Five hundred years ago in Okinawa a law was passed prohibiting the use or possession of any weapons. Defenseless against enemies and an oppressive ruler, the Okinawins restructured an ancient form of hand to hand combat and karate was developed.

In 1922 Master Gichin Funakoshi brought karate to Japan. Here it was analyzed and established as an art form. Karate, purely a fighting form, was transformed into Karate-do, a spiritual and physical practice.

As Master Funakoshi said, true Karate-do is this: that is daily life, one’s mind and body be trained and developed in a spirit of humility; and that in critical times, one be devoted utterly to the cause of justice.

Not only is Karate-do an excellent method of self defense, but it is also unsurpassed as a form of athletic and spiritual training.