Shotokan
松濤館A karate style from the teaching of Gichin Funakoshi in Tokyo, named after his dojo. It rests on deep stances, kihon and kata, and competition is scored by points for a controlled hit.
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JapanCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
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About Shotokan
Shotokan is a karate style that derives from the teaching of Gichin Funakoshi in Tokyo. Funakoshi came from Shuri in Okinawa, and his teachers were Anko Asato and Anko Itosu. In 1922 he demonstrated karate at the Kodokan and stayed in Tokyo. He did not name his system and simply called it karate. The name Shotokan arose from his pen name Shoto and the word kan (hall) on a sign that students hung above the dojo. We have not been able to document the year the style arose, according to sources the Shotokan dojo stood from 1936 or 1939.
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Its present form was shaped by his son Gigo Funakoshi: deeper and lower stances, kiba dachi and kokutsu dachi instead of older stances, the kicks mawashi geri and yoko geri and free sparring. The Japan Karate Association (JKA), founded in 1949 (Japanese sources give 1948), with Masatoshi Nakayama as chief instructor, introduced kata and kumite as competition disciplines. Training consists of kihon, kata and kumite, from agreed sequences gohon and ippon kumite to jiyu kumite with controlled contact. The JKA syllabus has 27 kata, from Taikyoku Shodan and Heian Shodan to Gojushiho Dai. JKA has 10 kyu and 10 dan with minimum times between dan grades, and according to it children under ten do not spar. No unified organisation exists. Those that split from JKA include ITKF (1974), SKIF (1977), JKS and ISKF (2007), and Shotokai is a separate branch. Competition is for points with control of the hit under JKA and ITKF rules and also within WKF, of which JKA is a member.
History
Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) came from Shuri on Okinawa and learned karate from Anko Asato and Anko Itosu. In 1922 he demonstrated karate at the Kodokan at the invitation of Jigoro Kano and moved to Tokyo. He did not name his system and called it karate. From 1922 to 1927 or 1928 Hironori Otsuka, the later founder of Wado-ryu, trained and assisted with him. The name arose from his pen name Shoto (pine waves) and the word kan (hall) on a sign that the students hung above the dojo. The association Dai-Nihon Karate-do Kenkyukai from 1930 was renamed Shoto-kai in 1936. According to some sources he opened the Shotokan dojo in 1936 in Mejiro, according to Japanese ones in 1939 in Zoshigaya. The present form of the style was shaped by Funakoshi’s son Gigo Funakoshi (1906–1945). Funakoshi learned some kata from Kenwa Mabuni and sent Gigo to him in Osaka. Masutatsu Oyama trained with both Gichin and Gigo, the sources place his beginning in 1943 or 1946. Kyokushin took over from Shotokan the northern kata Taikyoku, Pinan, Kanku and Sushiho, and a modified version of Gojushiho.
How it differs
Shotokan is one of the four main styles of the Japan Karate Federation, alongside Goju-ryu, Shito-ryu and Wado-ryu, and the kata list of the World Karate Federation is also based on these four styles. The website nippon.com describes Shotokan as a style with direct, dynamic movement, Goju-ryu as a style of close-range techniques with distinctive breathing, and Shito-ryu as a style with kata collected from several masters. Wado-ryu was created by Funakoshi's assistant Otsuka Hironori, who, according to the WIKF, concluded that Okinawan karate concentrates too much on kata, and added paired exercises from jujutsu. In kata competitions, per the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 98 kata classed under the four styles are used. A scholarly study of 1,858 kata performed in the K1 Premier League series found a share of 44.7% for Shotokan, 50.5% for Shito-ryu, 4.7% for Goju-ryu and no kata from Wado-ryu. According to the Japan Karate Association, Shotokan rests on three pillars, kihon, kata and kumite.
Technique
Shotokan builds on deep long stances. Gigo Funakoshi deepened and lowered the stances, in the kata replaced shiko dachi with kiba dachi and neko ashi dachi with kokutsu dachi, and emphasised the punches oi tsuki and gyaku tsuki. The kicks mawashi geri, yoko geri kekomi and keage and ushiro geri kekomi are also attributed to him. Kokutsu dachi appears in almost all kata and is first learned in Heian Shodan, kiba dachi in Tekki. The JKA exam for the 10th kyu contains chudan chokuzuki, jodan ageuke, chudan sotouke and maegeri, at the 2nd kyu mawashigeri is added and at the 1st dan jodan mawashigeri in jiyu ippon kumite. The list of 26 ITKF kata contains no kata with a weapon.
Training
Training consists of kihon, kata and kumite. Kumite progresses from agreed sequences to free fighting. According to the JKA examination regulations, gohon kumite comes from 8th kyu, ippon kumite from 6th kyu, jiyu ippon kumite, in which the defender moves, from 3rd kyu, and jiyu kumite for dan grades. The basic exercises are sequences of one, three or five attacks with a block and a counterattack at the end. Free sparring with controlled contact was already promoted by Gigo Funakoshi. The syllabus of 27 kata was set for the JKA by Masatoshi Nakayama, and it runs from Taikyoku Shodan and the five Heian to Gojushiho Dai. The sources give 26, 27 or 29 kata. The Okinawan Pinan is Heian in Shotokan and Chinto is Gankaku. Hangetsu, the Shotokan version of the kata Seisan, was included by Funakoshi in the syllabus in place of Sanchin. We have not found the structure of an ordinary lesson or the typical frequency of training.
