{"id":2,"date":"2009-12-07T00:40:03","date_gmt":"2009-12-07T08:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2022-02-21T01:57:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T11:57:14","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/?page_id=2","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hawaii Shotokan Karate-Do Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n

HISKF began as the NHPC Shotokan Karate Ministry in June 2001, with three students who began meeting in a small church office.\u00a0 In 2009, while the goals, training, and focus of the ministry remain unchanged, in recognition that the group had grown to include members from many different churches, the name was expanded into HIS Karate Foundation.\u00a0 The ministry is led by Sensei Wes Nakamoto (godan), who has been teaching the art for over thirty five years.\u00a0 The program is greatly enhanced by the presence of three other long-time senseis, Sensei Peter, Sensei Wayne, and Sensei Trish.<\/p>\n

Since January 2002, the ministry has held its practices at the Momilani Rec Center in Pearl City. Members may vary greatly in age (from seven to the seventies) and abilities, but all enjoy the benefits of physical\/mental\/emotional\/spiritual growth in good fellowship together.\u00a0 There is little emphasis on the sports\/sparring\/tournament aspects of karate. Instead, we focus upon the Do and strengthening our walk with the Lord through the purposeful practice of Karate-Do kata and kihon aspects.\u00a0 Our vision is to enable everyone of all ages and abilities to experience Christian karate.<\/p>\n

Origin of Shotokan Karate-Do<\/strong><\/p>\n

What we now know as Shotokan Karate-Do is traced back to the former Ryukyu Kingdom (now Okinawa), which flourished from the early 1400's until the kingdom was conquered by Satsuma warrior forces from Kyushu, Japan in 1609.\u00a0 The Ryukyu Kingdom had a long economic and cultural relationship with China. Associated with this relationship, a large Chinese community (Kume Village) was established in the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1392 where Wushu (martial arts or kung fu) was practiced for generations. During this period of time, interested men of the Ryukuan\u00a0Pechin class (feudal warrior class that was charged with enforcing the law and providing military defense to the nation, similar to the Japanese samurai class)learned and incorporated Chinese Wushu techniques into their own native martial arts<\/p>\n

The predecessor to Karate-Do was called Te or Ti or Di by generations of\u00a0the Pechin class.\u00a0 Although the Pechin warrior class had been subdued in 1609, the need continued for law enforcement, palace guards, sea protection against the Wako (Japanese pirates)\u00a0and security for the large convoys associated with periodic Imperial Chinese missions to the islands.\u00a0 So the Ryukyu martial arts continued to exist and evolve over the next several centuries with select members of the gentry (noble classes).\u00a0 Many of the practitioners came from the lower-level Pechin class, as these were the front-line men who needed to develop fighting skills.<\/p>\n

\"\"Master Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of what was to become Shotokan, was born in 1868 into a family that was a part of a lower-level\u00a0Pechin class.\u00a0 His two primary Te instructors were Master Anko Itosu and Master Anko Asato, both members of the Pechin class.\u00a0 Funakoshi was well-educated and a teacher by trade.\u00a0 Having devoted most of his life to the practice and sharing of Te, he became the chairman of the Okinawan Martial Arts Society.\u00a0 In 1922, he organized a first-time display of the Ryukuan martial art for Japan proper, which was a tremendous success.\u00a0 Upon seeing this, the founder of Judo, Master Jigoro Kano invited Master Funakoshi to remain in Tokyo and teach the art.\u00a0 He was then 54 years old, and remained in Japan to transform Te into its modern form of Karate-Do (way of the empty hand), which some years later, was accepted as a form of Budo in Japan.<\/p>\n

The art became very popular, especially in the universities and in the military.\u00a0 The training was modified to enable large classes (hence, the use of kihon).\u00a0 The Judo uniform (gi) and belt promotion system were incorporated into Karate-Do.\u00a0 Much later, in the late 1950's, when kumite and tournament sparring were developed, aspects of Kendo were introduced into practice.\u00a0 Examples include ikken hissatsu (single killing blow), \"dueling distance\", timing, and point scoring system.\u00a0 Even the kendo and karate kumite ring dimensions are similar in size and set-up.<\/p>\n

