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Karate / Shotokan History
The History Of Karate & ESKA We do not know when martial arts evolved or where it came from, as there is no written history to back it up. Fighting techniques can probably date back as far as the stone age. When man found himself weaponless and had to fight over territory, women or food. He must have derived a method to win these battles, over time.
We do know that in the 6th century an Indian monk named Dharma (Bodidharma), travelled from Asia to China, with the aim to establish the first Zen school of Buddhism. He finally settled in a Shaolin monestery in the mountains, where he began teaching the monks who lived there. They were very weak and found any type of physical exercise too exhausting. So Dharma devised a teaching methosd which trained both their minds and bodies. This became known as Shorinji Kempo or Shaolin Fighting (Type of boxing).
Where in the world did it start?
The area we know as Okinawa (Just off of Japan) used to be called the Ryukyu Islands and were separated into 3 separate islands (Chuzan, Nanzan & Hokuzan). In 1429, after many wars with each other, the 3 islands were united under one Fudual lord called King Hassai. He decided to ban all weapons to stop all the tension. In 1477 King Sho Shin took over and kept the no weapons law. All was fine until 1609, when a small group of people started to rebel (Satsuma Clan), so the king at that time called King Shimazu made a one off weaponed army to fight these people. Eventually after many battles the kings army won and so he reissued the banning of the weapons but with firmer restrictions. He even banned agricultural tools as they were being used as weapons (eg Bo, Staff, sickles & Nunchucku.) Ryukyunians began learning fighting methods in secret and at night and eventually designed a fighting method which only used the hands and feet as weapons. This became known as Okinawa-te. Due to the trade with China the fighting methods intergrated and when it returned to China, it became known as Kara-te, which at that time translated as Chinese Hand.
Gitchin Funakoshi
Two very important Ryukyunians who grew up learning this martial art in secret were Azato and Itosu.
In 1868 Gitchin Funakoshi was born and was very weak as a child / baby because he was born premature. Luckily he went to school with the son of Azato and was soon being taught in secret and at night by Azato himself. He was later also joined by a 2nd teacher (Itosu).
When Funakoshi grew up he became a school teacher and one day decided to give a demonstration in the school that he taught at, even though it was still against the law. It was so successful that soon his form of self defence (Known as okinawa-te at that time) became a lesson in all schools over Okinawa.
In 1924 Funakoshi's karate hall in Okinawa (Mesei Juku used for various martial arts) was almost destroyed in an earthquake and for a while he held his classes in a friend Nakayama's Kendo hall. The hall was in a state of disrepair and his classes were getting too big for this friends hall.
The Shotokan
Behind Funakoshi's back a group of supporters were building him his very own purpose built karate dojo and named it after Funakoshi's pen name (Shoto). The hall had a plaque above the door saying 'Shotokan' meaning Hall of the waving pines. This is when Funakoshi decided to call his type of karate, Shotokan. He also then created 'the dojo kun' which were karate rules and also Kyu and Dan which are the belt system we still use today. As he was in Japan he realised the martial art could not be called Kara-te meaning Chinese hand or okinawa-te meaning okinawa hand. He soon took the Chinese character that was used to signify "Chinese hand," as karate was known, and adapted it to mean "empty hand.", because this martial art was for everyone now to learn (not just Okinawa or China) and it also showed the fighting with no weapons.
The JKA (Japanese Karate Association)
The Japan Karate Association (JKA) was established by Funakoshi in 1944, so that all his clubs, schools and university clubs from all over Japan could all be associated under one organisation all following the same teachings. Funakoshi was the chief instructor of this. There started to be disputes after a while about whether teachers should be paid and in 1955 there was a split. Groups of instructors and students broke away and formed their own type of karate. There was now Funakoshi's Shotokan and another called Shotokai. Shotokai decided to make karate into a sport with fighting and competition and this was against Funakoshi's principles and teachings. Because of all this, Funakoshi stood down as Chief Instructor and gave this position to his best friend Nakayama, Funakoshi was now the honory chief instructor. Funakoshi died a few years later (1957).
