Once karate was only karate and nowadays seem several karateka to miss this time, which they however never experienced. But at some point in rather the already late 20th century had some karateka decided that karate isn’t Okinawan enough anymore, distinguished “Okinawan karate” from “Japanese karate” and, rather not before the 21st century, began to bash shōtōkan (松濤館). It shall be the result of Funakoshi Gichin adapting karate to the taste of his Japanese students.

But what has Funakoshi Giching really done? He taught what he learnt from his Okinawan masters! He found that the Pinan-Shōdan (the first kata of the Pinan kata series) is more difficult than the Pinan-Nidan (the second kata of the Pinan kata series), so he reversed their order, but foresaw that the little and reasoned change would cause quarrels about the order of these kata, so he also renamed the Pinan series with the new order to Heian. So henceforth instructors, who prefer to teach complicated things first and then let their students advance to easy things, teach the Pinan series, while instructors, who prefer to teach easy things first and then let their students advance to complicated things, teach the Heian series. From only the first and second stem cell movements of the Heian-Shōdan, Funakoshi Gichin assembled the easiest kata Taikyoku. This is by most instructors taught as Taikyoku-Shōdan and often modified for teaching more techniques. Some instructors teach three Taikyoku kata, while other instructors teach six Taikyoku kata, some instructors are content with one Taikyoku kata, but all have in common that the modifications are their own and void of a standard. This really is already everything, which Funakoshi Gichin ever changed!

Sure, he accepted a standard attire, belts with according exams, and very reluctantly also matches and tournaments because these things have been required for teaching karate at Japanese schools. So this part could be meant by adapting karate to the Japanese taste, yet this part is something, which the advocates of “Okinawan karate” have accepted even much more willingly. Shōtōkan (松濤館) only since 1943 under Funakoshi Gigō (船越 義豪, the third son of Funakoshi Gichin) as the head instructor and his student Kase Taiji (加瀬 泰治) became more match-orientated and adopted many flashy kicks as well as deep stances. And sure, Shōtō was the pen name of Funakoshi Gichin, so that shōtōkan (松濤館) indeed got named after him, but he always rejected this honor becausee he was doing only karate and opposed to divide it into different styles. Jesse Enkamp, too, knows this and sometimes even uses expressions like “for Funakoshi’s sake” in spite of often finding “Japanese karate” not Okinawan enough.

Shōtōkan (松濤館) is not only an authentic karate style. Shōtōkan (松濤館) is what you get if you unite all styles of karate and subtract from the result only what clearly came from something, which had nothing to do with karate. Shōtōkan (松濤館) is what you, maybe involuntarily or even unwillingly, do if you do karate regardless of styles. Even shōtōkan (松濤館) lineages aside that of Funakoshi exist, while within shōtōkan (松濤館) several umbrella organizations exist. Shōtōkan (松濤館) could easily get split into tens of additional styles because it encompasses everything, which can be called karate.