# List of Shotokan organizations

This is a list of some of the large Shotokan karate organizations and associations in order by year of establishment. Shotokan Karate is one of the most widely practiced martial arts in the world. Several major organizations of Shotokan Karate have been established globally, each with its own approach and philosophy, including the Japan Karate Association (JKA), Japan Shotokan Karate Association (JSKA), International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF), International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF), Shotokan Karate-Do International Association (SKDIA), World Shotokan Karate Federation (WSKF) and Shotokan Karate of America (SKA).

## Shotokan

The name "Shotokan" is used as a synonym for the Shotokan ryu association, Dai Nihon Karate-do Shotokan. It is the Shotokan Karate association established by Gichin Funakoshi originally in 1930. Shotokan association is the heritage of master Funakoshi's Karate-do .
"Shotokai" should be considered the "approved" evolution of Roushi ( Funakoshi ) Sensei's Karate technique as developed, with Roushi Sensei's approval by Shigeru Egami (1912–1981). Egami, at Funakoshi's direction, was the chief instructor of Shotokan Dojo from 1976–1981. Egami began training under Funakoshi in 1930, upon entering Waseda University, and helped to establish that university's karate club. Together with Funakoshi's son Gigo (Yoshitaka), Takeshi Shimoda, and Hironori Ohtsuka, Egami was among the group of Funakoshi's students who toured with him during his exhibitions of karate in Japan during the 1930s. After Gigo's death in 1945, Egami was considered Funakoshi's successor. During his early 40s, Egami began to radically rethink the effectiveness of some of his basic techniques. He writes:
   “During this questioning, I understood one thing. Until that moment I had practiced karate with a fundamental illusion, I had confused hardness with strength and I made every effort to harden my body thinking that I would obtain more strength when hardening the body is equivalent to stopping the movement. This is a fundamental defect. I had then started massaging and lightening the body I had struggled so many years to harden.”
Egami began experimenting with a more relaxed technique.
Following the Master's death in 1957 (26 April Showa 32, 1957), a rift developed among Funakoshi's students. The Shotokai ("Shoto's society") and the JKA became separate factions. To this day, the Shotokai continues the Soto-zen inspired practiced of Master Funakoshi. Particularly, tournament competition was frowned upon before Master Funakoshi's passing, as it was an affront to the inherent humility and the "inward-looking" focus in Master Funakoshi's practice. The acclaim and recognition sought and awarded in competition directly affronts this notion. Other practices of the now-separated JKA, who were essentially all junior to the Shotokai members they separated from, included the practice of grading beyond the original "five dan" structure, to ten dan gradings. It is of historical significance that Egami Shigeru, as Master Funakoshi's chosen technical director, never attained more than a 4th Dan.
* Shotokan Karate-Do International Association (SKDIA) was founded by Masanobu Nihei in 2010, who was previously a member of JKA, SKIF, and ISKF. The SKDIA aims to focus on the traditional and practical aspects of Shotokan Karate. The SKDIA places great importance on bunkai, which involves the practical applications of kata, and full contact kumite is also an integral part of the training. Nihei's vision for the SKDIA is to preserve the original teachings of Gichin Funakoshi and a realistic approach to self-defense aspect of karate. The SKDIA has members in over 30 countries and is known for its strict adherence to traditional training methods and pushing students to reach their full potential.

## Kenkojuku Karate Association (KKA)

It was founded in 1942 by Tomosaburo Okano, a Japanese Iaido master and student of both Gichin Funakoshi and his son Yoshitaka (Gigo) Funakoshi; it remains as one of the most traditional schools of Shotokan karate, with the Shotokai, it even continues Okinawan kobudō (traditional weapons) as part of its practice. The association's motto is "Inner Strength with Outward Humility". Since master Okano's passing, the Kenkojuku Budokan Hombu Dojo is now run by his son Tomokatsu Okano, from the style's Hombu dojo located in Tokyo.
Kenkojuku karate has just a few representatives within the United States, the Caribbean, India and Latin America.
In the United States, Sensei Masakazu Takahashi began his karate training under Master Tomosaburo Okano In 1961. In 1971, he travelled to America to begin his teaching career. The Takahashi Karate Dojos, located in Amity Harbor and Mount Kisco, New York, has been established for more than 42 years.
Sensei Koji Sugimoto is the current representative of the Japan Karate Federation for Shotokan Kenkojuku karate. He was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1947. At the age of fourteen, he began karate under master Tomosaburo Okano, one of the original students of Gichin Funakoshi. Presently Shihan Sugimoto holds the rank of 6th degree under the Japan Karate Federation (JKF). He teaches in Miami, Florida.

## International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF)

Hidetaka Nishiyama (1928–2008) began his karate training in 1943 under Gichin Funakoshi. Two years later, while enrolled at Takushoku University, he became a member of the university's karate team. He was a co-founder of the All Japan Collegiate Karate Federation and was elected as its first chairman. In 1951, Nishiyama became a founding member of the JKA, and was elected to the JKA Board of Directors. Nishiyama came to the United States in 1961 and four months later founded the American Amateur Karate Federation (AAKF), as a branch of the JKA. In 1968, Nishiyama organized the first World Invitational Karate Tournament held in Los Angeles. Following disagreements over organization during the 1st (1970) and 2nd (1973) World Karate Championships, the International Amateur Karate Federation (IAKF) was formed in 1974, with Nishiyama as executive director. In 1985, the IAKF changed its name to the International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF). Nishiyama obtained the 10th dan in 2003 from the International San Ten Karate Association. He died on November 7, 2008.

