Noah Cherry

The History of SHOTOKAN KARATE  The history of karate can be tracked over 2000 years! Although it is now accepted as a Japanese art, it is a form of self-defence that originally came from India. Buddhist Monks, whose religion banned them from using any weapons, developed self-defence techniques using their feet and hands to protect themselves from robbers when they were on their travels. This was so effective, that other religious orders also developed self-defence style themselves. One of these was the famous Shaolin Temple in China.Buddhist Monks weapons  From the Shaolin Temple, a very disciplined and powerful style of self- defence was developed. Martial arts were shrouded in mystery and were treated as a part of religious belief. From those humble beginnings, some many hundreds of years ago, the now immensely popular sport of Karate has developed. Modern Karate is split into a number of different styles, all of which use similar techniques, but students should be careful to select a club and style that is properly registered and run by qualified instructors.  The Southern Shotokan Karate Association practices the Traditional style of Shotokan Karate. This style is very close to the original temple style and is recognised as being extremely powerful and highly disciplined. The late great master Gichin Funakoshi brought it to Japan from the village of Shuri in Okinawa early in the 20th Century.TraditionalpowerfulGichin FunakoshiShuriOkinawa

Belts / RANKING  Rank is used in karate to indicate experience, expertise, and to a lesser degree, seniority. As with many martial arts, Shotokan uses a system of coloured belts to indicate rank. Most Shotokan schools use the kyū/dan system but have added other belt colors. The order of colors varies widely from school to school, but kyu belts are denoted with colours that become darker as a student approaches shodan. Dan level belts are invariably black, with some schools using strips to denote various ranks of black belt.kyūdanshodan

BELTS / RANKING  WHITE  YELLOW  GREEN  PURPLE  BROWN  BLACK

KATA (Forms)  Taikyoku shodan ( 太極初段 ) Taikyoku shodan  Heian shodan ( 平安初段 ) Heian shodan  Heian nidan ( 平安二段 ) Heian nidan  Heian sandan ( 平安三段 ) Heian sandan  Heian yondan ( 平安四段 ) Heian yondan  Heian godan ( 平安五段 ) Heian godan  Bassai dai ( 披塞大 ) Bassai dai  Jion ( 慈恩 ) Jion

KATA (Forms)  Empi ( 燕飛 ), Empi  Kanku dai ( 観空大 ), Kanku dai  Hangetsu ( 半月 ), Hangetsu  Jitte ( 十手 ), Jitte  Gankaku ( 岩鶴 ), Gankaku  Tekki shodan ( 鉄騎初段 ), Tekki shodan  Tekki nidan ( 鉄騎二段 ), Tekki nidan  Tekki sandan ( 鉄騎三段 ), Tekki sandan  Nijushiho ( 二十四步 ),Nijushiho

KATA (Forms) CChinte ( 珍手 ) SSochin ( 壯鎭 ) MMeikyo ( 明鏡 )  U Unsu ( 雲手 ) BBassai sho ( 披塞小 ) KKanku sho ( 観空小 ) WWankan ( 王冠 ) GGojushiho sho ( 五十四歩小 )  G Gojushiho dai ( 五十四歩大 )  JJi'in ( 慈陰 )

KUMITE (Sparring) 11-Five-step sparring (gohon kumite) 22-Three-step sparring (sanbon kumite) 33-One-step sparring (ippon kumite) 44-freestyle one-step sparring (jiyu ippon kumite) 55-Free sparring (jiyu kumite)

Dojo Programs  Children Martial Arts Class  Adult Martial Arts Class  Little Champs Karate (4-6 years olds)  Aerobic Cardio Kickboxing  Tournament Training

SHOTOKAN KARATE  Champions Martial Arts Studio  234 W. Baltimore Ave.  Clifton Heights, Pa   Come in for a free lesson!!!