History

Karate is the evolution of two battle techniques.

One was used by the people in Okinawa. It was very simple, but extremely effective, since it had been tried in battle for many centuries.

The other teqnique, which is more complicated and is driven by philosophical teachings, is a product of ancient chinese culture.

This double descent explains the two sides of karate: is es extremely violent and effective, but at the same time it constitutes a concise and very disciplined system and philosophy, which is based on no violence.

The Great Teacher Gichin Funakoshi

Gichin Funakosti was the first to bring karate-do in Japan mainland, in 1916. He taught a style that composed of different Okinawa style, which was named shotokan(which means "the house of soto", Funakoshi's artistic alias). The style became very popular in Japan and later all over the world. Therefore, Funakoshi is considered to be the "father of modern karate-do"

Tsutomu Ohshima, Shihan

Tsutomu Ohsima was one of the last direct students of Funakoshi(1948-1953) while he was studying at Waseda University of Tokyo. In 1955, Mr. Ohsima came to the United States. He was the first to teach karate to the U.S citizens. In 1959 he founed the Southern California Karate Association (SCKA), which thoughout the years evolved so much, that it became Shotokan Karate of America(SKA).

Mr. Ohshima's influence is  felt all over the world