| Shotokan is very clear and very
easy to teach just as the style of Funakoshi
beseems. It’s mentionable that he believed
in the existence of only one Karate-do. It was a
big disappointment for him that he couldn’t
bring all of the karate styles under the JKA’s
flag. A lot of energy that was spend on the establishment of the modern Shotokan image, came from Funakoshi’s son Yoshitake. He was responsible for the lowering and expanding of the feet positions, to the format we know now. Shotokan requires great muscle strain. During a thrust, the muscles are tightened together which shows on the Karateka’s face. |
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| The blocking movements are big, with every try they push an extra strain on it. | |
| The kicks (Mawashi-Geri, Mae-Geri) are given
with the ball or the heel of the foot, first the
knee is raised so that the one who defence
himself (uke) don’t know immediately what
for thrust the attacker (tori) is going to give. There are many kata’s and they are well thought. The use of low positions in combination with well thought moves makes the watching a real pleasure. For many years the Shotokan experts were thought to be the best in the world but now, their success is threatened by Shito Ryu, Shukoki, Kyokushinkai… The first karate school founded by Funakoshi was known as Shotokan or Shoto’s club. The word Shoto was Sunakoshi’s pseudonym that he used when he wrote poems. Translated, Shotokan means “waving pine-tree”. |