Gichin Funakoshi is world famous as one of Karate's great masters. Born in Suri, Okinawa Prefecture, in 1868, he studied Karate-do from childhood and organised the first public demonstrations. He was chosen to demonstrate Karate at the First National Athletic Exhibition in Tokyo in 1922, which led to the introduction of the ancient martial art to the rest of Japan and subsequently the rest of the world.
Although Funakoshi Sensei was noted for introducing Karate-do to Japan and the rest of the western world in 1922, Sensei had already done numerous demonstrations in and around Okinawa. In 1901/1902 a karate demo was arranged at his school for Shintaro Ogawa, then commissioner of schools for Kagashina Prefecture. Apparently he was very impresed at what he saw. Ogawa |
