Organization and Affiliation

The Kentucky Shotokan Karate Association is nationally affiliated with the International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF), whose headquarters are in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The ISKF's chief instructor, Mr. Teruyuki Okazaki, directs many regions throughout the Americas. The Kentucky Shotokan Karate Association is a member of the Mid-America Karate Region, which is composed of karate clubs throughout the Mid-America Region of the United States. The ISKF maintains more than a dozen regions in the United States, and the Mid-America region includes Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. We are also affiliates of the Japan Karate Association (JKA), an international organization with over 6 million members worldwide. The JKA has its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.

All belt rankings are nationally as well as internationally certified and recognized.

Benefits of Karate Training

Karate training is designed to enhance the total development of the student, disciplining the mind and training the body. Karate emphasizes many aspects of mental condition -- concentration, discipline, confidence, and respect for others. Karate also improves many aspects of physical condition -- coordination, strength, flexibility, endurance, and fitness. Students of karate learn to coordinate body and mind. The practice of karate is an endeavor of developing one's own character. As Master Funakoshi stated,

"The ultimate goal of karate does not lie in the victory but in the perfection of the character of the participants."

History of Karate

It is believed that karate has evolved from a system of physical exercises taught to monks at the Shaolin Temple in central China’s Hunan province in the sixth century. Bodhidharma (Daruma in Japanese), the founder of Zen Buddhism, developed a new training system to teach the monks at the temple, incorporating both physical and spiritual aspects into his teaching. In the 16th century, these exercise methods made their way to the island of Okinawa, a small island off the cost of mainland Japan. These techniques were combined with native Okinawan fighting art to form modern karate.

Sensei Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957), the father of modern karate and founder of Shotokan karate, traveled from Okinawa to mainland Japan in 1917 to demonstrate Karate-Do, the way of empty hand. The Japan Karate Association was founded in 1948, with Sensei Funakoshi as the chief instructor.

Karate as a sport stresses mental discipline as well as physical strength, and is practiced throughout the world. Competitive events in both Kata (forms) and kumite (sparring) are held annually on regional, national, and international levels.