 Hi everyone, earlier this year we released a three-part episode on the history of Shotokan Karate. So as we've done already previously with Kyo Kishin and Kempo, we've taken those episodes and we've compiled them together in a single release. So we've got a lot of new viewers, so anyone who has not come across them yet can see them in one presentation. And for those who have seen it, we've added a few little tidbits of information to each one just to kind of at least bring something new. So if you've already seen this series of episodes, you'll find in the description below some chapter marks for a couple of new little tidbits that we're throwing in there. And I just want to extend a great big thank you to Ryan Mooney of Combat Karate. Gotta represent, wear a shirt. Ryan went out of his way to help us with the production of these episodes. He took the time and effort to film original footage for us to use so we had some extra mural to work with. So I thank you so much for making that effort and helping us with this project. I appreciate it very much. This Shotokan compilation is actually the last compilation that we're doing for the year. We're wrapping this year up and we're hard at work in season four, so we can't wait to bring you some new material. And thank you all for watching and making this channel what it is and hope you enjoy the presentation. With the first Dojo established in 1936 by Gijin Funegoshi, Shotokan Karate has taken its place as one of the most prominent styles of traditional martial arts. Known for its low-rooted stances, hard kicks, powerful linear techniques, and deeply established traditions, the art has embedded itself into the very fabric of martial arts culture. The history of Shotokan is a three-part series and in today's episode we're going to dive into the origin of the art and ask the question, why is Shotokan the most definitive style of Karate? I would like to thank some of our viewers for their help with this video. A special thanks to William Armenteros, Keith Westmerland, and Sensei Santino-Ramos for helping connect us with footage, and a special thanks to Ryan Mooney from Combat Karate for filming original footage for this series. So why is Shotokan the most definitive style of Karate? Before we can answer that, we first need to talk about where Shotokan came from and how it developed into the art and influence that it has become today. And as always, I apologize ahead of time for any imperfect pronunciation as I'm not very well versed in Japanese. Funegoshi was born prematurely, weak, and in a very poor state of health. While he was attending school, he befriended the son of Anko Hazato, a prominent master and teacher of shuritai. Funegoshi went on to study philosophy and even became a teaching assistant. During this time, his relationship with Anko Hazato's family grew and he officially began his training in the martial arts. As quoted by Funegoshi himself, I was rather a sickly baby and frail child, accordingly. It was suggested that when I was still quite young that to overcome these handicaps, I ought to begin the study of Karate. Funegoshi also befriended Anko Otosu, another prominent master and a man who introduced early karate into the elementary school system by promoting the many health and developmental benefits it had to offer. Otosu is also heavily credited with his contribution to kata, taking traditional older styles he reformed them and simplified them so that they could be learned by young students, and invented what is known as the pinankata. Funegoshi trained under both of these men and at various times other masters of different martial influences, giving him the seeds to many disciplines. Eventually, he learned the systems of Shorairu, which developed from Nahate, and Shorairu that was derived from Shurite. Funegoshi found strength, passion, and personal growth from his time training in the arts and was about to embark on a personal journey that would cement his legacy in karate forever. Funegoshi spent years on his training, blending the Okinawan arts and later implementing his philosophy to enrich the art and the lives of its practitioners. As chairman of a martial arts organization called the Shobukai, Funegoshi established a group of practitioners that toured around Okinawa, spreading the art and holding public performances. This gained him a lot of national attention and awareness of his teachings and in 1916 he was given the opportunity to travel to mainland Japan for a demonstration. He was invited to perform at the Budokuden, the official center of Japanese martial arts. The event went extremely well and his demonstration was well received. He was bringing a unique blend of Okinawan arts with his own teachings. He eventually attracted the attention of the Japanese crown prince, Prince Hirohito, and Funegoshi was invited by the Japanese education ministry to come back in 1922 and demonstrate his art for the first all-japan athletic exhibition in Tokyo. Now according to the organization SKA or Shodokan Karate of America, Funegoshi had intended to return to Okinawa immediately after the demonstration but he was convinced to stay by Judo founder Jigoro Kano and Kendo authority Akudo Nakayama. He was quoted as saying, I had planned to return to my native island immediately after the demonstration but postponed my return when the late Jigoro Kano, president of the Kotokan Judo Hall, asked me to give a brief lecture on the art of karate. Sometime later I was again preparing to return to Okinawa when one morning I was called upon by the painter Hoan Kosugi. So once again I put off my departure and began giving lessons to members of a painter's group called the Tabata Poplar of which Kosugi was president. Now Hoan Kosugi would prove to be another important figure in the history of Shodokan which we'll revisit in a few minutes. So he remained in Japan and it appears that Kano had some additional influences on Funegoshi and the development of his art. Funegoshi officially adopted the dogi as the official karate training uniform and he also embraced the colored belt system also established by Kano. Now we covered this topic in great depth in how many belts are in karate but just to quickly recap, Jigoro Kano is the one who devised and created the belt ranking system that we see in karate today. There is an old tale of ancient Karatekas wearing a white belt that would get dirty and darker over time until it became black which symbolized great time and devotion to the art and over time the belt would wear and shred and turn white again. Now while this seems like a really cool and philosophical origin it is unfortunately romanticized fiction. Belts may get dirty over time but unless the practitioner is literally rolling around in the dirt it would not turn black and would even fade and shred before we even got to that point. In fact the first belt ever used in karate wasn't even white at all it was the black belt. Kano drew his inspiration from professional Japanese swimming teams. Now this was a big national event and swimmers who had met a certain level of proficiency were given a black armband to wear to signify that they had reached an expert level of skill. Kano liked this idea and he decided to implement it into his teaching. So the original judo ranks were no belt or black belt. It wasn't until years later into developing judo that Kano began to add additional colors. Kano also adapted the terms Q and Don. Q ranks are numbered ranks that count down as the student progresses and eventually gets to Don rank which is black belt. From there the Don ranks count up as the student gets more advanced and the terms Q and Don were borrowed from the Chinese game of Go. Oh and fun fact in Kano's original judo ranking system the white belt was the second belt not the first. So I do recommend checking out that video if you want to learn more about what the first belt color was and just get some cool belt history. So Funukoshi decided to adopt the belt system as well and just like many styles of karate the early ranks were white, brown and then black. Eighth Q through fourth Q was white, third Q through first Q was brown and in first Don and up was black. The first official karate black belts that Funukoshi awarded were 1924 and he himself personally never promoted anybody above Go. Don or fifth Don. So while his introduction of karate to Japan was well received Funukoshi was going to have to do a lot more than just demonstrate it and adopt the judo belt system if he was wanting it to proliferate and spread. You see Japan had a lot more restrictions in