History of the Japan Karate

Originally, the martial art Te (“Hand”) developed in Okinawa as a system of self-defense. Due to Okinawa’s frequent contact and exchange with China, it is certain that the Okinawan martial art was influenced by Chi

How to Understand Basic Karate

The concepts of basic karate explained. This should work with almost any style of karate, because the basic principles are essentially the same. 1. There are many styles of Karate; e.g. traditional and modern (Sport

Yukari Ōshima ( 大島由加里 )

Yukari Ōshima, born December 31, 1963) is a Japanese actress and martial artist. Born Tsumura Yukari in Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, Japan, to a successful Japanese businessman and fashion designer and to a Chinese woman. Yuka

The Influence Of Tsutomu Ohshima

Tsutomu Ohshima was one of Master Funakoshi’s last direct pupils (1948-1953), studying under him while attending Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. In 1955 Mr. Ohshima came to the United States and was the first pers

History Of Karate

Karate history can be traced back some 1400 years, to Daruma, founder of Zen Buddhism in Western India. Daruma is said to have introduced Buddhism into China, incorporating spiritual and physical teaching methods tha

Interview with Shihan Yokota

Can we please start by asking you how you first started you karate training and why? (Kousaku Yokota)     My father was a Kodokan judo blackbelt, so he encouraged me to take up judo when I was in junior hi

Grading Syllabus

Karate belts are an adaptation of the Kyu / Dan rank system of Kodokan Judo. The father of Japanese Karate Gichin Funakoshi who was an acquaintance of the founder of Judo Jigoro Kano introduced the step-up Karate lev

Tekki Katas

The Tekki Kata were originally known as Naihanchi. This name was changed to Tekki by Funakoshi to replace the Okinawan name. He attempted to change the original names of many of the Kata and this is one of the few na