In 1922 the Japanese Ministry of Education invited Gichin Funakoshi to Tokyo to give a karate demonstration.

His students became some of the most well known karate masters, including Gichin Funakoshi, Kenwa Mabuni, and Motobu Chōki.

Masters of karate in Tokyo ( c. 1930s ) Kanken Toyama, Hironori Otsuka, Takeshi Shimoda, Gichin Funakoshi, Motobu Chōki, Kenwa Mabuni, Genwa Nakasone, and Shinken Taira ( from left to right )

Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan karate, is generally credited with having introduced and popularized karate on the main islands of Japan.

The roots of Shintaido lie in karate ( 空手, empty hand ), which had been brought to Tokyo from Okinawa by Gichin Funakoshi in 1922.

Choi also learned Shotokan karate under Funakoshi Gichin.

* Gichin Funakoshi ; Martial artist.

is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi ( 1868 – 1957 ) and his son Gigo ( Yoshitaka ) Funakoshi ( 1906 – 1945 ).

Gichin Funakoshi never gave his style a name, just calling it karate.

Gichin Funakoshi laid out the Twenty Precepts of Karate, ( or Niju kun ) which form the foundations of the art, before some of his students established the JKA.

Master Gichin Funakoshi himself never awarded a rank higher than Godan ( 5th degree black belt / 5th Dan ).

Gichin Funakoshi executing Kanku dai ( 観空大 ) kata

Kihon Kata, or Taikyoku Shodan, was developed by Yoshitaka Funakoshi, the son of Gichin Funakoshi, as a basic introduction to karate kata.

Shōtōkan-ryū founder Gichin Funakoshi

Gichin Funakoshi had trained in both of the popular styles of Okinawan karate of the time: Shōrei-ryū and Shōrin-ryū.

* Gichin Funakoshi.

* Gichin Funakoshi.

Ōtsuka was a licensed Shindō Yōshin-ryū practitioner and a student of Yōshin-ryū when he first met the Okinawan karate master Gichin Funakoshi.

* Ten-No: basic drills first invented by Gigō Funakoshi ( son of Gichin Funakoshi ).

* Taikyoku series: developed by Gichin Funakoshi as a preliminary exercise before the Pinan series ; many Wadō-ryū schools teach these basic kata, particularly Taikyoku Shodan ( 太極初段 ).

In 1922, he met Gichin Funakoshi and began to train under him.

Gichin FunakoshiFounder of Shotokan Karate

In fact, many masters of his generation held similar views on the future of Karate: Gichin Funakoshi ( founder of Shotokan ), another contemporary, had moved to Tokyo in the 1920s to promote his art on the mainland as well.

Funakoshi Gichin ( founder of Shotokan Karate ) made this name change )

Funakoshi Gichin ( founder of Shotokan Karate ) made this name change )

First he trained what today is known as Shotokan Karate under its founder Gichin Funakoshi for two years, but eventually switched to training Goju-Ryu Karate under So-Nei Chu ( a pupil of Goju-ryu karate legend Chojun Miyagi ) and finally became an assistant instructor, along with Gogen Yamaguchi and Masutatsu Oyama in his dojo.

Ironically, at the same time, Gichin Funakoshi, the father of modern Karate, was responsible for hand-to-hand training of many members of the Japanese military ( Funakoshi 88 ).

Born in Shizuoka, Japan, Mochizuki was one of the direct students of judo founder Jigoro Kano, aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba and Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan Karate.

Masters of Karate in Tokyo ( 1930s )( From left ) Toyama Kanken, Ōtsuka Hironori, Shimoda Takeshi, Gichin Funakoshi, Motobu Chōki, Mabuni Kenwa, Nakasone Genwa and Taira Shinken

These versions of Tang Soo Do are heavily influenced by Korean culture and also appear related to Okinawan Karate as initially taught in Japan by Funakoshi Gichin.

Shotokai refrains from competition because Gichin Funakoshi used to say that there are no contests in Karate.

Shotokai is the keeper of Gichin Funakoshi's Karate heritage and has for example republished his books during the years.

Generally accredited to Gichin Funakoshi ( but rumoured to have been created by Kanga Sakukawa, an 18th century Okinawan karate proponent ) the Shotokan Karate dojo kun serves as a set of five guiding principles, recited at the end of each Shotokan training session, intended to frame the practice within an ethical context.

The Dojo kun was derived from Gichin Funakoshi's The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate, or niju kun, by JKA officials.

By and large, Tang Soo Do uses the colored belt system that was instituted by Jigoro Kano and first used in Karate-Do by Gichin Funakoshi.

Gichin was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing karate through a series of public demonstrations, and by promoting the development of university karate clubs, including those at

The Waseda University karate club is one of the oldest in Japan, formed in 1931 under the direction of Gichin Funakoshi.

Karate's route to Honshu began with Gichin Funakoshi ( 船越 義珍 Funakoshi Gichin, 1868 – 1957 ), who is called the father of modern karate, and is the founder of Shotokan karate.

* Gichin Funakoshi, Creator of Shotokan karate.

is considered by many the father of modern karate, although this title is also often given to Gichin Funakoshi because the latter spread karate throughout Japan.

In introducing karate from Okinawa to Japan, Gichin Funakoshi changed the name of the kata from Niseishi to Nijūshiho.