Okinawa and karate had to be modified if it were to take hold. The first conflict was with the name. See originally karate that was developed in Okinawa had a fair mixture of Chinese martial arts in its roots and a Japanese kanji for karate originally translated to Chinese or Tang hand. Now there was a lot of political tension between Japan and China at the time and Funukoshi feared that a nationalistic conflict of interest would be at play so the first ideograph of the kanji was changed to mean empty instead of China. Additionally to distinguish karate from simply a combative practice Funukoshi promoted it as a way of life with philosophy and meaning and the word dough which means way was added. Thus we have the term karate dough or simply the way of the empty hand. Zen Buddhism was also greatly infused in Japanese culture as it was in China and this spirituality was considered an important part of Japanese buddho or martial way and therefore linked and associated with karate dough. So when it came to the kata's that originated in Okinawa many of them still had Chinese names so Funukoshi made the attempt to change them to Japanese names as well. For example the pinon kata's that we mentioned as created by Anko Itosu. Pinon means peaceful and safe. Funukoshi changed the translation to Heian which also means peaceful and safe. Even with this effort some of the original names just stuck so there's a kind of an interesting mix of kata names some Japanese some Chinese. Now as a result Funukoshi now had a unique blend of Okinawan martial arts mixed with his own philosophy and modified it to fit within the Japanese cultural paradigm. He had succeeded in bringing karate to Japan and he is often regarded to many as the father of modern or Japanese karate and now it was time for him to open up his own school. Gichin Funukoshi opened up his first dojo in Tokyo in 1936. Now an interesting thing about Shodokan karate is Funukoshi never gave us our name. He simply referred to it as karate. Now to find out where that name came from we needed to dip back a little bit into Funukoshi's other passion writing poetry. He was known to have spent a considerable amount of time contemplating and meditating in Mount Torao in Okinawa also known as Tiger Tail Mountain. He liked his time in solitude especially on days after a long and hard training session. Now he found his refuge in the narrow pine tree covered mountain trail and he would often sit up there at night under the moon and just listen to the breeze as it gently whispered to the pine trees and that reminded him of the sound of ocean waves breaking along the shore. Now this inspired a lot of poetic imagery for him and he embraced the pen name of shoto which in Japanese means pine waves. The word kan in Japanese means house or hall. A lot of dojos use that term such as judo's kotokan. Ko translates to lecture. Do as we already established means way with kan meaning hall or house. So kotokan translates to the hall to study the way. So when Funukoshi students want to learn karate they would say they were going to the shodokan or the hall of pine waves. And over time the name just stuck and people began to refer to his art as shodokan karate. Unfortunately the original dojo was destroyed in 1945 in an air raid by Allied bombing during World War II but it was later rebuilt when the war ended. Perhaps one of the most recognizable elements of shodokan is that of the tiger patch representing many of the schools. Now we took an extensive look at this emblem in the previous episode last season but we're going to include that segment again here because of its connection to the origin of the art. To start with let's circle back to Funukoshi's painter friend, Hoan Kosugi. Kosugi was believed to have been instrumental in inspiring Funukoshi to spread his art and it is said that Kosugi convinced him to write down all his notes on the art into a master text also known as a Toro no Maki. Now this refers to an old tradition that goes way back when a master would write down all of their notes on long scrolls which became the master text. Now even though that tradition was already gone by Funukoshi's time, Kosugi still convinced him that this could be his Toro no Maki. He also promised to paint the cover of the book after it was finished. So Funukoshi went on to write his book Ryukyu Karate Kempo and published it in 1922. Now some references say that this might possibly be the first official book written on karate in the world but that would be something that would need to be further verified. Kosugi kept his promise and he painted the cover of his book which included the image of a tiger. Now this was an interesting choice because there are no tigers in Japan however the tiger is often a symbol of power strength and ferocity. In Chinese culture the tiger can also represent keen awareness and never sleeping. The choice of the tiger image is also very fitting in that Funukoshi spent his free time up in peace up in the Tigertale Mountains. And even though the name Toro no Maki means master text or master scroll, the word Toro in Japanese sometimes also means tiger and you can often hear the text referenced as the tiger scroll. So the image of the tiger fit the poetic symbolism often associated with Funukoshi. The tiger is also inside of a circle, the show that it is contained. It is a power and strength that should not be used liberally but rather with discretion and should remain contained until only it was necessary to unleash its power. The circle is also imperfect to show that it was done in one continuous stroke. Now as for the tiger itself, Kosugi didn't just simply draw a tiger but rather he compiled a collection of lines and patterns that individually represented nothing but went together as a whole make up the image of the tiger. Now this also is representative of Shotokan and honestly this can apply to the philosophy of any martial art really. The idea is that the art is not composed of just one piece or one element. It is a system of very important smaller ideas that when put together create a larger more powerful concept. If you really look closely at the tiger's tail you can also see part of Kosugi's signature in Kanji. A lot of thought in such a simple image and quite honestly this has been one of my favorite martial arts emblems. And to the point where I wore it as a kid in my early training not even realizing I was representing a different art. In April of 1957 Shotokan master Gijin Funakoshi passed away. His life's work had culminated to a point of creating an art that was enriched with Okinawan training, lifestyle philosophy and it became a staple in Japanese karate. It would also be unfair to end this video without even mentioning Funakoshi's third son Yoshitaka or Gigo Funakoshi who played a rather important role in the history of Shotokan. Like his father he grew up sick and weak and was stricken with tuberculosis as a child. Now at this time tuberculosis was a very deadly and serious disease and yet he was determined just as his father was and he also turned to the martial arts as a method to get stronger and healthier. He trained vigilantly and he found a passion for karate and he was known for his hard fighting style lower sances and the inclusion of additional basic kicks that he brought into the system. As he mastered the art he taught at the Shotokan alongside his father and earned the nickname Wakasensei or young teacher. Gijin Funakoshi taught his art and his style during the daytime and Gigo taught his harder written of the art in the evenings. His teachings had a great influence on the legacy of what remains in Shotokan. So Gijin Funakoshi is referred to as the father of modern karate but I kind of like to think of them as the father and son of modern karate. So why is Shotokan the most definitive style of karate? Now I'm sure many practitioners out there right now watching would disagree with the statement citing and crediting the establishment of karate to Okinawa which is fair and accurate. However Shotokan has unique credit of taking strong Okinawan karate along with his Chinese roots, infusing it with Japanese culture, adopting the Gijin belt ranking system standardized by Kano and standardizing it further across all karate systems to the extent that many Okinawan systems picked it up and effectively cemented its place in history as the foundation blocked to many other styles of karate that developed in our common place today. The philosophies, dojo etiquette, training techniques, and essence of most karate systems today are in some way touched by