## Japan Karate Association (JKA)

The Japan Karate Association (JKA; "Nihon Karate Kyokai" in Japan) was formed in 1949 by several senior students of Sensei Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan Karate. The highest rank that Master Funakoshi awarded to his students was 5th Dan (5th-degree black belt). JKA raised the highest rank of the Black Belt from 5th Dan to 10th Dan with less strict requirements to obtain each rank. Initially, most members belonged to the Takushoku University, but Hosei, Waseda, Gakushuin, and Keio Universities also contributed members. Masatoshi Nakayama (1913–1987) led the JKA, with Gichin Funakoshi holding a position equivalent to professor emeritus.

## Shotokan Karate of America (SKA)

Tsutomu Ohshima (1930–) began practicing karate at the Waseda University club in 1948, receiving instruction from Funakoshi and Egami among others. In 1955, he moved to USC to continue his studies, and led his first U.S. practice soon afterwards. In 1957, he started the first university karate club in the United States, at Caltech, and in 1959 founded the Southern California Karate Association. As more dojos were opened throughout the U.S., the organization was renamed to Shotokan Karate of America (SKA) in 1969. SKA maintains its national headquarters in Los Angeles. Today, Ohshima is recognized as the chief instructor of many other SKA-affiliated Shotokan organizations worldwide. In 1957, Ohshima was awarded the rank of 5th dan by Master Funakoshi.

## International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF)

Teruyuki Okazaki (1931–2020), 10th dan, leads the International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF), a large Shotokan karate organization in North America, South America and the Caribbean. Okazaki studied under Gichin Funakoshi and Masatoshi Nakayama, and was integral in the founding of the JKA Instructor Trainee program. As part of an effort by Nakayama to spread Shotokan karate internationally, Okazaki came to the United States in 1961. Okazaki founded the ISKF in 1977 and it was part of the JKA until June 2007.

## Shotokan Karate-Do International Federation (SKIF)

Hirokazu Kanazawa (1931–2019), 10th Dan, broke away from the JKA in 1978, and called his organization Shotokan Karate-do International Federation (SKIF). Kanazawa had studied under Masatoshi Nakayama and Hidetaka Nishiyama, both students of Gichin Funakoshi. SKIF introduced elements of tai chi, particularly in the matter of flow and balance, and actively promoted the evolution of Shotokan while maintaining the traditional core of the art. Kanazawa was awarded 10th Dan in 2000.

## Funakoshi Shotokan Karate Association (FSKA)

Kenneth Funakoshi, founder and chief instructor of the FSKA is a distant relation to Master Gichin Funakoshi – the founder of Modern Shotokan.
He started judo training in 1948 under Arakaki Sensei at the Fort Gakuen Japanese Language School in Honolulu, Hawaii. While attending at the University of Hawaii, Funakoshi Sensei started Kempo training under Adriano Emperado from 1956 to 1959.
In 1960, Funakoshi started shotokan training when the Japan Karate Association (JKA) assigned its first grand champion, Hirokazu Kanazawa to teach at the Karate Association of Hawaii for three years. For the next three years, Funakoshi trained under Masataka Mori, another senior instructor from the Japanese Karate Association. From 1966 to 1969, he trained under the third and last instructor sent by the J.K.A., Tetsuhiko Asai, another former grand champion from Japan. In 1969, after training 10 years and winning the grand championship of the Karate Association of Hawaii for five years in a row (1964–1968), Kenneth Funakoshi was appointed as the Chief Instructor for the Karate Association of Hawaii.
Funakoshi moved to San Jose, California to teach karate in December 1986, in 1987, the non-political Funakoshi Shotokan Karate Association was founded with its world headquarters now in Milpitas, CA and affiliates throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe, Africa, Middle East and South America.

## Japan Shotokan Karate Association (JSKA)

Keigo Abe (1938–), as a student at the JKA Honbu, learned directly from Nakayama. Abe was a former senior instructor at the JKA Honbu, having graduated from the instructors' program. He held the office of Director of Qualifications in the original, pre-split JKA. However, after the split in 1990, he became the Technical Director of the JKA (Matsuno Section). In his youth, Abe took 3rd place in the very first JKA National Championships; was the captain of the Japanese team at the second World Championships in Paris and took 1st place in the second and third JKF National Championships as a representative of Tokyo. He retired from the JKA in 1999 to form his own international organisation—the Japan Shotokan Karate Association (JSKA). Abe is supported in the JSKA by Makoto Matsunami 8th dan, who runs his own independent dojo in Japan, as Technical Director and Takashi Naito 6th dan, as Director of Administration. Keigo Abe was awarded 9th dan in 2008 by the JSKA Shihankai.

## Japan Karate Shotorenmei (JKS)

Tetsuhiko Asai (1935–2006), 10th dan, often practiced Sumo, Judo, Kendo, and the Spear in his youth. Asai studied at the Takushoku University in Tokyo, where he also studied Shotokan karate. He joined the instructors' program and became a JKA instructor. In later years, Asai instructed in China, Hong Kong, America, Europe, and Hawaii (where he led the Hawaiian Karate Association). Asai was made Chief Instructor of the JKA after Masatoshi Nakayama's death in 1987; however, he—along with a number of other senior JKA instructors—opposed the appointment of Nakahara as chairman, and so formed a separate JKA (Matsuno Section). Following a lengthy legal battle, the Nakahara group won the rights to the JKA title and Asai's group adopted the name of the Japan Karate Shotorenmei (JKS).

## International Japan Karate-Do Association

The International Japan Karate-Do Association is led by Shihan Sadashige Kato. Its headquarters is situated in Tokyo, Japan, though its main activities are based in Europe.