The styles

No style is "best"; they differ in emphasis, and the club and teacher usually matter more to a beginner than the label. ^4,5,6,7,8,9 Several founders disliked the idea of styles at all. ¹ "Style" and "organisation" are different things: one style is taught by many separate associations that do not always agree on kata details or grading rules. ^4,17

Shotokan

Founder: Gichin Funakoshi, 1868 to 1957, with his son Yoshitaka, also called Gigo, 1906 to 1945, shaping much of the modern style. ⁴ Roots: Shuri-te, through Anko Asato and Anko Itosu. ³ Name: Shoto, "pine waves", was Funakoshi's pen name; kan means hall. His students named his Tokyo dojo, built in 1939, Shotokan. ⁹⁷ Funakoshi never named a style and just called it karate. ⁴ Known for: long, deep stances, strong straight line techniques, and a structured grading syllabus. ⁴ In the UK: since the late 1950s through Vernon Bell's clubs; JKA Shotokan from 1965. ¹ When the JKA formed, Masatoshi Nakayama set a syllabus of 26 kata, 27 counting Taikyoku Shodan. ⁴ Many organisations have split from the JKA, including the ITKF in 1974, SKIF under Hirokazu Kanazawa in 1977, and JKS, so there is no single Shotokan school. ^4,12,17

Wado-ryu

Founder: Hironori Otsuka, 1892 to 1982. ⁵ Roots: Shindo Yoshin-ryu jujutsu, in which Otsuka held a full teaching licence, combined with the karate he learned from Funakoshi, Mabuni and Motobu. ⁵ Name: wa (harmony), do (way), ryu (school): "the way of harmony". Harmony means that giving way can beat brute strength, not pacifism. ⁵ Known for: evading and redirecting attacks rather than meeting force with force (tai sabaki); light, fast movement; higher stances than Shotokan; joint locks and throws alongside strikes; partner kata. ⁵ In the UK: the mid 1960s through Tatsuo Suzuki; accounts give 1963, 1964 or 1965. ^1,67,68 Otsuka's nine official kata, listed in his 1977 book, are Pinan Nidan, Pinan Shodan, Pinan Sandan, Pinan Yodan, Pinan Godan, Kushanku, Naihanchi, Seishan and Chinto. ⁵ Today Wado-ryu is split between three independent organisations: Wadokai, Wado Kokusai (WIKF) and the Wado-ryu Karatedo Renmei. ⁵

Goju-ryu

Founder: Chojun Miyagi, 1888 to 1953. ²⁶ Roots: Naha-te, through Kanryo Higaonna, 1853 to 1915, who trained in Fuzhou, China. ^6,96 Name: go, hard, and ju, soft, from a line of an old Chinese text, the Bubishi, about breathing in soft and out hard. ⁶ Known for: hard straight attacks and soft circular blocks and controls; close range fighting with locks, takedowns and throws; breathing and body conditioning. ⁶ In the UK: the IOGKF, described by its English member association as the largest Goju-ryu association in the world, was founded in Poole in 1979; who first taught Goju-ryu in Britain before then is not confirmed. ^29,70,71 Twelve core kata, from the two Gekisai through Sanchin and Tensho to Suparinpei; some schools expect all of them by 3rd Dan, more often by 5th Dan. ⁶ After Miyagi's death his succession was disputed. ⁶ Morio Higaonna, born in 1938 and no relation to Kanryo's family, founded the IOGKF, appointed Tetsuji Nakamura to lead it day to day in 2012, and in 2022 left to found the TOGKF. ²⁹

Shito-ryu

Founder: Kenwa Mabuni, 1889 to 1952. ²⁷ Roots: both main Okinawan lines, Shuri-te from Itosu and Naha-te from Kanryo Higaonna, plus other teachers including the Chinese White Crane teacher Wu Xiangui. ⁷ Name: first Hanko-ryu, then Shito-ryu, from the first characters of Itosu and Higaonna. ^7,27 Known for: a very large number of kata; strong linear Shuri-te technique with circular Naha-te technique; a fast, upright fighting stance. ⁷ Mabuni's five principles of defence are rakka (blocking with full force), ryusui (flowing round the attack), kusshin (springing back), ten'i (moving off the line) and hangeki (countering while deflecting). ⁷ In the UK: national bodies exist in England, Wales and Scotland; when Shito-ryu itself was first taught in Britain is not confirmed. Its best known British branch, Shukokai, arrived in 1967 or 1968. ^79,81,84,95 After Mabuni's death his two sons disputed the succession, and two lines continue, Shito-kai and Seito Shito-ryu. ⁷