the influence of Shotokan and the teachings of Master Funakoshi. And for anyone who's interested in getting an introductory look at Shotokan I recommend picking up the Shotokan Karate Bible by Ashley P. Martin. Now I got this over a year ago because I just wanted a good breakdown of basic Shotokan techniques and you're not going to learn the whole system from this book but this is a great starting point to get yourself familiar with the art and you can find it in the description below. So that is part one of the history of Shotokan. In part two we're going to dive into the characteristics of the art itself and see how it branched off into other arts, organizations, and even the role it plays in MMA so be sure to check back next week. So we talked about how founder Gijin Funakoshi and his son Gigo worked together to contribute to the art of Shotokan and make it what it was. And what's interesting is that the older style of arts, many times the martial arts came from families and it's a martial arts family so I want to just take a moment to talk about another member of the Funakoshi family that also put his mark on the art of Shotokan. And this brings us to Kenneth Yoshinobu Funakoshi, the fourth cousin of Shotokan founder Gijin Funakoshi. Now he doesn't get talked about as often as the others but that doesn't mean his contribution was any less significant. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1938 while it was still in American territory. He got into athletics early. He began training in Judo at age 10, played high school football and was also captain of the swim team at Farrington High School and in 1956 he began to train Kempo under Adriano Imperato who later go on to establish Kaju Kempo. From 1956 to 1959 Kenneth Funakoshi attended the University of Hawaii on a swimming scholarship and continued his Judo training achieving his first stand at age 17. He dual trained with Kempo until he eventually he dedicated his efforts to Kempo purely and he became the youngest person to achieve a first stand in Kempo at that time. He joined the United States Air Force in 1959 at Cannon Base in Clovis, New Mexico and while he was there he actually taught karate to both civilians and non-civilians. Seeking to continue his training he became a student of Hirokazu Kanazawa who was a notable fighter in a shodokan based JKA organization or Japanese Karate Association. Kanazawa had been there to teach and spread the art of shodokan in Hawaii. Kenneth Funakoshi put on his white belt and he joined the art of shodokan. Over the course of the next 10 years he trained under three different shodokan masters and after winning the grand championship of the Karate Association of Hawaii five years in the row he was appointed the organization's chief instructor. Kenneth Funakoshi has devoted his life and efforts to the art over the years. Instructor of the year by Black Belt Magazine in 1978 and continued to rank up on the art eventually earning his ninth don in 2001. He also established the Funakoshi Shodokan Karate Association choosing to use the art to develop a character and closely following his cousin Gijin Funakoshi's 20 Precepts for Karate. So I think it's wonderful that other members of the Founding family found their place in the art and they continue to push it forward. Last week we started to talk about the history of shodokan karate. We explored the origin and how founder Gijin Funakoshi combined his training in the Okinawan arts and Enriki figured a system that not only fit the cultural paradigm of Japan but it also thrived as one of the most influential and definitive styles of karate in the world. So if you haven't watched that one yet I encourage you to please do so. Today we're going to talk about the structure of the art itself and how a set of trend of differences between different styles of karate and we'll also look at how the art has grown and spread and even answer the question of well why don't we see shodokan in the MMA? Spoiler alert, you do. And we'll talk about how as we continue with the history of shodokan. I would like to thank some of our viewers for their help with this video. A special thanks to William Armenteros, Keith Westmoreland, and Sensei Santino-Ramos for helping connect us with footage and a special thanks to Ryan Mooney from Combat Karate for filming original footage for this series. Alright alright I'm sure now we have some several MMA practitioners watching right now that are saying that shodokan is ineffective and it wouldn't work in a real fight or in the cage. Well we're going to come back to this after we cover some aspects because I'm willing to bet it's a little bit more relevant in the cage than it gets credit for. So why is shodokan such a pillar in the history of karate? Well mainly because from this point forward shodokan became an established foundation for several arts to come and it set many of the standards associated with karate today. Now I highly recommend watching part one for the origin of shodokan and how it developed by founder Kinshi Funakoshi. Today we're going to take a closer look at the art of the shodokan itself and what it teaches. Now upon stepping into the dojo there is an immediate sense of culture that often comes with shodokan. Now shodokan may have been derived from okinawan arts but make no mistake that there is a very important difference between the two cultures. Now we're going to dive into this a little bit deeper in the next episode but okinawan karate traditionally is a little bit looser on formality, focuses more on teaching individuals and smaller classes, has higher sances and focuses more on upper body, does not typically take part in sport, utilizes more weapons, and treats karate as a family heritage. Shodokan and Japanese karate in general you will find is a traditional system and many rules of etiquette are in place. There is a strong focus on technical detail and uniformity, respecting discipline are emphasized as well as pride and presentation. Most traditional karate schools will require that the gi is clean, tidy and intact and some schools will even require that the uniform be pressed and ironed. Show up to a class looking proud and crisp. Most shodokan schools will wear traditional white gi's although in modern days and especially in the United States you might see a variety of other colors and the colors honestly will depend on the individual school. And the same goes with the belt ranking system. There are many different associations for shodokan each with different requirements. Now while there are some arts such as American Kempo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Kyoko Shin that have a fairly consistent colored belt chart, shodokan schools seem to be a little bit more varied in belt order depending on one school or another. Also most schools will have some sort of a patch worn over the heart on the left side of the gi jacket. In many shodokan schools you may see the Toronomaki or Tiger emblem worn or some emblem derived from it. Now this emblem is rooted in the history of the creation of the art and it represents the philosophy and poetry of Master Funakoshi. Now we have given karate uniforms, belts and the Toronomaki all their own dedicated episodes and those links are provided in the video description below. Like many martial arts there is a general code of conduct within the shodokan dojo. Bowing is commonplace and demonstrates respect, trust and humility. You have the standing bow and the bow from the healing position or seiza. Upon entering the dojo you bow to show respect before entering the floor. Now whether you are arriving or leaving you face towards the front of the dojo as you bow. Now if you arrive late and the class is already started do not just quickly bow in and run to join the floor. Proper etiquette is to quietly bow and then kneel near the entrance until you are acknowledged by the sensei that comes during class. Line up by rank and when instructed kneel down into seiza. The proper kneel in the traditional shodokan dojo begins by placing your left knee on the floor followed by your right knee and then you sit back onto your feet with your toes overlapping one over the other. Hands are placed on your thigh left on left right on right and they are open with fingers pointed inward. Your back should be straight and your shoulders relaxed. The sensei may call for meditation and this is the moment to quiet your mind leave your distractions outside and prepare yourself to focus on today's class. Some schools may have you placed your left hand into your right hand as you meditate. At