3AboutShotokan

They first placed the emphasis on very powerful, but slow techniques. The other relied on faster, but less strong
attacks. Funakoshi Sensei combined the "best" aspects of each art into a new style that would later be called
Shotokan ('Shoto' being Funakoshi Sensei's pen-name, "Kan" meaning building or house, i.e.: Shotokan = 'House of
Shoto'). In 1916 or 1917, Funakoshi Sensei was invited as a representative of Okinawa Prefecture to the to
demonstrate his style of Karate at the Botoku-den on Kyoto (at that time the official center of all the martial arts) to
give a Karate demonstration. This was the first time the art of Karate was to be demonstrated outside the island of
Okinawa.

In 1922, he was asked again to demonstrate at the Ministry of Education's 1st National Athletic Exhibition in Tokyo. At
the end of this exhibition, Funakoshi Sensei was asked by several groups remain in Japan to spread the art of Karate
and popularize this martial art.

During this time, a master artist named Hoan Kosugi* asked Funakoshi Sensei to write something

Explaining his martial art. In November 1992 Funakoshi Sensei completed the first published work on the subject of
Karate titled "Ryukyu Kempo: Karate".

*Hoan Kosugi was also the artist of the "Shotokan Tiger" which symbolizes our Shotokan-Ryu.

By 1935 Karate dojos were established at most of the leading Japanese universities and Karate was more widely
practiced. In 1936, Funakoshi Sensei established the "Shotokan" in Tokyo.

This eventually led to the start of the Japan Karate Association and subsequent organizations in existence today
such as: (SKIF) – Kanazawa's Shotokan Karate-Do International Federation,

(SKA) - Shotokan Karate of America, (ISKF) -International Shotokan Karate Federation), etc.