Gichin Funakoshi

Quick Facts

Date of Birth11/10/1868

Date of Death4/26/1957

Country of OriginJapan

OccupationSchoolteacher, Writer

Also known asShoto

Biography

Gichin Funakoshi was born on 10 November 1868 in Shuri, Okinawa, and died on 26 April 1957 in Tokyo at the age of 88. He is regarded as the founder of the Shotokan style, but according to Wikipedia he did not choose the name: it came from the shoto-kan sign that his students hung above the hall, after his pen name Shoto. In May 1922 he demonstrated karate at the Ministry of Education's exhibition of budo and physical education in Tokyo and stayed there to teach.

His first teacher was Asato Anko, and around 1888 he began studying with Itosu Anko as well. Some overviews name further teachers, Matsumura Sokon and Arakaki Seisho, but we have not found independent evidence. He trained in the Shorei-ryu and Shorin-ryu styles.

In 1930 he founded the Dai-Nihon Karate-do Kenkyukai, renamed Dai-Nippon Karate-do Shotokai in 1936. According to Shotokai, the Shoto-kan dojo in Tokyo's Zoshigaya district was built on 29 January 1939. He changed the way of writing the word karate from the characters for “Chinese hand” to those for “empty hand” and formulated the twenty guiding principles of karate (Niju Kun). He wrote the books To-te Ryukyu Kenpo (1922) and Karate-Do Kyohan (1935, English translation 1973). His students included Hidetaka Nishiyama and Masatoshi Nakayama. Masutatsu Oyama and Won Kuk Lee, founder of taekwondo, are also named, but we have not found evidence.

From the founding of the Japan Karate Association (JKA) in 1949 he was its chief master. According to Richard Kim, no dan grade of Funakoshi is documented. His autobiography Karate-Do: My Way of Life was published in Japanese in 1956 and in English in 1975. A memorial was unveiled to him on 1 December 1968 at Engaku-ji temple in Kamakura, and at the JKA World Championships the Funakoshi Gichin Cup is awarded.

Early life

Gichin Funakoshi was born on 10 November 1868 in the Yamakawa district of Shuri, Okinawa. According to the JKA the family was of samurai origin, its ancestors vassals of the Ryukyuan nobility. By the description of his autobiography, his father was Gisu, the original family name Tominakoshi, and Gichin was born prematurely.

According to a study by Toshiro Oda of Waseda University, from the age of six he learned stick fighting from his father, and around twelve began karate with Asato Anko, reached through friendship with his son. He passed the medical school entrance exam but could not enroll, as his family refused to let him cut his traditional hairstyle. According to Wikipedia he then became an assistant primary school teacher.

Training and teachers

His main teacher was Asato Anko, whom, by Funakoshi's own account, he visited for lessons at night. Around 1888, according to the Waseda University study, he began studying also with Itosu Anko, Asato's fellow student. Some overviews name the teachers Matsumura Sokon and Arakaki Seisho, but we have not found evidence.

Later in Okinawa he led the Okinawa Shobu-kai association and, according to Shotokai, also taught selected sailors of the Yashiro fleet, but the navy did not adopt karate.

Contribution and innovations

On 6 March 1921 he prepared a karate demonstration by students at Shuri Castle for Crown Prince Hirohito, who was passing through Okinawa on his way to Europe. In May 1922 he demonstrated karate at the first budo and physical education exhibition held by the Ministry of Education in Tokyo and stayed in Tokyo to teach. The same year he published the book Ryukyu Kempo Karate, which the JKA calls the first comprehensive account of karate in Japan, in 1925 according to Wikipedia the book Karate Jutsu, and in 1935 Karate-do Kyohan, published in English in 1973.

In April 1924 he awarded the first dan grades in karate, according to Richard Kim to seven men including Otsuka, Gima and Tokuda. The same year he became the first instructor of the Keio University karate club, the first university karate club in Japan. In 1930 he founded the association Dai-nihon Karate-do Kenkyukai, renamed Dai-nippon Karate-do Shoto-kai in 1936. The Shoto-kan dojo in Tokyo's Zoshigaya district was built with the help of his son Gigo and students on 29 January 1939 and burned down in an air raid on 29 April 1945.

Philosophy and principles

Funakoshi summed up his view of karate in twenty principles, Shoto Niju Kun, originally called Karate Niju kajo. Each begins with the word hitotsu, meaning one, to show that all are equally important. The first reminds that karate begins and ends with a bow, the second reads karate ni sente nashi, in karate there is no first attack. The JKA states that Funakoshi defined them in 1929, Wikipedia places the first printing in Genwa Nakasone's book Karate-do Taikan from 1938. The principle on the first attack is also on his monument at Engaku-ji temple. The JKA also links the year 1929 with the switch to the name karate-do.

Legends and documented facts

The year of the first Shotokan dojo is often given as 1936. By the official Shotokai chronology and the JKA, the Shoto-kan dojo was built on 29 January 1939, while 1936 belongs to the renaming of the association. According to Wikipedia, Funakoshi also did not choose the style name: it came from the shoto-kan sign students hung above the hall, after his pen name Shoto.

The year 1922 counts as the first public karate demonstration in Japan. SKIF, however, reports one in Kyoto as early as 1917, and 1922 was the first supported by the Ministry of Education. The year of the change in writing karate is also inconsistent: the official Shotokai chronology gives 1929, another Shotokai website 1924.

The widespread claim of a 5th dan in life and a posthumous 10th dan has no support. Richard Kim writes that no dan grade of his is documented, only the Butoku-kai title renshi. The author of the Taikyoku katas is also disputed: Shotokai attributes them to Funakoshi, Wikipedia to his son Gigo.

Legacy

In 1949 his students founded the Japan Karate Association with Funakoshi as chief master, and on 10 April 1957 the Ministry of Education recognized it as a legal entity. Funakoshi died sixteen days later, on 26 April 1957 in Tokyo, and more than twenty thousand people came to the funeral ceremony at the Ryogoku Kokugikan hall. After his death the students split into the JKA and Shotokai, the main dispute being, according to Wikipedia, competitions.

Shotokai reorganized in April 1958 into today's Nihon Karate-do Shoto-kai and on 1 December 1968, according to Wikipedia, unveiled a monument to him at Engaku-ji temple in Kamakura. JKA members visit it every year on 29 April, the day of the Shoto festival. For the 130th anniversary of his birth, a Tree of Gratitude was planted on 27 August 1998 in Sueyoshi Park in Naze, and at the JKA World Championships the Funakoshi Gichin Cup is awarded.

Teachers, students and family

Associated Martial Arts

Kata and forms

Works and sources

Ranks and titles

• 10th danKarate · posthumously
• 5th danKarate

Quotes