Gichin Funakoshi (1868 – 1957)

Gichin Funakoshi was born in Shuri, Okinawa in 1868. Funakoshi passed away in 1957 at the age of 88. Funakoshi-sensei is the man who introduced karate to Japan and the World.

Gichin Funakoshi was born on November 10, 1868 (refer to Karate-dō, My Way of Life by Gichin Funakoshi), the year of the Meiji Restoration, in Shuri, Okinawa, to a low-rank Ryūkyūan Pechin and originally had the family name Tominakoshi. Funakoshi was born prematurely. His father’s name was Gisu.  After entering primary school he became close friends with the son of Ankō Asato, a karate and Jigen-ryū master who would soon become his first karate teacher. − Funakoshi’s family was stiffly opposed to the Meiji government’s abolition of the Japanese topknot, and this meant that he would be ineligible to pursue his goal of attending medical school (where topknots were banned), despite having passed the entrance examination. Being trained in both classical Chinese and Japanese philosophies and teachings, Funakoshi became an assistant teacher in Okinawa. During this time, his relations with the Asato family grew and he began nightly travels to the Asato family residence to receive karate instruction from Ankō Asato.