Sensei Masatoshi Nakayama
Sensei Nakayama was born in 1913. He studied Kendo in great detail and was the man who let Funakoshi use his kendo hall when his own doojo was dimolished. After finishing univercity he went to China to study the Chinese language and also other types of martial arts, at the age of 19. After 11 years he returned to Japan where he started training under Master Funakoshi privately in 1931, every day. He was known as the Master's master. He became the chief Instructor of the JKA when Funakoshi stood down and was very concerned about competition karate taking over. Sensei Nakayama has been credited for the ushiro geri (back kick) and gyaku mawashi geri (reverse roundhouse kick) as well as taking karate abroad and explaining martial arts to Westerners. He mainly taught in an American army base in Japan but later started teaching in universities. While he was in China he studied anatomy and Physiology and passed this on in his teaching (bones, muscles) until the day he died.He has published many books including the very famous 'Dynamic karate'. He passed away in April 1987 aged 74 as a 10th Dan. At one of Nakayama's karate clubs he began teaching 2 men, Kanazawa in 1952 and Enoeda in 1953.
Master Hirokasu Kanazawa & Master Keinokuke Enoeda
Kanazawa was born in May 1931. Before he started training under Sensei Nakayama (1951)he reached the grade of 2nd Dan in Judo. He was one of the 3 JKA instructors who qualified from the famous JKA instructors Training course in 1956 and won the 1957 Kumite championships (the first year it was held) with a broken hand. He won both the kata and kumite events the next year, so became known as Grand Champion. After teaching in Hawaii in 1961 he returned to form the SKI (Shotokan Karate International) alongside Sensei Asano.Kanazawa was also responsible for helping with the World Tour team, that saw karate come to Britain. He is also the only person alive today who is able to selectively break a chosen board in a stack of about 10 boards (leaving the others unbroken).He is currently 10th Dan and is the only living shotokan karateka with such grade of this in the world.
Master Enoeda was born inJuly 1935 was of samurai lineage. By the age of 16 he was 2nd Dan in Judo and then began training in karate in 1953 where he was awarded his blackbelt in 1955. After working in the film industry, he became an instructor for the JKA and then started his competition career. He won the kumite JKA category in 1963 after which he went to Indonesia on a teaching tour with Master Nakayama. He is said to be the man who brought karate to Britain. In 1965 he visited the Uk with the World tour team and after visits to other countries he returned to the Uk, to set up home in Liverpool., where he taught at the Red Triangle Dojo. He was a founding member of the KUBGB (Karate Union of Great Britain) and then moved tolive in Surrey. His nickname was Tora (the Tiger) and died in 2003 as a 9th Dan.
JKA World Tour Team
These two men (Kanazawa & Enoeda) brought karate to Britain in 1965 with the JKA world Tour team. They spent a long while in Germany before coming to the UK. Karate was already being practised in Britain (Vernon bell) but this was not Shotokan Karate. This was the first ever demonstration and lesson by the JKA instructors, performing Shotokan karate. Kanazawa decided to stay on in Britain and formed the first British Shotokan Association, K.U.G.B (Karate Union of Great Britain) in 1967. A few years later he decided he wanted to return home, so left some of him loyal students to take charge.
Vernon Bell
Vernon Bell was born in 1922 and was a professional Judo instructor. In 1955 he started to study Yoseiken Karate (similar to modrn shotokan) under Henri Plee and later Mochizuki, Nam and Murakami. He started training a few students in England in 1956 and these were the first students of karate in Great Britain. He was awarded his 1st Dan in Paris in 1957 and 2nd Dan in 1959 by Murakami. He formed the BKF (British Karate Federation) in 1957 and training was in Essex.
ESKA (English Shotokan Karate Association)
Sensei Kanazawa held many classes and had many important students, including Sensei Michael Randall and Eddie Whitcher. Kanazawa soon decided to return home to Japan, so he left these 2 senior instructors to form an association for him known as E.S.K.A (English Shotokan Karate Association),in 1979. He made them the 2 chief instructors of the association.
At the beginning there were other instructors helping to form the association: Michael Nursey, Roger hall, Harry Jones (died 1990), John Van Weenen (formed own association), Mick Billman (formed own association) and Greg Durant (formed own association).
Sensei Michael Randall & Sensei Eddie Whitcher
Sesnsei Michael Randall was born in 1944 and began Shotokan Karate under Jimmy Neal and Terry Wingrove in 1964, atfter applying for a place in their class. He is one of the very few people still training who has been taught by Masters Murakami and Mochizuki. As an origional disciple of Master Kanazawa, he was the 4th person in Britain to obtain a black belt by Sensei Kanazawa in 1967. Randall was very well known for being one of the seven Samurai and his kumite fighting where he represented Great Britain against the Japanese. He was given the position of joint chief instructor of ESKA in 1979 but then left in 1984 to create his own acssociations (SKA and STKO). He currently holds the rank of 8th Dan.
