This page looks at famous Karate quotes from the founders of Shotokan Karate, Kyokushin, Wado-Ryu, etc. For other classic martial arts quotes (i.e. from Bruce Lee, Sun Tzu and Musashi), you should visit Black Belt Wiki’s section on Martial Arts Quotes.
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Classic Karate Quotes
Gichin Funakoshi Quotes – Founder of Shotokan Karate
- Gichin Funakoshi – The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants.
- Gichin Funakoshi – Train with both heart and soul without worrying about theory. Very often a person who lacks the quality of deadly seriousness will take refuge in theory.
- Gichin Funakoshi – Karate is a defensive art from beginning to end.
Shoshin Nagamine – Founder of Matsubayashi-Ryu Karate
- Shoshin Nagamine – Karate ultimately produces in the individual a vital concentration of energy that expands to heroic proportions in times of crisis.
Hironori Otsuka Quotes – Founder of Wado-Ryu Karate
- Hironori Otsuka – It is obvious that these kata must be trained and practised sufficiently, but one must not be ‘stuck’ in them. One must withdraw from the kata to produce forms with no limits or else it becomes useless. It is important to alter the form of the trained kata without hesitation to produce countless other forms of training.
Mas Oyama Quotes – Founder of Kyokushin Karate
- Mas Oyama – Each of us has his cowardice. Each of us is afraid to lose, afraid to die. But hanging back is the way to remain a coward for life. The Way to find courage is to seek it on the field of conflict. And the sure way to victory is willingness to risk one’s own life.
- Mas Oyama – The heart of our karate is real fighting. There can be no proof without real fighting. Without proof there is no trust. Without trust there is no respect. This is a definition in the world of martial arts.
Reference Sources
- World Shorin-Ryu Karate-Do Federation, Quotes, http://www.shorin-ryu.net/quotes.html