Students Packet

Eagle Grove Shotokan Karate Student Packet

KARATE HISTORY - ORIGINS

CHINA

Although the ancient origins of karate are extremely vague, we do know that about 1400 years ago, Daruma (Bodhidharma), the founder of Zen Buddhism, used techniques basic to karate.  According to legend, Daruma traveled from India to China to teach Buddhism.  His training methods were so demanding that his disciples dropped from exhaustion.  In order to build up their strength and endurance, he developed a method of training the mind and body.  His training was taught in the monastery of the Shoaling Temple in China, where the techniques were refined and developed into fighting forms know as Shoaling Boxing.

OKINAWA

In the 16th Century, Shoaling Boxing found it's way to Okinawa from China.  It combined with native Okinawan techniques to develop into several Okinawan styles.  During several periods of Okinawan history, the owing and carrying of weapons was banned.  Each ban resulted in great advancements in the techniques of unarmed combat.  Secret training flourished, and the styles became more efficient and deadly.
            Master Gichin Funakoshi was the founder of modern day karate.  Born in 1868, he began to study karate at the age of 11, and was a student of the two greatest masters of the time.  He grew so proficient that hew was initiated into all major styles of karate in Okinawa at the time.  In 1922, Master Funakoshi, then the president of the Okinawa Association Of The Spirit Of Martial Arts, was chosen to demonstrate karate at the First National Athletic Exhibition in Tokyo.  This led to the introduction of the ancient martial art to the rest of Japan.  At the urging of friends and officials, he remained in Tokyo to teach.
 

MODERN KARATE

U.S.A. - Tsutomu Ohshima

Tsutomu Ohshima was on of Master Funakoshi's last direct pupils (1948-1953) studying under him while attending Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan.  In 1955, My. Ohshima came to the United States and was the first person to teach karate in this country.  That same year, he organized the Southern California Karate Association, which grown over the years to become a nationwide organization, Shotokan Karate of America.

SHOTOKAN KARATE OF AMERICA

Shotokan Karate of America is now, as it was then, a non-profit organization that tries to maintain a high level of non-commercialism.  Shotokan Karate of America Inc., is devoted to teaching karate at it's highest level as a martial arts.  To this end, Shotokan Karate of America conducts lectures, seminars, and regularly scheduled intensive training sessions for all students, as well as continuous training program for advanced students and instructors.
 

GICHIN FUNAKOSHI

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Gichin Funakoshi is known as the founder of modern karate, was a professor at the Okinawan Teacher's College and president of the Okinawan Association of Martial Arts.  In 1922, he was invited to lecture and demonstrate the new art of karate at the First National Athletic Exhibition in Tokyo.  The demonstration turned out to be a great success, due to the inspiring personality of master Funakoshi, and he was flooded with requests until he was able to establish the Shotokan on 1936, a great landmark in the history of karate.
            Sensei Funakoshi was not only a genius in martial arts, but also a literary talent and signed his work "shoto" his pen name.  Hence, the school where he taught came to be known as "shoto's school" or Shotokan.  He combined the techniques and katas of the two major Okinawan styles to form his own style of karate.  As a result, modern day Shotokan includes the powerful techniques of the Shorei school and the lighter, more flexible movements of the Shorin school.
            When the Japan Karate Association was established in 1949, Gichin Funakoshi was appointed as the chief instructor due to his advanced skills and leadership abilities.  Although Sensei Funakoshi was famous as a great karate master, he always emphasized that the most important benefit from karate training is the development of spiritual values and the perfection of character of it's participants.  After training and teaching karate for more than 75 years, Master Funakoshi died in 1957 at the age of 88.
            In Okinawa, a martial art has come down to us from the past.  It is said that the one who masters it's techniques can defend himself readily without resort to weapons and can perform remarkable feats -- the breaking of several thick boards with hands and feet -- or bones should the cause for mercy and justice warrant it.
            Some consider these aspects of this martial art to be the essence of KARATE-DO -- in fact, true Karate-do places weight upon spiritual rather than physical matters...In daily life, one's mind and body are trained and developed in a spirit of humility, and that critical times, one can be devoted utterly to the cause of justice......
            Just as it is the clear mirror that reflects without distortion.. or the quiet valley that echoes a sound, so must one who would study Karate-do purge himself of selfish and evil thoughts....for only with a clear mind and conscience can he understand ...that...which he receives...Mind and techniques are to become one in true Karate....
            Those who seek karate should not stop merely with the perfection of their techniques...Rather...I hope...they will dedicate their lives to the seeking of true Karate-do...the value of the art depends on the one applying it.
 

The 20 precepts of Gichin Funakoshi

 1. Karate begins with courtesy and ends with courtesy.
 2. There is no first attack in Karate.
 3. Karate is an aid to justice.
 4. First control yourself before attempting to control others.
 5. Spirit first, technique second.
 6. Always be ready to release your mind.
 7. Accidents arise from negligence.
 8. Do not think that karate training is only in the dojo.
 9. It will take your entire life to learn karate, there is no limit.
10. Put your everyday living into karate and you will find "Myo" (subtle secret).
11. Karate is like boiling water, if you do not heat it constantly, it will cool.
12. Do no think that you have to win, think rather that you do not have to lose.
13. Victory depends on your ability to distinguish vulnerable points from invulnerable ones.
14. The battle is according to how you move guarded and unguarded (move according to your opponent).
15. Think of your hands and feet as swords.
16. When you leave home, think that you have numerous opponents waiting for you.  It is your behavior that invites trouble from them.
17. Beginners must master low stance and posture, natural body positions are for the advanced.
18. Practicing a kata is one thing, engaging in a real fight is another.
19. Do not forget to correctly apply: strength and weakness of power, stretching and contraction of the body and slowness and speed of techniques.
20. Always think and devise ways to live the precepts every day.

"The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of it's participants"...Gichin Funakoshi

Terminology