In 1922, the Japanese ministers of National Education invited an expert from Okinawa (Master Funakoshi Gishin) to give a karate demonstration. It was a great success and two years later Kein university founded Japan*s first karate dojo. The great master of judo himself, Jigoro Kano, expressed a wish to learn karate. Under the direction of Master Funakoshi, followed in 1930 by another great master from Okinawa, Master Mabuni, karate over the years became extremely popular throughout Japan.

Within Master Funakoshi Gishin*s Shotokan school of karate, different schools appeared, some seeking technical impact and competency above all (Masters Nakayama, Kate and Nishiyama) and others putting the accent on the mental aspect of karate (Masters Oshima, Harda, Okoyama and Egami).

Even today, the Shotokan school has the greatest number of supporters in Japan (one third of the total) and in Europe. White respecting tradition, Shotokan karate has concentrated on etiquette, vitality, the sporting aspect and competition. Shotokan etiquette can be found in the giri, ninjo and bushido notions. The giri notion of Confucian origin expresses respect for the master, the ancestors and tradition. It is the sense of duty or gratitude towards the man responsible for one*s education. Ninjo expresses the humanitarian aspect of Buddhism, compassion towards others which attenuates and counterbalances the violent, rough side of budo: it is magnanimity.

This Shotokan school has produced the most formidable karate champions in recent years; the quality of their training, their acute fighting sense, their exemplary conduct, have enabled them to win all the main international competitions. The Shotokan attitude to shiwari or ‘the break*: it is a vital test of competency at a certain level but one would be wrong to stop there. It helps above alt to develop the kime, that is to say the maximum amount of concentration on a specific spot at a given time. The blow does not stop at the plank but continues beyond it. Control of respiration is defined as: ‘Finding the dead time in movement and movement in the dead time*, which constitutes the whole essence of a contest. Respiration evolves in two cycles: inhaling and exhaling, with the possibility of holding one s breath after inhaling. Inhaling and holding one*s breath relate to contraction, exhaling to relaxation. Between the two cycles, i.e. after exhaling and before inhaling, there is a dead time. One must sense the opponent*s dead time, however insignificant, in order to launch an attack. It is the combined use of physical and psychological principles which forms the basis of karate, according to Master Nishiyama. One must, he says, have a mind as calm as a millpond (mizs-no-kokoro). Extract from the book of martial arts