Karate Etiquette

HISTORY OF SHOTOKAN

During the late 1930s, Funakoshi’s students built a rather large Dojo for their teacher. Over the front door, one of them mounted a wooden plaque that said “Shotokan.”

In Japanese, the word “kan” means house or building, so “Shotokan” is literally “Shoto’s House,” or “Shoto’s Place” (basically, the Funakoshi Building).

Funakoshji’s students never referred to the karate that they practiced as “Shotokan.” Instead, they only used the word “Karate” or “Karate-Do” to refer to their art. It was Japanese people outside of Funakoshi’s circle who referred to his system as Shotokan.

Since other instructors were naming their styles of karate things like Shito-Ryu, Wado-Ryu, or Goju-Ryu, it must have seemed strange that the other major style was just “Karate,” so they started referring to it as “Shotokan Karate.”

This basically amounts to “The karate they do in the Shotokan.” This came to represent Funakoshi’s system of martial arts as we practice it today.

–The Martial Way

1999 WKO World Karate Championships – Bochum, Germany

Women’s Team Karate Silver Medalist

1999 AAU National Championships – Orlando, Florida

Women’s Kobudo Gold Medalist
Women’s 55 kg Kumite Gold Medalist
Women’s Team Kumite Gold Medalist
Women’s Mandatory Kata Bronze Medalist

1998 WKO World Karate Championships – Orlando, Florida

Women’s 60+ kg Ku mite Gold Medalist
Women’s Mandatory Kata
Women’s Kobudo Gold Medalist
Women’s Team Kata Bronze Medalist
Women’s Team Kumite Bronze Medalist

1998 AAU National Championships – Orlando, Florida

Women’s 55 kg Kumite Gold Medalist
Women’s Kobudo Gold Medalist
Women’s Mandatory Kata Gold Medalist
Women’s Open Kata Silver Medalist

1997 As a member of the AAU/USA Karate Team

Competed in the 1stWKO Pan American Championships – Hamilton, Bermuda

Women’s Kata Grand Champion
Women’s Kata Gold Medalist
Women’s Kobudo Gold Medalist
Women’s Kumite Copper Medalist

As a Member of AAU/USA Karate Team

Competed in the WKC World Karate Championships – Arezo, Italy

Women’s Team Kumite Division – World Cup Champions – Gold Medalist
-60 kg Women’s Individual Kumite Division Bronze Medalist

Olympic Training Center – Colorado Springs, Colorado

Chosen as a member of the USNKF Karate Team

Qualified to compete at the Pan American Games in Peru
Qualified to compete at the Women’s World Cup in Japan
Qualified to compete at the Maxine Cup in France

1996 AAU National Championships – Riverside, California

Won Grand Championship title in the Women’s Kumite Finals

Women’s 60 kg Kumite Gold Medalist
Women’s Kobudo Gold Medalist
Women’s Mandatory Kata Silver Gold Medalist
Women’s Kata Silver Silver Medalist

As a Member of the AAU/USA Karate Team

Competed in the WKO World Karate Championships – Toronto, Canada

Women’s Kobuto Bronze Medalist

USANKF National Championships – Seattle, Washington

Women’s 60 kg Kumite Silver Medalist
Women’s Kata Silver Medalist

1995 AAU National Championships – Greenville, South Carolina

Women’s Team Kumite Gold Medalist
Women’s 53 kg Kumite Silver Medalist
Women’s Mandatory Kata Silver Medalist
Women’s Kata Silver Medalist
Women’s Kobudo Silver Medalist

1994 AAU National Championships – Chicago, Illinois

Women’s Kobudo Gold Medalist
Women’s Mandatory Kata Silver Medalist
Women’s Kata Silver Medalist
Women’s 60 kg Kumite Silver Medalist

1992 AAU National Championships – Cincinnati, Ohio

Women’s Mandatory Kata Gold Medalist
Women’s Kata Gold Medalist

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