n those early days, Japan was full of artisans and craftsmen.  He could very easily have the tiger drawn to show it as a fierce, entire animal, however, he had it drawn with a series of lines, reminiscent of the tigers stripes, with no body outline.  If these lines were to be stretched out, they would hardly be recognised as representing an animal but by compressing these lines, we see the outline of the tiger.  He did it this way to show that our system is comprised of many parts and that all these parts must come together to complete the entire system.

These parts are comprised of stances, strikes, thrusts, kicks, joint locks, pressure points, blocks and throwing & controling techniques.  By combining parts of all these techniques, we have the four main components of Shotokan:

• Kihon (Basics)
• Kata (Forms)
• Bunkai (Self-defence)
• Kumite (Sparring)

Master Gichin Funakoshi didn't stop there.  He had the tiger symbol drawn within a circle in order to show that the power of the tiger, much like the power of Shotokan, is contained.  It indicates that we should never use this power on a whim.  The power is only unleashed, or broken from the circle in order to defend ourselves, or others who are unable to defend themselves against a violent attack.

When the average person thinks of the word 'tiger' a variety of images come to mind.  When the student of karate hears the term 'Shotokan Tiger', only one image is thought of; the image formulated by Master Gichin Funakoshi.

Master Funakoshi was a scholar and a writer and he wrote under the pen name "Shoto" which literally means "Pine Waves".  Today Gichin Funakoshi is synonymous with the tiger symbol and Shotokan Karate-do.  Few people however, understand the relationship of "Shoto" to what is commonly known as the Shotokan Tiger.

When Gichin Funakoshi was a young man, he enjoyed walking in solitude amongst the pine trees which surrounded his home town of Shuri.  After a hard day of teaching in the local school and several more hours of strenuous training, he would often walk upto Mount Torao and meditate amongst the pine trees, under the bright moon and stars.  Mt. Torao is a very narrow, heavily wooded mountain which, when viewed from a distance, resembles a tiger's tail.  In fact, the name "Torao" means "tiger's tail".

In later life, Master Funakoshi explained that the cool breeze which blew amoung the pine trees on Mt. Torao made the trees whisper like waves breaking on the shore.  As he gained his greatest poetic inspirations while walking through the gently blowing pine trees, he chose the pen name of "Shoto" or "pine waves".

The tiger outlines, used to represent Shotokan Karate is a traditional Chinese design that implies 'the tiger never sleeps'.  It symbolises therefore, the keen alertness of the wakeful tiger and serenity of the peaceful mind that Master Gichin Funakoshi experienced while listening to the pine waves on "Tiger's Tail Mountain".