Ranks and progression
The JKA lists 10 kyu and 10 dan, and according to it a beginner starts at 9th kyu. Examinations are led by instructors with technical examiner authorisation, and higher dan grades are assessed only by the Tokyo headquarters. Minimum times at the previous dan apply from 1 April 2022: 1st and 2nd dan after a year, 3rd dan after two years, 4th after three, 5th after four, 6th after six years. For 3rd dan an age of 18 is required, for 7th dan 50 and for 8th dan 60. JKA examinations include Taikyoku Shodan for 8th kyu, Heian Shodan-Godan for 7th-3rd kyu, Tekki Shodan for 2nd kyu and Bassai Dai for 1st kyu, and for 1st dan Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai and, by choice, Enpi or Jion. Funakoshi's system of 1924 had white belts for 8th-4th kyu, brown for 3rd-1st kyu and black from 1st dan. Anyone transferring from another organisation may receive a lower dan from the JKA.
Who it suits
JKA designates as children and youth practitioners aged 6 to 18 and since 1983 separates them from adults in tournaments. According to JKA, children may not spar until they are ten years old. At the SKDUN 2025 championship children aged 10–11 compete in kata, kumite and jiyu ippon kumite, the fight of children and of the minicadets category aged 12–13 lasts 1:30 and excessive contact is penalised. We have not found protective gear for children at JKA, a study of children or a position of physicians. The review by Swanson, Morrissey and Barragan (The Sport Journal, 2017) summarised seven tournament studies of shotokan: injury appeared on average in 20.5% of fights (9–31.4%), most often contusions. JKA candidates for the 2nd to 7th dan older than 60 perform jiyu kumite or jiyu ippon kumite. We have not found special rules for women.
Competition
Competition is in kata and kumite, with points for a controlled hit. Kata and kumite as competition disciplines were established by Masatoshi Nakayama, the first All Japan Karate Championship JKA was held in 1957. Under ITKF rules a punch must end within 5 cm of the head or 3 cm of the trunk and a kick within 10 or 5 cm. An ippon of 8 points ends the fight, a waza-ari gives 4 points. Grabbing, pushing, dangerous throws and strikes to the eyes, throat and groin are prohibited. The SKDUN 2025 championship uses the formats ippon shobu and sanbon shobu, an adult fight lasts 2 minutes, senior finals 3 minutes. JKA is a member of WKF, karate was an Olympic sport only in Tokyo 2020.
Gear
Practice is in a keikogi with a belt. Funakoshi took over the kyu and dan system and the keikogi in 1924 from Kano Jigoro. The rules of WKF, of which JKA is a member, require in kumite approved gloves in red and blue, a mouthguard, body, shin and foot protectors and for men a groin guard. We have not found the equipment prescribed by JKA and ITKF competitions.
Philosophy
Funakoshi wrote the Niju kun, twenty principles drawn from bushido and Zen, which stress humility, respect, patience and calm. They appeared in English in 1975 as The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate. The dojo kun consists of five principles displayed in the dojo. A saying is attributed to Funakoshi that the final goal of karate is neither victory nor defeat but the refinement of the practitioner’s character. Funakoshi preached karate without division into schools. Shigeru Egami of Shotokai never accepted sport competition, because in his view competitions change the training and the spirit of karate too much.
Today
The Japan Karate Federation recognises four styles: Goju-ryu, Shito-ryu, Shotokan and Wado-ryu. There is no single Shotokan organisation. The Japan Karate Association was founded by Funakoshi's students in November 1948 according to the JKA's data, while other sources give 27 May 1949. Masatoshi Nakayama (1913–1987) became chief instructor in 1958. In 1956 it established the kenshusei programme for training instructors. Hidetaka Nishiyama left in 1974 and led the ITKF. In 1977 an organisation was formed with Hirokazu Kanazawa as chief instructor, today's SKIF. After Nakayama's death the JKA split. The dispute ended on 10 June 1999 with a ruling of the Japanese supreme court, and Asai's group created, among others, the JKS. The ISKF became independent in 2007. A separate branch is Shotokai, which was led by Motonobu Hironishi and Shigeru Egami.
Did you know
Funakoshi Gichin was born on 10 November 1868 in Yamakawa in Shuri, into a family that served the nobility of the Ryukyu Kingdom. In 1922 he demonstrated karate at the Ministry of Education's first physical education exhibition and that year published the book Ryukyu Kempo Karate. Under Zen influence he changed the first character of the word karate from the Chinese one to the one for empty, and in 1929 renamed karate-jutsu to karate-do. He issued the first dan certificate in April 1924. He had the Shotokan dojo built at his own expense, and it was destroyed in wartime air raids. Funakoshi died on 26 April 1957, sixteen days after the Ministry of Education recognized the JKA as a legal entity, and over 20,000 people attended the memorial ceremony at the Ryogoku Kokugikan hall. In October of that year the JKA held the first Japan championship, by its account the first tournament with fighting rules in karate history. The second of Funakoshi's twenty precepts says that in karate there is no first attack.
Frequently asked questions
What is shotokan?
Shotokan is a style of karate that Funakoshi Gichin brought from Okinawa to Japan. According to the Japan Karate Association, it emphasizes kihon, kata and kumite and is one of the four main styles of the Japan Karate Federation.
What does shotokan mean?
Shoto was the pen name of Funakoshi Gichin, used in poetry and calligraphy, and it means pine waves. Kan means hall, so the name means Shoto's hall. The dojo was named this way by Funakoshi's students.
What are the grades in shotokan?
The Japan Karate Association lists ten student grades called kyu and ten master grades called dan. A beginner starts at 9th kyu and exams can be held after three to four months. For 1st dan at least three years of training are needed, for 3rd dan an age of 18 and for 8th dan an age of 60.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.