Gichin Funakoshi

Gichin Funakoshi was the founder of Shotokan karate. He is known as a "father of modern karate". Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato, he was one of the Okinawan karate masters who introduced karate to the Japanese mainland in 1922, following its earlier introduction by his teacher Itosu. He taught karate at various Japanese universities and became honorary head of the Japan Karate Association upon its establishment in 1949. In addition to being a karate master, Funakoshi was an avid poet and philosopher. His son, Gigō Funakoshi, is widely credited with developing the foundation of the modern karate Shotokan style.

10 November 1868

Born on the same birth day (10 November): Andrés Avelino Cáceres • Brendon Hartley • Erik Nevland • Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg • Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg • Jack Scalia • Jacob Pullen • Karen Villanueva • Kristian Huselius • Lilly Pulitzer • Martin Åslund • Michael Schröder • Patrik Berger • Richard Cotton (geneticist)

Born in the same month (November 1868): Emil Racoviță • Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse • Felix Hausdorff • John Nance Garner • Korbinian Brodmann • La Belle Otero • Mary Brewster Hazelton • Scott Joplin • Édouard Vuillard