the end of meditation the sensei will prompt you to stop and then call out shomen ni rei which signals for you to bow in a kneeling position towards the front of the dojo and issue respect and humility towards the institution and those in the lineage of the school. After that the sensei may call out sensei ni rei which is another bow to show respect to your teacher. Repeat the motion and with a signal from your sensei you quickly get up to your feet and you stand at attention. This is commonplace at many traditional shodokan schools but of course this may vary from one individual dojo to another. Some schools may omit or alter the bowing in sequence and as with most martial arts styles respect, good behavior, cooperation, and self-control are expected during class. Once class is over many schools will close with the same sequence as the class opening but at this point meditation is used to reflect on what you learned today and give your mind a moment to let the experience soak in. Upon closing out many dojos will recite what is called the dojo kun. The dojo kun in literal translation means rules of the dojo. Now the dojo kun is a set of principles and behavior expected from all participating karateka. Most of the time they are printed or written and hung in front of the dojo. Now this is yet another traditional practice that is often attributed to kinshipunakoshi and its philosophical contribution to the arts. You see, funakoshi desired ethics and mental fortitude to be balanced with physical strength. Shodokan karate wasn't only about being strong and fighting but rather it was to serve as a way of life to have balance in body, mind, and spirit and to use the art for cultivation of health and if in a dangerous situation the preservation of life. The dojo kun was written as a set of five guiding principles to be practiced in shodokan karate. One, seek perfection of character. Two, be faithful. Three, endeavor to excel. Four, respect others. And five, refrain from violent behavior. Now of course you might see some variations of this due to translation but those generally are the five principles of conduct as defined by funakoshi. Now being the philosopher and poet that he was, funakoshi also established the nijukun or 20 rules. Now we're going to revisit a couple of these at the end of this video but the 20 shodokan principles are never forget karate begins and ends with rei or bowing and showing respect. There is no first strike in karate. Karate stands on the side of justice. First understand yourself then understand others. Mentality over technique. The heart must be set free. Calamity springs from carelessness. Karate goes beyond the dojo. Karate is a lifelong pursuit. Apply the way of karate to all things therein lies the beauty. Karate is like boiling water without heat it returns to its tepid state. Do not think of winning, think rather of not losing. Make adjustments according to your opponent. The outcome of battle depends on how one handles emptiness and fullness. Think of hands and feet as swords. When you step beyond your own gate you face a million enemies. Formal stances are for beginners. Later one stands more naturally. Perform prescribed sets of techniques exactly. Actual combat is another matter. Do not forget the employment or withdrawal of power, the extension or contraction of the body, the swift or leisurely application of technique. Be constantly mindful, diligent and resourceful in your pursuit of the way. Like many traditional karate styles, shodokan is broken up into three main categories. Kihon, kata and kumite. Kihon is a Japanese word for basics. These are the fundamental concepts of the martial arts. So all punches, kicks, blocks, steps, throws, posture, movements are all part of basic training. Without strong basics, the rest of the student's training becomes compromised. See, shodokan is very well known for its power and embodiment of strong basics. From the deeply rooted stances to snapping punches and dominant kicks, shodokan is as sharp and crisp as karate pretty much gets. Much of this comes from the Okinawan roots that Funegoshi adopted from Shurite and Nahate prior to coming to Japan. Its signature is commanding linear driving power. Shodokan also employs the kii and the concept of kimei to underline the basics. Kimei is a Japanese word that means to decide. And in the context of the martial arts, it means to focus all of one's energy, effort and strength into each technique. It is full commitment to the strike without any hesitation, with the intent of ending the confrontation with a single blow. This can be applied to punches, kicks and even blocks, which in many cases can be used as strikes in their own right. The kii is the famous karate yell we all hear practitioners exclaim upon the execution of a powerful technique. The purpose of the kii isn't just to sound badass, although if done right it totally does, but it serves a few different functions. First, in the context of the dojo setting, a powerful kii can set the tone of a workout, excite students and get them more invested, highlight the punctuation of a technique and also to help learn proper breathing to deliver maximum intensity into a strike. You can inadvertently hold back a lot of power if you hold your breath, so learning how the kii properly helps you establish effective times to exhale and tighten in order to inflict a margin of extra energy. Now, in a real-life confrontation, the kii still serves for power generation, but it also might potentially intimidate your opponent, or at least possibly attract attention to the situation. Kata is short for the word katachi, which means shape, form or pattern. In shodokan, and quite frankly in most traditional martial arts, katas are longer sequences of techniques, often simulating a combat scenario and demonstrating how movements, strikes and defenses can be used together. Katas help with memory retention and repetition, as well as address themes in particular areas of focus. Now, many contemporary martial artists dislike and will brush off kata, which is fine because honestly people have different areas of focus. Now with that being said, there is often a lot of valuable information embedded in kata and the practice of studying deeper meaning in our kata, or bunkai, can yield some interesting insights and philosophy to the art and relationships between techniques. The number of kata in shodokan training will vary from school to school as they construct their own curriculum. However, there are usually about 26 or 27 kata in the system created by both Funakoshi and his contributing students. Many of these kata were adopted from the Okinawan arts Funakoshi trained in, heavily drawn from the influence of former teacher and karate master Anko Otsu in his contributions to the development of kata. See, many of the kata bore Chinese names, and as Okinawa, you know, shared strong roots entwined with the Chinese arts. There was a political tension between China and Japan at the time, so just as he changed the characters of the Japanese kanji for karate to mean empty hand instead of china or tang hand, Funakoshi renamed all of the kata for his system into Japanese counterparts. Now some of them caught on, while many of them still retain their original names. For example, the pinan katas, which pinan means peaceful way, were five original empty hand katas from Okinawa. Funakoshi renamed them Tehyan, which also means peaceful way. Now later, as the Korean art of Tangsudo was founded on the base of Shodokan, those katas, or Pumsae in Korean, were adopted and modified for the Tangsudo system and are known as Pyongan. So it's really interesting to see Shodokan in the middle of the chain of influence as it's spread around the world. Another interesting example is the kankukata, originally known as Kusanku, named after a traveling Chinese martial artist whose teachings predate the early roots of karate in Okinawa. Now there are two versions of this kata, which Funakoshi renamed to kanku, which means to look at the sky, so you've got kankudai, big, and kankushou, small. This kata spans across many arts including Okinawan shounru, Shodokan, Kyokushin, Tangsudo, and more. It is very interesting to find videos of these kata performed in these different arts and notice the similarities as they were adapted to new practices. Now as we mentioned on how important the kiai was when practicing basics, it holds a place in Shodokan kata as well. In most kata in Shodokan, there are two designated times which the practitioners unleashed their kiai. It is part of the form and