Eddie Whitcher was born in 1941 and had a big interest in Judo. He then started karate and was soon the first person in the UK to obtain his 1st Dan by Sensei Kanazawa in 1966. He went to Japan for 3 years and then became the first Britain to receive his 3rd Dan from the JKA in 1971. He helped form ESKA in 1979 (joint chief instructor) but then left in 1981 because he was bored with associations. He decided to train alone and died of cancer in 1990 aged only 48.
ESKA Today
| ESKA is now into its 27th year with its chief instructor being Sensei Michael Nursey (8th Dan). ESKA is one of the oldest and biggest associations in Great Britain and boasts a huge amount of higher grades and black belts. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
| OTHER HISTORY Why did Funakoshi Hate freestyle? Karate was only used for defence purposes and not attacking. In karate there should be no first attack!!!......so therefore performing freestyle, someone had to make the first move. Freestyle only came about because Funakoshi broke down his kata (Bunkai) and pairing up had to occur for students to work through the bunkai. Why did Funakoshi use Shoto as his pen name? He used this name to sign his poems with, which means Pine Waves. Where he lived in Shuri, the castle was surrounded by hills and forests filled with Ryukyu pines. At night there was always a breeze and he could hear the rustle of the pines, as he walked for some solitude and time alone. People knew him by the name Shoto, more than his real name Funakoshi. Why does Shotokan have the symbol of the tiger? 1) The tiger was chosen because the animal has attributes used in karate. The tiger is seen to have grace, bearing, nobility and power. It is a creature that is greatly respected and in some cases..worshiped. 2) Tiger tail is the name of the mountain Funakoshi used to walk over every night 3) Funakoshi's first book was called 'Tora No maki' which is also a Japanese expression which also translates as tiger (Tora). Why is there a problem in finding out Funakoshi's age? According to officials & records: He was born in 1870 and died 1957....making him about 87. The month of Funakoshi's birth is not known...even Funakoshi did not know. Although, it is recorded elsewhere and at the time of death...that his birth month was November. According to Funakoshi: Born in Shuri in 1868 and refers to himself as being in his 90th year....making him 89. Funakoshi falsified the official documents so that he would be allowed to sit entrance exams to a Tokyo medical school. To sit the exams you had to have been born in 1870 or after, so he tampered with the records, so he would fall under this catagory. How many schools and styles were there in the beginning? In China there was 2 schools of boxing (Kenpo) called Shorin-ryu and Shorei-ryu Shorin - techniques suited to people with a smaller frame and less strength and had the advantage of mobility and fast movement Shorei - techniques suited to people with larger bodies and muscle. It taught more effective self defence In Okinawa there were 2 main martial arts schools Nawa-te which taught an art of chinese boxing called Wutang founded by a man called Chang San-Feng. Wutang got its name from the Chinese mountain on which which it's said to have first been practised. Shuri-te taught the art of Chinese boxing called Shorinji which is said that the founder is said to be the Indian Monk..Dharma. Shorinji got its name from the Shaolin Temple in Hunan Province where Dharma preached the way of the Buddha. Name other styles of karate today? Shotokai Shito-ryu Chinto-ryu Shuri-ryu Goju-ryu Wado-ryu Isshin-ryu Kyokushinkai Shorin-ryu Uechi-ryu Yoshukai Kenpo Name some of the worlds highest grades? Kancho Kanazawa...................... 10th Dan (SKIF) Shiro Asano .................................9th Dan (SKI) Kenneth Funakoshi ......................9th Dan (FSKA) USA (Mainly Calafornia) Mike Randall MBE ........................8th Dan (SHOTO) Highest non Japanese in west Europe Nick Adamou ................................8th Dan (IASK) Mike O'Brien .................................8th Dan (Karate Union of Wales) First Welshman to get a Shodan Yahara / Isaka ...............................8th Dans (KWF) USA Andy Sherry ..................................8th Dan (KUGB) First British Shotokan Shodan Ticky Donovan OBE ......................8th Dan (Ishinryu) Coaches British Team Ronnie Watt.................................. 8th Dan (ISRK) Scotland John Van Weenen MBE................ 8th Dan (TASK) Writes books and does charity work Ray Fuller .....................................8th Dan (TKI) Peter Spanton ...............................8th Dan Pauline Bindra ..............................8th Dan First female blackbelt in UK Terry Wingrove 8th Dan (WUKO)... 9th dan Jujitsu, 3rd Dan Aikido, 3rd Dan Judo Mike Nursey ...................................8th Dan (ESKA) |
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