Burnaby Shotokan Karate dojo practices an orthodox form of martial arts called Shotokan Karate-Do.  Shotokan karate stresses mental and physical development. 

Karate developed as a weaponless form of self-defence.  The word karate is a combination of two Japanese characters:

• kara meaning “empty” and
• te meaning “hand”

Thus karate means empty hand.  Adding the suffix do (pronounced “doe”) meaning “way” (i.e. karate-do) implies karate as a total way of life that goes well beyond the self-defence applications.  In traditional karate-do, we always keep in mind that the true opponent is oneself. By polishing our karate practice, we are polishing our own spirit and our own mentality.

As a Canada Shotokan Karate dojo, we follow the teachings of Master Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan karate. Master Funakoshi is one of the masters who first brought karate from its native Okinawa to Japan.  

One of Master Funakoshi’s last students was Mr. Tsutomu Ohshima.  Ohshima Sensei was the Shihan (chief instructor) of Canada Shotokan Karate and many affiliated groups around the world until August 2018.  In August 2018 Ohshima Sensei retired on his 88th birthday.  He appointed each country its own Shihan.  Mr. Norman Welch is now Shihan of Canada Shotokan Karate.  

For more information on the lineage of Canada Shotokan Karate, click here to go to our lineage page on the Canada Shotokan Karate website.