawa and was developed by a schoolteacher named Gichin Funakoshi. From a very early age Gichin Funakoshi studied a collective of martial arts, this collective was commonly known as Okinawa-te. Over time, Gichin Funakoshi developed a type of karate that to this day is referred to as Shotokan. The name Shotokan came about by combining the word Shoto, which was the pen name for Gichin Funakoshi, and the word kan, which in a general sense stands for house of, or family of. By combining these two words, the name Shotokan can loosely be translated as Shoto’s house, and/or brand, and/or type, of karate. Gichin Funakoshi introduced Shotokan to the mainland of Japan in 1922. While Shotokan has Okinawan roots, it is regarded as Japanese karate due to Gichin Funakoshi’s influence in popularizing Shotokan in mainland Japan among the upper classes and universities.
