Where does karate come from?
Karate originated on the island of Okinawa, the largest island in the Ryuku chain south of Japan. The exact origins are unknown, however, it is thought that because of Okinawa's close location to China it may have been influenced by Chinese martial arts.

It has been suggested that several weapons bans imposed upon the Okinawan's at various points in their history encouraged the development of karate or "empty hand" by the Okinawan people as a way of defending their families and villages, because of the weapon bans training was conducted in secret, sometimes at night. It was only until modern times that Karate was practiced openly.

Who invented karate?
Karate was not created by any one individual, but was developed over several centuries. It was developed mainly in two Okinawan towns—Shuri and Naha. These two forms of te or "hand" came to be known as Shuri-te and Naha-te. Various people founded schools of karate and created different systems of karate, one of these systems being Shotokan, and one being Shito-ryu.

What is Shotokan?
Shotokan is the style of karate practiced at Fonseca Martial Arts Skokie dojo and was founded by Master Gichin Funakoshi who was born in 1868 in the town of Shuri. Shotokan was the first style of karate to travel from Okinawa to Japan. In 1922 Funakoshi traveled to Tokyo to perform a demonstration for many dignitaries, including the Crown Prince, at a physical education festival. After the demonstration the response was so good that Funakoshi decided to stay in Tokyo and teach karate.

Funakoshi was taught karate by Yasatsune Azato and Yasatsune Itosu, both highly renowned Karate masters of that time. Funakoshi became so proficient that he was introduced to many other Karate masters by his teachers and it was as a result of this that he came to have such a broad understanding of Karate.

Since then shotokan karate has spread far around the world to become one of the most widely practiced styles of karate.

Shotokan was the name Funakoshi's students gave to the first karate dojo built in 1936. "Shoto" was Funakoshi's pen name and means "pine waves", this refers to the sound the wind makes when blowing through pine trees. "kan" means building or meeting place.

What is Shito-ryu?
Shito-ryu is the style of karate practiced at Fonseca Martial Arts Wilmette dojo and was founded by Kenwa Mabuni in 1928. The style was influenced directly by both Naha-te and Shuri-te. By melting the two schools of Shuri-te and Naha-te together and systematizing their approaches, Master Mabuni created the basis of what Shito-ryu is today.

The name Shito is constructively derived from the combination of the Japanese characters of Mabuni's teachers' names— Ankoh Itosu and Kanryo Higaonna. Another famous student of the Itosu School was Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan Karate-Do.

Shito-ryu is characterized by an emphasis on speed and power in the execution of techniques, and fighting is generally initiated from a higher, more upright stance than Shotokan employs. While sparring is stressed, because the style has so many kata, a great deal of time is spent perfecting any one of its 40 to 60 forms.

Are there other styles of karate?
There are other styles of karate and each may place more emphasis an different aspects. Most styles of karate have been developed from Naha-te and Shuri-te or their derivatives.
Some examples include:

Gojo-ryu—meaning hard soft way, was influenced by Naha-te and was founded by Chojun Miyagi (1888–1953) in 1930. Miyagi was a student of Kanryo Higaonna (1853–1915) who had opened a dojo in Naha.

Wado-ryu—meaning way of harmony, was founded by Hienori Otsuka in 1939, a student of Gichin Funakoshi. It was developed from jujitsu and shotokan karate.

What are the white pajamas for?
The white suit that is worn in karate is called a Gi. This originated when Funakoshi went to Japan and met Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo. The idea of a belt system was also taken from Judo.

At what age do you take kids at your school?
Starting at age 3 in Wilmette and at age 4 in Skokie.

How long does it take to become a black belt?
3 to 5 years depending on the student's attendance and testing results