Shotokan: How many Different Organizations?

[Danjo]

I am curious as to how many different Shotokan organizations there are. If anyone knows, what are the differences and do they teach the same basic art?

 

[jujutsu_indonesia]

Most dominant is just two.. JKA Shotokan and Shotokai.

JKA Shotokan is the mother of 99% of all Shotokan dojos in the world. After all, Shotokan was NOT founded entirely by Funakoshi, in fact it is more correct to say that Shotokan was founded by his students, most prominent being Mr. Nakayama. It was HE who was the true founder and creator of Shotokan as we know today.

Shotokai (www.shotokai.com) is much closer to the original teachings of Mr. Funakoshi.

We also have the ITKF (International Traditional Karate Federation) which swore its allegiance to Mr. Nishiyama, another big-guns Shotokan shihan.

And lastly we have SKIF, Shotokan Karate International, founded by Kanazawa shihan, who received his 10th Dan from the prestigious Kokusai Budoin/IMAF in Japan.

 

[Danjo]

What about SKA (Shotokan Karate of America) founded by Oshima? It seems there are several out there. I was mostly curious as to whether the curriculum was the same. I have no idea what organization my old instructor belonged to. So I was wondering whether my Shotokan would blend well with the others. It looks the same as Nishiyama's book and Nakayama's books and Kyohan by Funakoshi. I have a strong desire to return to my MA roots and the only Shotokan Dojo around here seem to be SKA or AAU.

 

[TimBreuning]

Here in Denmark, JKA are supposed to have the majority of the Shotokan clubs, but they have lost a lot of members during the last years. I believe they have around 50% of the Shotokan karatekas in Denmark.

SKIF has been growing at same rate as JKA has been loosing members. I guess around 40%.

WSKF (World Shotokan Karate Federation) has 5 clubs in Denmark. I don't know their numbers.

/TimB

Most dominant is just two.. JKA Shotokan and Shotokai.

JKA Shotokan is the mother of 99% of all Shotokan dojos in the world. After all, Shotokan was NOT founded entirely by Funakoshi, in fact it is more correct to say that Shotokan was founded by his students, most prominent being Mr. Nakayama. It was HE who was the true founder and creator of Shotokan as we know today.

Shotokai (www.shotokai.com) is much closer to the original teachings of Mr. Funakoshi.

We also have the ITKF (International Traditional Karate Federation) which swore its allegiance to Mr. Nishiyama, another big-guns Shotokan shihan.

And lastly we have SKIF, Shotokan Karate International, founded by Kanazawa shihan, who received his 10th Dan from the prestigious Kokusai Budoin/IMAF in Japan.

 

[John Bishop]

Most of the shotokan groups in so.cal are either from the Nishiyama lineage or Oshima lineage. Even though Nishiyama has his own organization, he and his descendants practice the JKA style of shotokan.
Oshima and his desendants practice the older method that the "Shotokai" practice.
The main differances in the JKA style and the older style that Funakoshi taught is the use of "hip rotation" and lower stances by the JKA practitioners.
Oshima and the Shotokai groups use more upright stances that are trademark of the karate-jutsu practiced by the Okinawans. They also do not emphasize the strong "hip rotation" that the JKA developed after Funakoshi's death.
And Oshima stays with the original belt structure, white, brown, 1-5th black. Since Funakoshi was a 5th degree when he died, Oshima feels there should be no ranks higher then the founder.

 

[Kyoshi]

Don't forget Tomosaburo Okano's Kenkujuko version of Shotokan, or Kase's version either. Kenkujuko became a major Shotokan organization at the same time that the JKA was in it's formative years, and Kase's organization, called "Kase-ha Shotokan", was formed around the same time that Kanazawa's SKIF was being formed, both Kase and Kanazawa being JKA break-aways of notable standing in the Shotokan world.