part of the grading and judging. It is to punctuate certain moments in the kata, as well as to demonstrate commitment and full force into the form. So go ahead and watch some Shodokan katas on the YouTube and watch the practitioners and you'll find that they're usually only two kiai during the entire season. Now as Funakoshi's influence continues, it is also rolled into the concept of embusin, or the route or line of movement a practitioner takes during the performance of a kata. Every kata has a unique flow and therefore their own signature diagram if you were to draw it out. It designates the starting point and outlines the path of action. Now Funakoshi's contribution to this practice was to adjust many katas so that the starting point and the ending point are roughly the same spot. Now this has one benefit of being able to be performed in smaller spaces, in case there are many students in one room. As well, it has also helped for the students to confirm that they have performed it correctly if they have ended up in the same place that they started. Now many people believe that this aspect of the kata was traditional, however it is credited to Funakoshi as it was documented in his writings and not before. And it's often not present in a lot of the earlier Okinawan arts. The concept of the starting and ending at the same points have found its way into other arts American Kempo included. So traditional karate systems have three components, kihon, kata, and kumite. Kumite means freestyle fighting and it is where you apply the tools of the basics along with the principles of the kata into a strategy of fighting that works for you. Now beginners will start off with what is called ipon kumite which means one step sparring and gohan kumite which is five steps sparring. Now this is where a lot of criticism of shodokan and traditional martial arts in general may stem from. See one step sparring is very simple and each drill typically consists of one partner performing a single free planned attack and defending partner performs a single step defense such as a block followed by a counter strike. With five step sparring some of the attacks and moves are repeated but overall these are very choreographed in basic drills. Now the misconception here is that many critics of traditional martial arts look at this and will dismiss the system saying well that isn't realistic and these drills won't work in a real fight. I think it is a really important to remember or note that this is not the complete self defense portion of karate. These one and five step drills are meant to teach the very basic application of a single technique demonstrating control targeting and getting used to working with a partner. It doesn't end with this. As students progress to become more comfortable and understand how the basics work the drill evolves into more free attacks of one step sparring and eventually the more advanced freestyle fighting which may involve many varieties of speed and loud strikes. Now as far as actual fighting skill goes we've said this on the channel before but I want to stress it again that regardless of what drills you practice or how many times you repeat a choreograph motion unless you apply it on a regular basis with a resisting opponent you're not going to get an accurate idea of what actually works for you or what doesn't. This means regular continuous sparring with someone trying their hardest to hit you back. Now some schools practice point sparring as well and that is completely fine especially if the school is a competitive school and point sparring definitely has its benefits but I believe for proper self defense you need to practice with the resistance and pressure as close to a real fight as can be safely done in the classroom and with that being said yes the one step drills can work in the heat of a good sparring session. There have been many occasions that I've been trading shots with someone and I've seen the punch coming and the upper block punch combination worked brilliant or the inner block punch and I've had it done to me as well so yes they absolutely can work if they are applied at the right time. If you understand what it is teaching and you're able to apply it effectively in a full pressure sparring situation then the basic drills taught in Shotokan can go a long way. So let's rewind a little bit here to our question in the beginning. Why don't we see Shotokan in the MMA? Well we do and we see it in a couple different ways. First there seems to be this divide between mixed martial arts and traditional martial arts. I don't like this debate primarily because mixed martial arts can be an independent mix of traditional martial arts. MMA is not a different system or way of fighting it's just a personalized combination of arts primed for a sport competition by individual competitors that choose mixes that work for them. I think MMA is fantastic and it has the world's best fighters but not because of what systems they use but rather how that they choose the arts they choose and the extreme training and condition they apply in order to fight like this. MMA and traditional martial arts are not two separate entities they are entwined and they simply address different things and I always tried to bridge that gap and with that being said many mixed martial artists have some sort of traditional karate as part of their arsenal and as we've explored in this series the threads of Shotokan run through many of them. I want to use Leota Machida as an example primarily because he is a high-profile MMA champion as well as one of his primary arts being Shotokan karate. Now watching him in the stand-up fighting you can clearly see many trademarks of Shotokan and traditional karate. First he often takes on a little bit of a wider stance. Many MMA fighters have a more natural boxing stance and while Machida does as well he will sometimes drop into a lower stance very stylistic of Shotokan and it's from there that he delivers the devastating kicks he is known for. His front kicks and his round kicks are perfect illustrations of the power Shotokan strikes can have and if you watch some of his fights you see many of opponents taking those kicks to the body and just reeling from the impact. And going back to those one-step drills if you watch closely and there are several videos on YouTube that highlight this but Machida does employ some of those traditional drills in addition to some basic Shotokan striking combinations. For example an advancing triple punch combination is a very common karate kumite basic drill. Leota Machida employs this frequently and very effectively along with another combination of a rear leg kick advancing followed by a front hand punch. Basic steps in kumite drills but as you can see Machida mixes them into his fights with great success. Another example is the calf kick intended to take the opponent off balance and combine with a reverse punch either proceeding or following the kick. Just keep watching fights closely and you'll see takedowns and other combinations play out in very similar fashion as to what you learn in the basic one-step kumite drill. The key is in learning how to perfect a technique knowing when to apply it in freestyle and then conditioning yourself with a resisting opponent to fine tune it and make it work. But some of you might be thinking well that's all well and good but Leota Machida may just be one lone example. Well not really. Remember Shotokan is the foundation to a lot of arts that came after it. Many high-profile MMA fighters have traditional arts as partners striking regimen. For example George St. Pierre is a third degree black belt in Kyokushin. Kyokushin has Shotokan and Gojiru at its core. Anderson Silva has a very diverse mix of martial arts including Wing Chung, BJJ, Muay Thai, Kapoor Ra and Taekwondo. Taekwondo is derived from Tang Sido which is heavily derived from Shotokan. Chuck the Dell is an eighth Don in Kajukenbo which has traditional karate and Shotokan mixed in it and Boss Ruten holds a slack belt in Taekwondo and the Kyokushin. And that's just the high-profile guys. If you take a look at some of the lower weight divisions and lower profile fights you'll see a ton of fighters employing traditional karate into their arsenal. So if you are asking the question why don't I see Shotokan MMA the answer is simply you aren't looking for it. I also encourage you to go back and revisit the Nijikun list and see where you can find some relevance to those 20 principles into your training. Several of them definitely hold true in MMA. For example Calamity Springs