Kyokushin

Founder: Masutatsu Oyama, known as Mas Oyama, 1923 to 1994, born Choi Yeong-eui in Gimje, Korea. ²⁸ Roots: mainly Shotokan and Goju-ryu. ^1,8 Name: usually translated "the ultimate truth". ⁸ Known for: full contact "knockdown" sparring, hard physical conditioning and a demanding training culture. In most Kyokushin organisations punches and elbows to the head and neck are not allowed, but kicks to the head, knee strikes, punches to the body and kicks to the legs are. ^1,8 In the UK: since 1965, through Steve Arneil and Bob Boulton, who founded British Karate Kyokushinkai; in 1991 Arneil led the BKK out of the IKO to form the International Federation of Karate (IFK). ^8,23,74 Kyokushin numbers the Pinan kata as Pinan Sono Ichi to Sono Go and has its own kata, including Yantsu, Tsuki no Kata, Saiha and Garyu. ⁷⁵ Oyama died in 1994 without a settled successor, and the organisation split into several rival groups that all use the Kyokushin name. ⁸

Shukokai

Founder: Chojiro Tani, 1921 to 1998, a senior student of Kenwa Mabuni; developed with his students Haruyoshi Yamada, Shigeru Kimura and Kazuo Ishitobi. ⁹ Roots: a branch of Shito-ryu, so both Shuri-te and Naha-te. ^7,9 Name: from the sign over Tani's dojo in Kobe: shu, training, ko, people coming together, and kai, association, often rendered "the way for all". ⁹ Known for: speed and hitting power: a relatively high stance for mobility and the "double hip twist" for impact; a large kata syllabus. ⁹ In the UK: brought to England by Tani and Kimura in 1968, by the Shukokai Karate Union's account, while the British Sankukai Karate Association says Nanbu introduced it in 1967; the Shukokai Karate Union was founded in 1969, and the Shukokai Karate Federation (Kimura Shukokai UK) in 1980 by Eddie Daniels. ^79,80,84 Some Shukokai associations have no red belt, so white counts as 9th Kyu; some require a probationary black belt before full 1st Dan. ⁹

Shotokai

What it is: originally the name of Funakoshi's own association, founded in 1930 and named Dai Nippon Karate-do Shotokai in 1936; today it also names a way of practising Funakoshi's karate developed mainly by Shigeru Egami. ^3,12 Known for: relaxed, flowing movement rather than tension; no sport competition; reading and entering an attack very early ("sen no sen"); full strength attacks in tightly controlled roles. ^12,82 In the UK: since 1963, through Mitsusuke Harada, 1928 to 2021, who trained under Funakoshi from 1945, was given 5th Dan by him in 1956, founded Karate-do Shotokai, the KDS, in 1965, and was made an MBE in 2007. ^1,24,82 In the KDS, 5th Dan is the highest grade awarded. ^24,82

Uechi-ryu

Founder: Kanbun Uechi, 1877 to 1948; refined and spread by his son Kanei Uechi. ^1,10 Roots: southern Chinese fist arts learned in Fuzhou from Zhou Zihe (Shu Shiwa in Japanese); related in feel to Naha-te and Goju-ryu but developed separately. ¹⁰ Name: first Pangai-noon, usually translated "half hard, half soft"; renamed Uechi-ryu ("Uechi's style") in 1940. ¹⁰ Known for: upright stance, circular blocks, open hand and one knuckle strikes, front kicks with the toes, and hard body conditioning such as forearm toughening. ^10,83 Eight empty hand kata, of which only Sanchin, Seisan and Sanseiryu come from Pangai-noon; the rest were added by Kanei Uechi and senior students in the 1950s. ¹⁰ In the UK: a national association exists; when Uechi-ryu was first taught in Britain is not confirmed. ⁸³

Sankukai

Founder: Yoshinao Nanbu, born in Kobe in 1943, a student of Chojiro Tani. ^9,84 Roots: Shito-ryu through Shukokai, with influences from Nanbu's aikido, judo and weapons training. ⁸⁴ Founded: 1971, in Paris; Nanbu left in 1978 to create Nanbudo, and Sankukai continues under several national organisations. ⁹ Known for: formal evasion and circular techniques taught from white belt, and paired set routines called randori no kata; its emblem shows three circles (sun, moon, earth) set at 45 degrees, the usual angle of evasion. ⁸⁴ In the UK: Nanbu first visited Britain in 1965, according to the British Sankukai Karate Association; Shinsei and Tazima are the only kata exclusive to Sankukai. ⁸⁴

The governing bodies page lists the UK associations for each style.