HISTORY

Master Funakoshi	The history of Tote (now recognized as Karate) goes back to the early 1600’s as a last means of self defence. An order had been issued at this time within Okinawa, prohibiting the use of weapons or Martial Arts. For this reason, Karate was practiced in the strictest of secrecy by the Okinawan’s, and developed into an exceptional defence skill as we know it to be today. In 1922 Karate was first publicly demonstrated by Master Gichin Funakoshi himself, under the sponsorship of the Tokyo Ministry of Education. The secret study and development of Tote would continue until 1905, at which point schools in Shuri adopted the art as an official subject in physical
education. In 1929, Master Funakoshi began moulding this ancient art into what was to become the new Japanese “Karate-do”. Between the 1920’s and up to 1935, Karate became firmly established due to its spread in popularity amongst various reputable universities in Japan. By 1940, nearly every major Japanese university had a Karate club. This was to be known as the first “Golden age of Karate.” The second Golden Age occurred with the international spread of practice. This interest throughout the world began with demonstrations by visiting Karate-do experts (who’s presence had been requested to exhibit their skills) to allied forces military bases stationed in Japan, after the war. In 1952 U.S. Air Force Officers were sent to Japan to study Karate-do and other forms of Martial Arts as physical education instructors. Every year for decades to come, groups of trainees from the world over would visit Japan to learn Karate-do. Japanese Instructors were then requested to visit other countries to share their knowledge, having huge influence on the world popularity of Karate. 1957 brought the first official Karate-do tournament sponsored by the JKA (Japan Karate Association). The rest as they say is ……..… history.