for Carelessness. If you are reckless and unfocused in the cage you're going to have a bad time. Make adjustments according to your opponent. Formal stances are for beginners. Later one stands more naturally. Preform prescribes sets of techniques exactly. Actual combat is another matter. You see these all hold very true for competitive fighting and I think my favorite one is karate is like boiling water. Without heat it returns to its tepid state. Such a powerful and accurate statement and it applies to all martial arts. If you stop putting passion and effort into your training and you forget that you're always a student it's very easy to get comfortable and complacent and then your skill set may not have enough steam to be effective when you need it. That is just one of many important lessons that Shotokan teaches us. So if you are interested in getting an introduction to Shotokan before committing to any classes I do recommend this book. It's the Shotokan Bible by Ashley P. Martin. It's a really good book that breaks down the basic curriculum from white belt all the way up to black belt and while it's not going to replace a live class it gives you a great idea of what to expect and encounter in a Shotokan class. So I wanted to highlight a little bit more about the Iodomachita and how he's such a great example of how to represent Shotokan and its place in MMA. But I think the reason he makes Shotokan so effective is the incredibly dynamic background he has in the martial arts. First of all he's well versed in the martial arts you know with extensive experience in Shotokan he also trained in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, Sumo and Jit Kundo. He was trained in the art of Shotokan by his father Yoshizo Machida a Japanese Sensei who currently holds an 8th Don in the art of Shotokan. Sensei Machida fell in love with the art and he strongly believes in the character that karate built and how it prepares practitioners to overcome life's challenges. He moved to Brazil in 1968 where he met his wife and moved there permanently and devoted himself to share his teachings in the art in Brazil. Lioto and his brothers trained under their father with Lioto starting at the age of three and earning his first Don in Shotokan at age 13. He traveled and continued training in multiple arts and winning several tournaments before coming to America to pursue a career in the UFC. Besides having a respectable record in MMA and the UFC Lioto along with his brother Chinzo also established the Machida Karate Academy. Chinzo also has experience as an MMA fighter and together with Lioto they have taken their family's karate and modified it into their own fighting system. Their facility is located in Lumida California and is over 20,000 square feet and they teach a wide variety of students from all ages. They also run the Machida Association with the goal to spread the Machida Karate methodology around the world through training and certification of new program instructors. Lioto Machida and his family are wonderful role models in the martial arts and it's wonderful to see such a legacy in that they can take and show that even traditional martial arts can hold their own and have their place in modern combat paradigms. Combined from early forms of Okinawan karate and adapted to blend into the Japanese culture Shotokan has flourished across the world spawning several derivative arts and even working its way up into the UFC. So how did Shotokan become the most popular and the most influential style of karate in the world? Well we're going to answer that in today's conclusion of the history of Shotokan. I would like to thank some of our viewers for their help with this video. A special thanks to William Armenteros, Keith Westmoreland, and Sensei Santino-Ramos for helping connect us with footage and a special thanks to Ryan Mooney from Combat Karate for filming original footage for this series. Now this is part three of the history of Shotokan and if you haven't seen parts one and two yet I highly encourage you to check them out. Part one shows us the origin of the art that founder Gechen Funegoshi put together and part two takes a closer look at the art and its standards that are still present today even in the MMA and you can find a link to both of those in the video description below. Okay so what makes Shotokan the most influential style of karate in the world? In order to begin to answer that we need to define its place in the history of karate. Traditional karate originated in Okinawa with local fighting systems combined with Chinese influences this led to the rise of three primary classifications of Okinawan karate or Teh as it was called at the time. So we had Shurite, Naha Teh, and Tomari Teh each named after the village it was primarily present in. Now Gechen Funegoshi had an extensive training in Shurite and Naha Teh in the form of Shorinru and Shoriru respectively. He combined a lot of the elements between the two systems infused a strong sense of his philosophy and he took to Japan calling it simply karate or empty hands and again we went into much more detail on part one but this is just to get us started. So Shotokan became very popular in Japan and it spread very quickly but before we could talk about how it grew and branched into future arts let's take a moment and acknowledge the history and contribution of the Okinawan arts because to be quite honest without them Shotokan would not exist and would not have proliferated into the several arts that we have today. So many traditionalists will consider the Okinawan karate to be the true official type of karate and they wouldn't be wrong however I think it's very important to both respect its origin while also appreciating and exploring the ways that karate has grown and evolved from there and I believe that Shotokan has been a very powerful vehicle in that respect. So before we talk about where Shotokan is taking karate let's observe how it's differentiated from its source material. So how do Okinawan karate and Japanese karate compare? Well I've talked to enough people who have trained in both know that it would have to be a video in and of itself to cover this adequately. There are some big differences between them both in philosophy and in technique. Now this is by no means a comprehensive comparison but rather just a few ways in which they differ. In Japan formality and honor are extremely important and they often take a regimented approach to their cultural activities extending to the martial arts. Now there is a strict sense of etiquette in Japanese dojos for example the requirement of bowing before and after class and in response to instruction from the sensei. Also in Japanese karate priority is often placed on form timing and perfection of technique. Uniformity plays a big role and in an art such as Shotokan it is extremely efficient to teach a large academy of students at one time if everything is well regimented. It preserves the details of technique and also facilitates in the transmission of the knowledge. In contrast Okinawan karate tends to be a little less formal less emphasis on bowing and formality and dojos in general tend to have smaller rosters. As a result of this a lot of Okinawan senseis will often tailor techniques based on the individual's learning it focusing more on the efficiency of what works for that person as opposed to a uniformed solution intended for a large class. Now this uniformity has probably contributed to how fast Shotokan spread around the world becoming one of the most common styles of karate taught. It is streamlined, efficient and even Funakoshi himself has said to have wanted to implement it into elementary schools as a core subject. Traditional Okinawan schools tend to be smaller often hidden within the town with a tendency towards individualized teachings over mass instruction. Also generally speaking you can see a lot of differences in stances. Japanese karate tends to focus on developing the lower body and implementing some deep stances. Now this is often attributed to Funakoshi's son Gigo who loved deep stances, diverse kicks and loved to compete. This in contrast to his father who had preferred the higher stances he had learned in the traditional Okinawan shirute and nahate. Now it's pretty interesting to watch the performance of a kata that exists in both Japanese and Okinawan styles of karate. Again, generally speaking you'll often see a greater emphasis on lower stances in Japanese kata and higher more upper body focused movements in Okinawan kata. When it comes to martial arts weapons