Crowdfunding for Keio University Karate Club

 

 

How to support by credit card: English Guide

 

 

 

The Keio University Karate Club will celebrate its 100th anniversary on 15 October, 2024 as the world's oldest karate club.  Karate originated in Okinawa and was known as the divine art of the southern seas.　 

In 1922, the Ministry of Education organized the first Physical Education Exhibition. This was where Gichin Funakoshi, then president of the Okinawa Shobu-kai, introduced karate to Japanese mainland Honshu for the first time.

German language professor Kasuya at Keio Gijuku recognized the potential of karate as a martial art with physical and self-defense qualities, and became a student of Funakoshi Sensei himself.  In 1924, he started a Karate Study Group with a small number of members.

 

To prevent karate from being used as a violent and misguided path, Funakoshi Sensei developed karate mainly only through his students. 

Karate clubs were eventually established at various universities, but Keio had always been taking the leadership as a pioneer school.  Keio also took the lead in establishing the All Japan Student Karate Federation, which helped to make karate a competitive sport. Keio was runner-up in the first All-Japan University Championships.

 

Keio also played a central role in the establishment of the All Japan Karate Federation and the World Karate Federation, and a Keio alumnus won the individual competition at the first World Championships. Since then, the tradition and techniques have been passed down from generation to generation until today.

 

The current Executive Chief Director of the Japan Karatedo Federation and General Secretary of the World Karate Federation is a Keio alumnus.

He played a central role in the official adoption of karate as an Olympic sport at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. This was a long-held dream come true for the karate world.

 

 

 

Currently, the Keio University Karate Club has 19 members: 3 first-year students (2 women, 1 man), 4 second-year students (4 men), 6 third-year students (4 women, 2 men) and 6 fourth-year students (3 women, 3 men), who train for 3-4 hours six days a week.

 

The club also strengthens its players through practice matches with universities in Tokyo, and through Kumite and Kata tournaments in the Kansai and Okinawa regions. The most talented members of the club participate once or twice a year in the point-earning tournaments (Series A, Premium League) held in various overseas locations.

 

 

 

The Keio University Karate Club is the oldest karate club in the world. It has been carrying on the traditions and techniques of karate for generations.

 

The school has never had professional instructors and refrains from making money out of the techniques, so they were never actively made public.

 

On the club’s 50th anniversary, the 33 traditional forms and techniques were filmed for the first time, but another 50 years have passed, and although some photographs remain, there are some points that are difficult to understand.

 

As we approach our centenary, we decided to preserve our traditional technique by making a video once again. Moreover, this is also in response to calls for the technique to be handed down both at home and abroad.  This will be the first time to officially presented the technique to the public.

 

Although the Keio University Karate Club won the first World Championships and the All-Japan Student Championships in individual competition, and the East Japan University and Kanto University Championships in team competition, it fell one step short in the All-Japan University Team Championships, and ended in tears of disappointment in the final.

 

We are also launching this project to win the long-desired All-Japan University Championship.

 

 

 

With the donations from this crowdfunding campaign, the inherited 33 forms and techniques will be filmed and documented.

 

Demonstrations are performed by 27 demonstrators, ranging from the oldest 95-year-old super alumnus to active university students. The unique techniques of the school are also filmed as disassembled kumite.

 

In preparation for the filming scheduled for 23-24 December 2023, in addition to their regular training, the performers hold weekly practice sessions for the filming, where they receive detailed confirmation and guidance on traditional techniques from their seniors.

We are also planning mock demonstrations and intensive training sessions in which all the demonstrators will meet together, so that in the year or so leading up to the filming, they will be well-trained and ready for the shoot.

 

After filming, the footage will be made into DVDs and disseminated both nationally and internationally.

 

In addition, in order to win the long-desired All-Japan University title, we have invited coaches specializing in kata and kumite, and will send promising athletes to overseas competitions for training.

 

We want to connect the past and future of karate through crowdfunding, not only with the club members and alumni, but also with all the people involved in the Keio University Karate Club and karate fans.

 

 

 

 

As a direct disciple of Funakoshi sensei, who was the first to introduce karate to the public, the techniques he taught have been studied further and passed on from senior to junior to the present day. The kata and techniques of the world's oldest karate club are of great value, not only in terms of technique but also for their historical value, both in Japan and abroad.

 

The karate world has developed with competition at the forefront, but we believe that by making the techniques of the past available to the public, we can connect karate as it has been handed down from generation to generation to the future.

 

On the other hand, we believe that by aiming to win the All-Japan University Team Tournament, we, as the oldest karate club in the world, will connect the past and future of not only our club but also the karate world.

 

Your warm donation is greatly appreciated! 

Thank you in advance for your support.

 

※How to support by credit card: English Guide