One of my senior Black Belts posed an interesting subject this past summer. Since the vast majority of Shotokan practitioners belong to the Japan Karate Association (JKA), and they seem to ‘own’ the term ‘Shotokan’, and we’re a small offshoot from the old Kenkojuku lineage, should we call ourselves something other than ‘Shotokan’ to differentiate ourselves from JKA-style teaching? He noted that Funakoshi o-sensei never called his style ‘Shotokan’; that the students hung a sign over the new dojo built in 1936 naming it Shoto (Funakoshi’s pen name as a poet) Kan - Shoto’s Hall. Outsiders then began referring to the style of karate taught inside as ‘Shotokan’. He then posed we change our name to ‘Dō Gakuin Shoto Ryu Karate-do’. I could see his point, and as much as I didn’t want to change our name that has a 27-year standing to a name hardly heard of (Shoto Ryu), I gave it careful consideration. I also threw the idea out to our bright, opinionated yudanshakai (Black Belt organization) who argued many good points ‘pro’, ‘con’, and ‘it really doesn’t matter’.To flesh out the discourse: Funakoshi studied two different styles, Shorin Ryu and Shorei Ryu, and then blended them into his own brand of martial art. Right at this point, as to the origin of our style, to put it bluntly, the pedigree of Shotokan is a mutt. Moving to Japan in the 1920s, Funakoshi changed the kanji kara (唐 meaning ‘Chinese’) to the homonym kara (空 meaning ‘empty’). Now his hybrid of two Okinawan styles having Chinese roots was being taught as a Japanese style called ‘Karate’ (Empty Hands). Funakoshi’s third son Yoshitaka (or Gigo – 1906-1945) is noted for bringing more dynamic movements, speed, and strength to Shotokan, based on his specific body type. Tomosaburo Okano (1922-2003) trained directly under Gigo, doing Shotokan a little differently but still under the auspices of father, Gichin. As an example, Okano practiced Ni Ju Shi instead of Ni Ju Sho-ho, changed Chinte to a more ‘manly’ kata, and adapted Shotokan movements to his body type and preferences. Kenkojuku (founded 1941-42) was more Shotokan-like than the Shotokan of Gichin Funakoshi. Nakayama (1913-1987) headed the Japan Karate Association (JKA was originally founded in 1949), which went on to be the largest and most influential Shotokan organization in the world. Every member performs technique the exact same way, same rhythm, same timing, as per Nakayama’s body type, regardless of their individual strengths and weaknesses. On Funakoshi’s death in 1957, many dojos sided with either JKA or Shotokai, (Shoto's Association) which was much closer to Funakoshi’s original teachings. A simple search on YouTube shows many videos of Kenkojuku Black Belts from the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and newer, with each Black Belt performing kata and kobudo a little differently than Okano. Very long paragraph, but this shows that there is no ‘pure’ Shotokan and nobody is necessarily more or less correct than anyone else.
In our own circle of influence, Toyotaro Miyazaki heads US Shotokai (Shoto Association), Mike Hatgis heads Long Island Shotokai, Kai Leung heads Shotojuku (Shoto private school or cram school) and refers to his school on Facebook as a Shotokan-ryu. We will not relinquish the name ‘Shotokan’ just because JKA is more well-known, but we do serve notice that we are a Shoto Ryu (Shoto style, or type of dojo). As a result of all the above, we will retain the name ‘Dō Gakuin Shotokan Karate-do’.