you're more likely to see them in Okinawan karate. Now this is not to say that Japanese systems don't use them but typically they focus more on open hand techniques. And honestly most of the traditional weapons you see associated with karate you know the bow staff, nun jugs, sai, the tonfa all originated in Okinawa and kabudo the martial way is a big part of Okinawan arts. So while you may see weapons in both styles you're more likely to encounter them in the Okinawan teachings at least historically. Another stark difference is competition. Japanese karate has far more emphasis on competition in sport than Okinawan karate does. In Okinawa karate is embedded into a part of their lifestyle. A person doesn't merely do karate it is part of their heritage and their family life. Now while some Okinawan schools do compete such as Gujiru and Shitoru which are represented in the world karate federation it is far more common to see Japanese karate take part in sport fighting. Now with all that being said both Okinawan and Japanese karate have a lot to offer and it would be a very interesting topic to go down that rabbit hole in the future episode as there are a lot more differences than what we can cover today. Sensei Jesse Enkamp from the Karate Nerd YouTube channel has an absolutely fantastic miniseries on his trip to Okinawa and experience with Okinawan karate and I have included those links in the description below if you are interested in checking those out. In 1930 Funakoshi officially established his organization Dainihon Karate-Do Kenkyukai which was later known as the Shoto Kai which basically refers to Shoto Society. Now Shoto was Funakoshi's pen name that he used when he wrote poetry and Shoto means pine waves referring to the sound that wind makes as it ripples through pine trees. So with Shoto Kan taking root in Japan and flourishing among a wide range of students it was only a matter of time before the art itself became a starting point for future systems. Prior to World War II during the Japanese occupation of Korea the Koreans had limited options regarding the martial arts. A lot of their own local ways were forbidden and many were forced to learn Japanese arts. Shoto Kan was one of those primary arts being taught so naturally it became implemented into the training of any Koreans that wanted to train in the martial arts at that time. And one of these men was the man who would go on to later found Tangsudo. Now another Korean national who was in Japan immediately after the end of World War II was Masuo Yama. He grew a love for the martial arts and he sought out the training of Shoto Kan and he was actually a direct student under Gigo Funakoshi the son of founder Ginching Funakoshi. Now this was also the time that American soldiers were based in Japan in Okinawa and they began their introduction to karate. In the 40s karate was a very unfamiliar art in America so many soldiers wanted to learn this new combat style. So right away I think we can start to see how some of the early seas were planted. Shoto Kan was growing in scale and popularity and it was in 1949 that some of Funakoshi's senior students decided to establish an association to help govern, promote, educate and spread the teachings of Shoto Kan. So led by Masatoshi Nakayama the Japan Karate Association or JKA was formally established as the central authority on Shoto Kan. An elderly Funakoshi aged 80 at this time was named an honorary head of the organization. Now we have already established that the basis of Tangsudo was Shoto Kan. You see key mixed in some other influences from Chinese and other martial arts to direct the path of Tangsudo. Now this includes Taekwondo which is the derivative of Tangsudo and still has a lot of Shoto Kan in his lineage. So Masuo Yama had trained directly under Funakoshi's son Gigo and Shoto Kan and then later he took up the Okinawan Art of Gojiru training under a senior student of founder Chojomyagi. Now Masayama took this material and it went into years of seclusion into the mountains for vigorous training and he came back and introduced his own art of Kiyokushin Karate in amalgam of Shoto Kan and Okinawan systems. Actually in fact Kiyokushin retains two sets of kata both from Shoto Kan and Gojiru. Kiyokushin has then since also branched off and spawned further derivatives such as Kudo, Enshin Karate, Ashihara Karate and others. Watoru and Kajukumbo have also been influenced by Shoto Kan in their early development. Watoru was founded by Hironori Otsuka in 1939. Otsuka was one of the first students to receive a Black Belt Shoto Kan Karate directly from Gichi Funakoshi and then he went to blend in Shoto Kan with Okinawan Karate and Jujitsu and came up with what is now known as Watoru. There are trace elements of Shoto Kan and Kajukumbo, a greater mixed pot of arts founded by the efforts of many martial artists including the notable Adriano Imperato. So Shoto Kan has definitely cemented its place as one of the pillars of the martial arts and it's hard to ignore the influence and reach it has and it continues to have. Unfortunately Shoto Kan was not immune to the affliction that most major martial arts are stricken with, politics. Now when we announced this series I received many messages asking me to highlight the differences between all of the different Shoto Kan associations. I'm going to go over a very brief summary of some of the couple top prominent ones but a full deeper look will have to be in a future video. The topic of that scale alone is an episode in and of itself. But like most arts that have toxic politics we started at the same trigger, the death of the founder. Gichi Funakoshi passed away in 1957 at 88 years old. He had left his mark on the history of the martial arts but what he did not leave was a successor. It did not take long for the riffs to begin starting with his own funeral. Funakoshi's original organization the Shoto Kai formed in 1930 and focused on the spread and education of Shoto Kan. They represented students from many universities to help spread the art and this was the first and oldest Shoto Kan organization. The Japan Karate Association or JKA registered with the Japanese government in 1957 just prior to Funakoshi's death. They wished to represent Shoto Kan on a larger professional scale. The JKA was the only legally recognized Karate Association at the time. Now there are said to have been disputes over the arrangements of Funakoshi's funeral. Supposedly both the Shoto Kai and JKA asserted the right to arrange it and the rift between organizations only continued from there. Now as what happens with any organization with new leadership changes began to occur. The Shoto Kai was largely influenced by one of Funakoshi senior students Shiguro Igami. Igami had originally began training under Funakoshi's son Gigo but then he began to stray away from Shoto Kan's competitive nature. He did not believe that Karate should be a sport and he withdrew the organization from tournaments and other competitive events. Igami continued to alter the teaching of the system focusing on looser and less explosive training methods and placing greater importance on spirituality, mental balance, and sticking closer to the Nijikun or the 20 principles established by Funakoshi and stressing an emphasis on kata. I would like to read an excerpt from the Shoto Kai official website. Shoto Kai follows the words of Master Funakoshi who said Karate Do is an art for training our own minds, sports that can be practiced by people with little physical strength, an art for maintaining health, and the art of self-defense. Therefore Karate Do is not a martial art only for people who have strong muscles and physical strength but is an art that all people of all ages all over the world need and can practice. Shoto Kai follows the last instruction of Master Funakoshi. There are no contests in Karate. Be devoted to kata. Shoto Kai has a lesson system that focuses on practicing kata. The Shoto Kai often refers to itself as the system closest to the original teachings of Ginchin Funakoshi. Now the JKA went a different direction. First they asserted their position of being the only legally recognized karate organization. Led by Masatoshi Nakayama, the JKA began to make changes to the material hardening the art and focusing on explosive power and rigorous training. Now unlike the Shoto Kai they do engage in competition but they take it much more seriously than your typical point-based tournaments. Two different excerpts from their official website highlight this philosophy. Unlike many other karate organizations the JKA