About shotokai.com
A small site with a long history: how it started at a university karate academy in Chile in 1995, why I brought it back, and how the material here is put together.
How it started
This site has been running since 1995. It began in April of that year as the website of the karate academy at Universidad de Concepción, in Chile, where I trained Shotokai karate-do.
I had help from a friend from my school days. He was a student at the university too, and he was busy building its website, udec.cl, one of the first university websites in Chile. Thanks to him, the karate pages went online on a udec.cl subdomain. They later moved to their own domain, shotokai.cl, and around 1999 to shotokai.com, where they still live.
Where the content came from
The early articles were based on writings by Humberto Heyden and on conversations with him. (Shotokai Karate Budo is the name he established for his group's style.) Over time I added original articles, along with material adapted and condensed from online sources and karate publications such as magazines.
Then the site gathered dust for years. I recently revived it for one reason: to support traditional karate with unbiased, non-partisan information.
Why this site takes no sides
I couldn't give Shotokai more of my time than I gave my family. Keeping both my finances and my family afloat took a lot of work, so I chose to step back from any official role. I'm still connected to the training in spirit, just not officially.
That means I don't represent any group or person, and this site doesn't either. It isn't an official voice of Nihon Karate-do Shotokai, Shotokai Karate Budo, Shotokan Karate of America or any other organization. I see that independence as a strength: it keeps the site unbiased and open to everyone who trains in the traditional way, whatever their dojo or lineage.
Sources and editorial approach
Some articles here are original. Many others are adapted and condensed from existing sources, such as karate magazines and other publications, and material published online, and rewritten to be shorter and easier to follow.
Sources are cited on the page. If you're the author or rights holder of something used here and you'd rather it weren't, tell me and it will be removed. The same goes if a credit is missing or wrong: I'll fix it.
Where sources disagree on a date, a name or who taught whom (it happens more often than you'd think), the aim is to say so rather than quietly pick a side.
Corrections policy
Mistakes happen, especially with old dates, Japanese names and lineages. If you find one, please write to [email protected] with the page address, what's wrong and, if you can, a source.
Factual errors are corrected on the page itself, and the page's "Last reviewed" date is updated. Requests to credit, correct or remove material are handled the same way.
Contact
For questions, corrections or historical material, see the Contact page or write to [email protected]. Dojos can ask to be listed through the form on the Worldwide Dojo Directory. You can read more about me on the author page.
