About Us

If there is only one man who could take credit for the popularity and respect that karate is held today in mainland Japan, then that would be Gichin Funakoshi.  He was born in Shuri, Okinawa in 1868.  As a boy, Gichin Funakoshi was very sick and weak.  His parents brought him to be trained by two very famous masters in Okinawa during his time:  Yasutsune Itosu and Yasutsune Azato.  From Itosu, he learned the martial art of Naha-te  and from Azato, he learned the martial art of Shuri-te.

With the aid of his doctor, Dr. Tokashiki, and his herbs, Funakoshi blossomed into an strong young man.  And under the excellent tutelage of Itosu and Azato and his other teachers Arakaki and Matsumura,  Gichin Funakoshi developed into an outstanding student with a highly disciplined mind.  He excelled in his studies and in his martial art.  He was asked to perform in Japan during a physical fitness  exhibition held by the Ministry of  Education in 1917 and again in 1921.  He even performed in front of the Japanese Emperor and the royal family in 1922.

When he finally had the means to open his own schools, he was able to train students in  his own martial arts style.  His style evolved the melding of the two styles he learned: Shuri-te from Azato and Naha-te from Itosu.  This style is what is known today as Shotokan.  “Shoto” refers to the pen name that Gichin Funakoshi used when writing poetry and “Kan” refers to the hall or building where the students of “Shoto” practiced.  Gichin Funakoshi wrote several definitive books on the art of karate including his own autobiography, “Karate-Do: My Way of Life.”

Gichin Funakoshi died in April 1957 at the age of 88.  He left behind a tremendous legacy.  The Japanese Karate Association (JKA) which was established in 1955 started with Funakoshi as the chief instructor.  It is still a vibrant martial arts club in Japan.

The Shotokan System is considered the most modern and scientific method used today.  Its founder, Master Gichin Funakoshi, utilized university students majoring in physical education and physics to help him examine karate from an academic standpoint.  As a result of that study, he combined the various techniques into a scientific and rational form which today comprises the Shotokan Karate System.

Some of our students go so far as to claim that karate has enhanced their intellectual, emotional and social lives.  It will improve your balance, timing, rhythm, self-confidence, and overall body condition.  There are limits in the strength of our body and mind, but with proper and systematic training, these limitations can be overcome.

Karate is a martial art.  It was devised to strengthen our weaknesses and limitations.  In time, a person can learn to sense danger or attack and use karate as an effective means of self-defense.  Self-defense is the area of karate that puts us apart from sports.  It is this aspect of karate that makes it a martial art.

There are no secrets or magic to karate.  It is an individual experience.  You simply get in return what you yourself put into it.  It is something anyone can learn with organized and systematic training of one’s mind and body.  Karate is based on various techniques of blocking, punching, striking, and kicking done singularly or in combination.  Shotokan techniques make use of almost every part of your body and enable you to develop unbelievable power.

Karate was developed from self-defense techniques from the past.  However, its objective is not only self-defense or the learning of superficial movements.  It can show us the way to unlimited expansion of our limited mental and physical power.

The early form of karate was developed in China, and found its way into Okinawa, where it was developed into a systematized art of self-defense.  After introduction into Japan, karate was further developed utilizing scientific principles.  There are three aspects to karate as it is practiced: Kihon, Kata, and Kumite.

Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter is the chief instructor and head of Camp Carter International Karate Association … started the first CCIKA school at the Alviso Community Center in the city of San Jose, California, in 2002. He has since expanded CCIKA to more than ten community centers, public schools, and private institutions throughout the Bay Area. CCIKA also has affiliates in England, Philippines, China, Mexico, Italy, Korea, Okinawa, Canada and Sri Lanka.

Goju Kai was the first martial arts style attended by Sensei Carter when he was 9 years old. At a young age of 6,Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter had the chance to sit in the Dojo to watch the great Gogen Yamaguchi from Okinawa teach classes to his older cousin and wondered when he could one day learn. Meeting Yamaguchi Sensei was a great beginning. Hanshi Ralph Percelle and Shihan Cornell Watson started a Northern California community Goju Kai class in the late 60’s.