was not created as an organization whose major purpose is holding matches in tournaments. Though it does sponsor tournaments its major focus is the practice of karate. Its purpose is the teaching of karate as a way of life. The website also goes to say Karate is not a sport one plays for points. In JKA kumite there are no weight classifications and no arbitrary point system. JKA tournaments are much stricter. At the JKA there is only ipon one full point which means you have downed your opponent in one. The basis of JKA karate is the ability to take down your opponent regardless of size or weight with one blow. There is no room for incremental points in such a tradition. The difference is obvious we teach our students how to gain mastery of themselves and overwhelm the opponent. Two pretty diverse philosophies and unfortunately these were not the only disagreements. Other senior students disagreed with the direction the JKA was going with the Shodokan and the JKA splintered off into several groups which we will have to elaborate more on in another future episode. Shodokan Karate found a strong foothold in the United States as well. Shodokan Karate of America was founded in 1959 by Tsutomu Ochima who currently at age 89 still leads the organization and teaches to this day. Ochima was a direct student of Gichi Funakoshi himself and in 1955 came to America to continue school at the University of Southern California. Now at the school he opened the first American karate club in 1957 and established the Southern California Karate Association in 1959 later being renamed to Shodokan Karate of America. The SKA is a non-profit organization with a strong goal to lead Shodokan in the United States and reach a wide base of students offering traditional karate under one of the original students of the system. The SKA does perform in competition and tournaments although they stress a balance on karate as a lifestyle. They are also known for holding special training events twice a year typically in the summer and the winter. The goal of these events is to engage in an intense training session for a short duration with large groups of practitioners. It's basically a karate camp. Kyokushin Karate is also known for their intense karate camps held twice a year. So one notable mark on the SKA is that Ochima received his fifth Don block belt directly from Ginchin Funakoshi himself. Now this was the highest rank ever given out by Funakoshi and in the spirit of the tradition of the SKA they retained the original ranking system used by Funakoshi and does not recognize any ranks above Godan. Now there are many many many more Shodokan organizations and notable practitioners worth getting into but it would not do them any justice to just cram them in here and I do apologize to those of you who are hoping to dig deeper into that topic however they would require an entire episode for themselves and I thought it was worth doing a quick overview just to kind of set the first stone of that path. I do of course welcome any contributions to those of you who can expand or elaborate or want to add to the different Shodokan associations of the world and if we get enough information then we can do a follow-up episode in the near future. So how is Shodokan one of the most influential styles of karate in the world? Well it started with one man learning the roots of Okinawan karate combining them into his own practice resorting to the poet that he was and infusing his own deep philosophy and crafting a balance between the importance of physical and mental training. He knew how to adapt the system to fit different political paradigms. He adopted and established standards in ranking, etiquette, practice and teaching that resonated across generations of future karate styles. His influence rippled back to Okinawan roots some of which took on some of his new standards and the threads of Shodokan can still be found today in many derivatives of ours and even in the UFC. So this concludes our series on the history of Shodokan. Now Shodokan may not have been the original form of karate but there is no doubt that Kenshin Funakoshi was a true pioneer and his legacy will be embedded in the foundation of martial arts forever. Shodokan in my opinion is a fascinating study and not only is it one of the most popular and common styles of karate out there if not the most popular and common you can also trace the art back to a multiple different varieties and other styles that have stemmed from it. Now it's not uncommon for a martial art to diverge and evolve over time but what I find interesting about Shodokan is all the different varieties that stem from it in such a short amount of time. Kenshin Funakoshi and his son Gigo both taught the art at the dojo but approached it very differently. Kenshin streamlined the art to fit the Japanese culture bit and toned down a lot of the violence focusing more on character development. We already discussed how he retained the higher standards of the Okinawan arts and took a softer approach. Gigo on the other hand favored a harder version of the style adopting a deeper lower stance and developing the more competitive version of the art. The dual teaching started Shodokan on an early path to be the basis of many other martial arts. For example, Gigo implemented far more legwork and kicking into the system. Shodokan tended to be more linear and mainly utilized front kicks but Gigo favored longer range attacks and he developed and introduced a whole array of additional kicks and legwork which included round kicks, thrusting and snapping side kicks, back kicks and utilizing the kicks for higher targets as well. Gigo taught higher chambers and as a result a lot more kicks to the head. Now this is an aspect that we would see continue to progress as Shodokan became the foundation for the Korean arts of Tongsudo and Taekwondo. Tongsudo took the kicking even further which helped establish dynamic kicking techniques as a trademark of the Korean martial arts, something that was emphasized even more in Taekwondo. While Shodokan often focused on linear power attacks going for single devastating strikes and then moving out, Tongsudo implemented more hip rotation and adding more rapid strike sequences. They often shared the same kata but with some key differences. Now if you really want to showcase and explore the differences and the nuances between Shodokan and Tongsudo katas, I highly recommend checking out our friend Sensei Ichi's channel. He did a wonderful video on taking a kata that he knew and learning the Shodokan version of it and performing that determined. So I highly recommend checking that out. You can find a link to that in the description below. Shodokan also blended a bit more as it became part of the Kyokushin system. Kyokushin founder Masoyama trained in both Gojiru and Shodokan so his system is an interesting mix of both. The katas are retained from both systems split into north and southern categories. Kyokushin also retains the hard linear striking movements and kicks of Shodokan but takes it even further in a hard forward drive and devastating rapid sequences of strikes. And there's several other systems out there that have the roots and bases that are built on Shodokan and I find it to be a really interesting study and to even to look at Shodokan itself and see how it evolved from Shorinru and Okinawan Te and that an art as young as Shodokan, as new as it is in the grand scheme of things, how it's been able to come together and grow and develop and become so widespread and influence so many other arts and be the bases and roots of so many other systems and varieties. I think it's really really interesting in an academic and historical study of the martial arts. So there we go. This is the compilation episode of Shodokan Karate. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have not seen them as well we also did the same thing for Kempo and Kyokushin and that kind of wraps up our videos for this year. I thank you guys so much for watching us and supporting us the past couple of years. We've got a lot of work we're putting into season four. We're really excited and hopefully we have a lot more opportunities this year. You know knock on wood, you know social situations are a little bit better and it can open up a lot more opportunities. But we're excited about the upcoming year. We thank you all so much. We value your viewership. We value your support. We love our community. We hope you guys have an absolutely wonderful, safe holiday season in the very safe new year and we will see you soon in season four.