Gichin Funakoshi
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Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957) was the founder of the Shotokan-ryu style in and to this day is considered to be the founder of modern day Karate. |
| Funakoshi was born in the Okinawan capital of Shuri into a family of the Shizoku class (upper class). Master Gichin Funakoshi was instructed by Yasutsune Itosu and Yasutsune Azato, one of Okinawa's greatest experts in the art. He was responsible for introducing Karate to Japan in the 1920's and in 1936, at nearly 70 years of age, he opened his own training hall in Tokyo. The dojo was called Shotokan after the pen name used by Funakoshi to sign poems written in his youth. Shotokan Karate was influenced directly by Shuri-te (Shorin-ryu), and is characterized by powerful linear techniques and deep strong stances. This style was one of the first styles to be introduced to Japan in the 1920's. Powerful kata such as Bassai (Shuri-te) are typical of this style. He was also responsible for changing (or defining, depending how you look at it) the meaning of the word Karate-do. | |
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He changed the 'kara' symbol in Karate from the old symbol, meaning 'China', to the new symbol, meaning 'empty'. In his book Karate-Do Nyumon, he writes: "Just as an empty valley can carry a resounding voice, so must the person who follows the Way of Karate make himself void or empty by ridding himself or all self-centeredness and greed. Make yourself empty within, but upright without. This is the real meaning of the 'empty' in Karate. |
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| "...Once one has perceived the
infinity of forms and elements in the universe, one returns to
emptiness, to the void. In other words, emptiness is none
other than the true form of the universe. There are various fighting
techniques - yarijutsu ('spear techniques') and bojitsu ('stick
techniques'), for example - and forms of martial arts, such as
judo and kendo. All share an essential principle with Karate, but
Karate alone explicitly states the basis of all martial arts. Form equals
emptiness; emptiness equals form. The use of the character (for 'empty')
in Karate is indeed based on this principle."
The result of this change is that Karate-do, which formerly translated loosely to 'Chinese hand', now translates to '(the way of the) empty hand'. |
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