Mr. Ohshima’s travels took him to Mexico, through South America, and then on to visit his old Waseda Karate Club classmate, Mr. Harada. From there, he flew to Europe where he practiced and gave classes in several countries, visiting in 16 countries in total. Karate was still new to Europe, but it was time for […]
1955–1959
After graduating from Waseda University with a degree in economics, Mr. Ohshima dreamed of visiting America to get his Master’s degree while experiencing the American culture. In 1955, with a few dollars in his pocket, Mr. Ohshima stepped off the airplane in a heavy overcoat on a warm Southern California day. He had planned to […]
1946–1954
Tsutomu Ohshima was born in the Chinese province of Tsingtao, on August 6, 1930, and by the age of three, he had already entered the world of Japanese martial arts. His father, Fusakichi, had a training area at their home where many Japanese martial artists visited. Practicing daily with his father’s strict encouragement, he pursued […]
1900–1945
In the contemporary period, from around 1900 to the present time, Master Funakoshi Gichin was the most important influence in the development of Karate as we know it today. He was born in Shuri, on the Island of Okinawa, on November 10, 1868. At the age of 11 years, he began to study Karate and was a […]
Before 1900
The origin of Karate is derived from a mixture of legend and factual history. About fourteen hundred years ago, Daruma (Bodhidharma), the founder of Zen Buddhism in western India, introduced Buddhism into China. To reinforce his oral teachings, he brought with him the Indian philosophical writings called Sutras. His spiritual and physical teaching methods were […]
Lineage
Karate’s pre-history can be traced back to Daruma (aka Bodhidharma), founder of Zen Buddhism in Western India. Daruma is said to have introduced Buddhism into China somewhere around the year 500 CE, incorporating spiritual and physical teaching methods that were so demanding that many of his disciples would drop in exhaustion. In order to give […]
Master Funakoshi
Gichin Funakoshi is widely considered the primary “father” of modern karate due to his efforts to introduce the Okinawan art to mainland Japan, from where it spread to the rest of the world. Born in 1868, he began to study karate at the age of 11, and was a student of the two greatest masters […]
About SKA
Shotokan Karate of America is a nonprofit organization that has been teaching traditional karate-do in the United States since 1956. SKA was founded and is still led by Tsutomu Ohshima. Mr. Ohshima is also recognized as the chief instructor of many other SKA-affiliated national Shotokan organizations worldwide (see Directory). [slideshow size=large order=RAND orderby=rand timeout=2750] Contact information […]
