Gichin Funakoshi was born in Shuri, Okinawa in 1868. As a boy, he was sickly and weak, so his parents decided he should learn Karate in order to remedy this. He was primarily trained by two famous masters of his time, Azato Sensei and Itosu Sensei, who also sent him to learn specific skills and techniques from many other Okinawan masters. It was the culmination of what O-Sensei (meaning "great teacher") learned from these masters of combat that would one day become what we now know as Shotokan karate.Funakoshi-sensei is the man who first introduced Karate from the island of Okinawa to mainland Japan. In 1917 he was asked to perform his martial art at a physical education exhibition sponsored by the Ministry of Education. He was asked back again in 1922 for another demonstration. He was then asked back for a third time, but this was a special performance - he demonstrated his art for the emperor and the royal family! After this, Funakoshi-sensei decided to remain in Japan to teach and promote his beloved art.
Gichin Funakoshi passed away in 1957 at the age of 89. An ardent believer in the old matial adage "Bumbu Fuki" - the literary and martial arts are one - he also wrote several book on the subject of Karate, the first of which, "Rentan Goshin Karate Jutsu", being published in 1922. He later went on to write the now famous work "Karate-Do Kyohan" - known as "The Master Text". Fuankoshi was also a poet of some renown, and it is from his penname, Shoto, that our Karate style derives its name. He also wrote a fascinating autobiography, "Karate-Do: My Way of Life" which provides wonderful insights into his early life learning a secret martial art in the dead of night from two of history's great masters. These books and his art are a fitting legacy for this unassuming and gentle man and provide excellent inspiration for Karate students around the world to this day.
