Styles of Karate (Page-1)


Gichin Funakoshi was the President of the Okinawa Karate Association, and was called upon to introduce Karate to the rest of Japan. He was instrumental in starting the Japan Karate Association (JKA), which is a registered body under the Japanese Ministry of Education, and is now the largest karate organization in the world, having branches in almost every country. However, several of his contemporary karate instructors, who had also studied under masters like Azato and Itosu, did not join the JKA, but started their own styles of karate. These styles are all based on Okinawa-te, and so, have many points of similarity. The larger groups then banded together under the Japan Karate Federation and the World Karate Federation, which hold competitions in which participants from all styles of karate compete for the glory of their country.

SHITO RYU
Kenwa Mabuni, who is shown in the picture, along with Gichin Funakoshi, started the Shito Ryu school of karate. An Okinawan, who had studied under Masters Itosu and Higaonna, who were friends of Funakoshi’s teacher Azato, and had also taught Funakoshi some of their techniques. Following Funakoshi’s footsteps, he started his first club in Japan at Osaka in 1934, and his style went on to become one of the four major styles recognized by the World Karate Federation. To know more about this style, you can check up www.shitoryu.org


GOJU RYU
Goju-ryu is another of the four major styles recognized by the World Karate Federation, and also developed from the Okinawan art of naha-te. 
Goju-ryu means a combination of hard and soft styles and it’s basis is the Yin and Yang principle. The style was founded by Chojun Miyagi, who, at the age of 14, began training under the renowned instructor Kanryo Higaonna. He also went to mainland China, and there his style was influenced by Kung Fu.
Following the introduction of Funkoshi’s karate to Japan, Okinawan instructors were in great demand, and in 1928, Miyagi became Karate Instructor at Kyoto University.