Meaning of Shotokan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shotokan literally translates into \"the hall where Shoto teaches\".\u00a0 \"Shoto\" was Master Funakoshi's pen name (Pines Waves) and \"Kan\" referred to training hall. Beyond karate, Master Funakoshi's major interests were calligraphy and composing poetry.\u00a0 When he wrote poems, he would use the pen name Shoto. \u00a0While the world now refers to the art he founded as Shotokan, Master Funakoshi himself did not call his style as anything other than karate.\u00a0 Initially, Shotokan specifically referred to the Master's first dojo, which was built in 1936.<\/p>\n

Establishing the Japan Karate Association (JKA)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The toll of WWII included the loss of many young students of Master Funakoshi.\u00a0 His dojo was also destroyed by aerial bombings and ensuing fires that rained down on Tokyo as the war was ending.\u00a0 Out of the ashes, surviving students dedicated themselves to re-establishing Master Funakoshi's dojo (hall).\u00a0 Master Masatoshi Nakayama, a student of Master Funakoshi helped found the Japan Karate Association in 1949, with this goal in mind. \u00a0Following his master's example, Master Nakayama worked as a college professor and served as JKA Chief Instructor for three decades. \u00a0As an initial focus of the organization, they named their style; Shotokan. In time, the JKA was to become the premier Shotokan organization in the world. Amongst other dan certificates from different karate organizations, Sensei Wes, Sensei Peter, and Sensei Trisha all earned JKA dan diplomas in the 1990's from then-JKA Chief Instructor Master Tetsuhiko Asai.<\/p>\n

The Early Growth of Shotokan and Spreading of the Art Outside of Japan<\/strong><\/p>\n

As karate flourished in Japan's finest universities,\u00a0these clubs produced most of the art's best students and instructors.\u00a0 Unfortunately, there were long-standing rivalries and intense competition among the schools that would\u00a0creep into their karate as well.\u00a0 While Takushoku University and its alumni gradually took over leadership of\u00a0Shotokan and the JKA, by the late 1950's senior karateka from other university clubs broke away and\u00a0formed Master Funakoshi's other modern\u00a0legacy - Shotokai.\u00a0 Differences\u00a0that drove a deep wedge between the two organizations were the JKA's development and introduction of sports-oriented kumite and a growing\u00a0commercial aspect to the JKA.\u00a0 Takushoku University had a global view that went beyond Japan, its name actually meaning: development, industrialization and colonization.\u00a0\u00a0The early JKA leadership, who were graduates of Takushoku believed in the importance of spreading the art into foreign lands\u00a0and took a\u00a0business-like approach to accomplishing this.\u00a0 To this end, the JKA established a graduate level instructors program (Kenshusei) in 1956 for a few of their best young black belts.\u00a0 The highly\u00a0trained graduates of the program were then dispatched to different countries to establish JKA\u00a0Shotokan Karate-Do world-wide. In the mid-1960's,\u00a0Sensei Taiji Kase would go\u00a0to France, Sensei Keinosuke Enoeda to England, and\u00a0Sensei Hiroshi Shirai to\u00a0Italy.\u00a0 The very first JKA \"missionaries\", however, were received by the USA.\u00a0 In 1961, Sensei Hidetaka Nishiyama was sent to the west coast while Sensei Teruyuki Okazaki landed in Pennsylvania and along with others who would\u00a0follow, would\u00a0spend the rest of\u00a0their lives popularizing the art in America.\u00a0 That same year, Sensei Hirokazu Kanazawa arrived in Hawaii to establish the Karate Association of Hawaii (KAH).\u00a0 Throughout the 1960's, the KAH was led by Sensei Kanazawa, followed by fellow Takushoku alumni\u00a0Sensei Masataka Mori and\u00a0Sensei Tetsuhiko Asai (both Kanazawa and Asai were former All-JKA champions).\u00a0 Sensei Asai would later become Chief Instructor of the JKA world-wide.\u00a0 Following his departure\u00a0in 1969, Sensei Kenneth Funakoshi, a Hawaii-born Japanese American was appointed as Chief Instructor of the KAH.<\/p>\n

