Shotokan karate is one of the most powerful and dynamic of the Japanese Karete schools. To understand the basis of the Shotokan and to see the rich pedigree of its Kata and techniques, we need to look to its origins. The first definite evidence of unarmed fighting methods appears on hieroglyphics on the tomb of Pharaoh Menes, the warrior king (3,000 BC). The Ryukyu Islands, known to us as Okinawa, played a prominent role in Karate’s history. When the king, in an attempt to control the activities of local warlords, confiscated all weapons in 1429, there was a tremendous development of empty-hand fighting. Most Karate history has come to us by word of mouth, and there are many tales of the great Okinawan karateka. Early historians believed that karate was developed bye the peasants and traders to protect themselves, but more recent and detailed research has shown that it was in fact developed by the Okinawan military class (the Shizoku), and most of the great practitioners were members of the Okinawan Royal Guard. The term karate first appeared in general use in1772. Shotokan is a modern name given to the style of karate that developed from the Okinawan Kobayashi Shorin Ryu School and which was introduced to Japan in 1922 by Gichin Funakoshi the Father of Modern Karate. Funakoshi was also befriended by the great Kendo master, Hiromichi Naykayama, who allowed him the use of his Dojo, and from whose teaching Funakoshi took the elements of Tai Sabaki that we now use in Shotokan karate. Between 1926 and 1930, Funakoshi developed karate further and consolidated its position in Japan. Iso Obata and Masatoshi Nakayama added kumite (fighting) methods, the Japanese kyu/dan ranking system, and some of the traditional concepts of budo (martial way) to the system. After 1936, the Kate (sequences of movements) were revised to confirm to the dynamic new style and several Kata from other styles were added to complete the system. The word ‘Shotokan’ was chosen by Funakoshi’s students to name his first personal dojo, and it derives from his pen name, ‘ Shoto’ meaning ‘pine wave’, and ‘kan’, meaning hall. It soon became the name of Funakoshi’s style of karate. He died in 1957, the same year that the Japan karate Association was founded and he was first Chief Instructor. His memorial bears the words ‘ Karate ni sente nashi’ – “ There is no first attack in karate”.