The Shōtōkan nijū kun (Japanese language: ) are the "twenty instructions" of the Okinawan martial arts master Gichin Funakoshi, whose pen name was Shōtō. All students of Shōtōkan karate are encouraged to live, practice, and teach the principles to others.

History

Funakoshi trained in Shuri-te and Naha-te from an early age. He ultimately developed his style of karate, which he believed leveraged the benefits of these two. Gaining the attention of a larger audience, Funakoshi later ventured to disseminate his art throughout Japan, and created the nijū kun to assist his karateka in their training.

Precepts

While it has been suggested that the Shōtōkan niju kun were documented by around 1890, they were published in Genwa Nakasone's 1938 "Karate-do Taikan" as: ''Hitotsu, karate ni sente nashi ''Hitotsu, mazu jiko o shire, shikashite ta o shire ''Hitotsu, kokoro wa hanatan koto o yōsu ''Hitotsu, karate no shūgyō wa isshō de aru ''Hitotsu, teki ni yotte tenka seyo ''Hitotsu, tatakai wa kyojitsu no sōjū ikan ni ari ''Hitotsu, hito no teashi o ken to omoe The precepts are not numbered or ordered; each begins with hitotsu meaning "one" or "first" to show that each rule has the same level of importance as the others.