Sensei Kenneth Funakoshi's Influence on HIS Karate-Do Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

HIS Karate-Do Foundation Senseis have many decades of martial arts experience, but foremost is their expertise in Shotokan Karate-Do, which began under the tutelage of Sensei Kenneth Funakoshi.\u00a0 Sensei Funakoshi was the primary instructor for Sensei Wes, Sensei Peter and Sensei Wayne for many, many years---he was the most influential in developing and honing their karate skills.<\/p>\n

Sensei Funakoshi was born in 1938 in Honolulu, Hawaii.\u00a0 At the young age of 10, he began training in Judo.\u00a0 Athletically gifted, he was active in high school in football and swimming, and later attended the University of Hawaii on a swimming scholarship.\u00a0 As there was no Japanese karate available in Hawaii while he was a teenager, he earned a black belt in the rough fighting style of Kajukembo (an eclectic Kempo system) under Adriano Emperado.\u00a0 When Sensei Kanazawa brought Shotokan Karate-Do to Hawaii in 1961, he was interested enough to visit and see what this well-known JKA champion was like.\u00a0 After several visits, he became attracted to the mild and courteous manner that Sensei Kanazawa had with his students and decided to join the KAH.\u00a0 It wasn't until some time after he started in Shotokan, that he discovered he was distantly related to the Founder, Master Gichin Funakoshi (they are fourth cousins).\u00a0 He quickly rose through the ranks and became the KAH champion, as well as placing in the National All American Karate Federation (AAKF) Championships several years in a row in both kata and kumite.\u00a0 In addition to training under the JKA instructors at the KAH for 10 years, he was also personally trained by Sensei Nishiyama in Los Angeles.\u00a0 Sensei Kenneth Funakoshi led the KAH from 1969 to 1986.\u00a0 During the 1970's, KAH became one of the largest and highly respected karate organizations in Hawaii.\u00a0 Sensei Funakoshi relocated to San Jose, California in 1986 due to growing requests from dojos outside of Hawaii asking for his instruction and leadership.\u00a0 Following his move to California, he established the Funakoshi Shotokan Karate Association (FSKA).\u00a0 Today, hundreds of dojos located throughout the United States, Central\/South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia are now affiliated with the FSKA.\u00a0 Although HIS Karate Do Foundation is not affiliated with FSKA, its Shotokan Karate-Do roots can be traced to the teachings of Sensei Funakoshi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hawaii Shotokan Karate-Do Foundation HISKF began as the NHPC Shotokan Karate Ministry in June 2001, with three students who began meeting in a small church office.\u00a0 In 2009, while the goals, training, and focus of the ministry remain unchanged, in recognition that the group had grown to include members from many different churches, the name was expanded into HIS Karate Foundation.\u00a0 The ministry is led by Sensei Wes Nakamoto (godan), who has been teaching the art for over thirty five years.\u00a0 The program is greatly enhanced by the presence of three other long-time senseis, Sensei Peter, Sensei Wayne, and Sensei Trish. Since January 2002, the ministry has held its practices at the Momilani Rec Center in Pearl City. Members may vary greatly in age (from seven to the seventies) and abilities, but all enjoy the benefits of physical\/mental\/emotional\/spiritual growth in good fellowship together.\u00a0 There is little emphasis on the sports\/sparring\/tournament aspects of karate. Instead, we focus upon the Do and strengthening our walk with the Lord through the purposeful practice of Karate-Do kata and kihon aspects.\u00a0 Our vision is to enable everyone of all ages and abilities to experience Christian karate. Origin of Shotokan Karate-Do What we now know as [...]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/page_fullwidth.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2880,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/2880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}