Gichin Funakoshi

Gichin Funakoshi, 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 in 1936, a great landmark in the history of karate.

Funakoshi Sensei 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 capabilities. Although Funakoshi Sensei 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 its participants. After training and teaching karate for more than 75 years, Master Funakoshi died in 1957 at the age of 88.