In 1981, Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter studied under the Japan Karate Association (JKA) with Yokota Sensei in Mountain View, California. Sensei Hajime Yokota is an athletic, old school, traditional, Shotokan karate teacher. His instructors include Sensei T. Okazaki, Sensei M. Nakayama, and Sensei K. Enoeda – direct lineage to the purest interpretations of Shotokan’s founder Sensei Gichin Funakoshi. After winning JKA Regional Championships in Colorado, USA, Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter continued to explore other martial styles and special training. In 1995 Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter started training with Funakoshi Shotokan Karate Association (FSKA), training directly under Shihan Funakoshi. Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter developed a non-stop training spirit to learn all he could to be a great martial arts student.

Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter became the first American Black Belt to win a Gold Medal in Kumite (fighting) at the World Shotokan Championship Karate Tournament in Portugal (2000) and has won many local, state and national championships through his many years of training.

In 2009 Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter traveled to South Korea to visit the Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters) to participate in the World Taekwondo Expo and tour the countryside. Training  with Grandmaster William Kim and in Hawaii for many years involved in private classes and local tournaments and events, awarded 6th Dan by Grand Master William Kim. Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter was elected Public Relations Committee Chairman for California Unified Taekwondo Association (CUTA) and the Northern California Taekwondo Association (NCTA) and was selected bodyguard to the President of the Kukkiwon in Northern California at the Kukkiwon Masters Instructor Training course in Oakland, California. The President of the Kukkiwon presented Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter with a Medal of Appreciation and Honor for the service performed during his stay.

In 2011 Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter became Ambassador to the World Taekwondo Martial Arts Council (MTMAC), a segment of Kukkiwon headquarted in South Korea, to promotes the goodwill and good spirit of the Taekwondo Martial system throughout the world.

Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter was appointed as the CUTA “Jurisdiction Director for Northern California 2013-2015″ under CUTA President: Jun Yoon.

On March 23, 2013 with all the dedication and hard work in Taekwondo and Martial Arts throughout the world, Grand Master Joong Nam and The World HanMooKwan Taekwondo Federation in Korea awarded 8th Dan Taekwondo to Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter.

In January 2015, MooDukKwan award for 9th Dan was presented to Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter from Grand Master Choi, Daegu City, Korea.

Grandmaster/Hanshi James Carter was born on the East Coast of the United States and moved to Northern California when he was very young. His grandmother often told him stories of his great grandmother who is a Korean woman who his great grandfather met while stationed in a missionary camp. Although he never met his great grandmother, he believes his caring personality and warrior spirit comes from her.

April 28, 2018, Hanshi James Carter – CCIKA – Shotokan Karate.

Taekwondo is one of the most systematic and scientific Korean traditional martial arts, that teaches more than physical fighting skills. It is a discipline that shows ways of enhancing our spirit and life through training our body and mind. Today, it has become a global sport that has gained an international reputation, and stands among the official games in the Olympics.

First, Taekwondo is the right way of using Tae and Kwon ‘fists and feet,’ or all the parts of the body that are represented by fists and feet. Second, it is a way to control or calm down fights and keep the peace. This concept comes from the meaning of Tae Kwon ‘to put fists under control’ [or ‘to step on fists’]. Thus Taekwondo means “the right way of using all parts of the body to stop fights and help to build a better and more peaceful world.”

Taekwondo has been developing with the 5000-year long history of Korea, being called by several different names in the course. In Korea, Taekwondo began as a defense martial art called “Subak” or “Taekkyon,” and developed as a way of training body and mind in the ancient kingdom of Koguryo, under the name of “Sunbae.” In the Shilla period, it had become the backbone of Hwarangdo that aimed at producing leaders of the country.

Taekwondo can be characterized by unity: the unity of body, mind, and life, and the unity of the pose [“poomsae”] and confrontation, and cracking down. When you do Taekwondo, you should make your mind peaceful and synchronize your mind with your movements, and extend this harmony to your life and society. This is how in Taekwondo the principle of physical movements, the principle of mind training, and the principle of life become one and the same. On the other hand, the right poomsae lead to the right confrontation, which will eventually produce great destructive power.

Camp Carter International Karate Association (CCIKA)

London, England

2018 – Hanshi John F. Kennedy