SHOTOKAN KARATE

Noah Cherry
SHOTOKAN KARATE
The History of
SHOTOKAN KARATE
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The history of karate can be tracked over 2000 years! Although it is now
accepted as a Japanese art, it is a form of self-defence that originally came
from India. Buddhist Monks, whose religion banned them from using any
weapons, developed self-defence techniques using their feet and hands to
protect themselves from robbers when they were on their travels. This was
so effective, that other religious orders also developed self-defence style
themselves. One of these was the famous Shaolin Temple in China.
From the Shaolin Temple, a very disciplined and powerful style of selfdefence was developed. Martial arts were shrouded in mystery and were
treated as a part of religious belief. From those humble beginnings, some
many hundreds of years ago, the now immensely popular sport of Karate
has developed. Modern Karate is split into a number of different styles, all of
which use similar techniques, but students should be careful to select a club
and style that is properly registered and run by qualified instructors.
The Southern Shotokan Karate Association practices the Traditional style of
Shotokan Karate. This style is very close to the original temple style and is
recognised as being extremely powerful and highly disciplined. The late
great master Gichin Funakoshi brought it to Japan from the village of Shuri
in Okinawa early in the 20th Century.
Belts / RANKING
 Rank is used in karate to indicate experience,
expertise, and to a lesser degree, seniority. As
with many martial arts, Shotokan uses a system
of coloured belts to indicate rank. Most
Shotokan schools use the kyū/dan system but
have added other belt colors. The order of colors
varies widely from school to school, but kyu belts
are denoted with colours that become darker as
a student approaches shodan. Dan level belts are
invariably black, with some schools using strips
to denote various ranks of black belt.
BELTS / RANKING
 WHITE
 YELLOW
 GREEN
 PURPLE
 BROWN
 BLACK
KATA (Forms)
 Taikyoku shodan (太極初段)
 Heian shodan (平安初段)
 Heian nidan (平安二段)
 Heian sandan (平安三段)
 Heian yondan (平安四段)
 Heian godan (平安五段)
 Bassai dai (披塞大)
 Jion (慈恩)
KATA (Forms)
 Empi (燕飛),
 Kanku dai (観空大),
 Hangetsu (半月),
 Jitte (十手),
 Gankaku (岩鶴),
 Tekki shodan (鉄騎初段),
 Tekki nidan (鉄騎二段),
 Tekki sandan (鉄騎三段),
 Nijushiho (二十四步),
KATA (Forms)
 Chinte (珍手)
 Sochin (壯鎭)
 Meikyo (明鏡)
 Unsu (雲手)
 Bassai sho (披塞小)
 Kanku sho (観空小)
 Wankan (王冠)
 Gojushiho sho (五十四歩小)
 Gojushiho dai (五十四歩大)
 Ji'in (慈陰)
KUMITE (Sparring)
 1-Five-step sparring (gohon kumite)
 2-Three-step sparring (sanbon kumite)
 3-One-step sparring (ippon kumite)
 4-freestyle one-step sparring (jiyu ippon
kumite)
 5-Free sparring (jiyu kumite)
Dojo Programs
 Children Martial Arts Class
 Adult Martial Arts Class
 Little Champs Karate (4-6 years olds)
 Aerobic Cardio Kickboxing
 Tournament Training
SHOTOKAN KARATE
 Champions Martial Arts Studio
 234 W. Baltimore Ave.
 Clifton Heights, Pa 19018
 484-461-8898
 Come in for a free lesson!!!

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