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In 1905, Itsou was appointed as karate teacher to the prefectural Dai Ichi Collage and the prefectural teachers’ training collage. In 1908, Itsou wrote a letter to the prefectural education department that outlined his views on karate and asked that karate be introduced onto the curriculum of all Okinawan schools. Itsou was granted his wish and karate became part of the education of all Okinawan children.

Itsou’s modifications resulted in huge changes in the way the Karate was taught. The emphasis was now placed firmly upon the development of physical fitness through the group practice of patterns. The children would receive no instruction in the combative applications associated with the patterns and deliberately misleading labels were adopted for the various techniques. Today, it is Itsou’s terminology that is most commonly used throughout the world and it is vital to understand why this terminology developed. When studying the combative applications of patterns, remember that many of the names given to various movements have no link with the movement’s fighting application. Terms such as “ high block” or “outside block” stem from the watered down karate taught to Okinawan school children, and not the highly potent fighting art taught to the adults. Itsou’s changes also resulted in the teaching of patterns  without their applications. Traditional, patterns were taught and, when the student had gained the master’s trust, the applications would then be taught. Now, the norm is to teach pattern movements without ever teaching the applications.

Itsou is often criticized for weakening karate due to the changes he instigated but, at the time, Karate was dying and without his changes it may have died. Itsou will have had no idea that his “children’s Karate” was due to become one of the world’s most popular martial arts. Itsou later saw the problems caused by the changes. In 1905, he wrote, “You must decide whether your kata is for cultivating health or for its practical use.” He encouraged his adult students to, “Always practice kata with its practical use in your mind.”

In the mid 1930’s, Gichin Funakoshi, a student of Itsou’s and the founder of Shotokan karate, led a movement to gain national recognition for karate from Japan’s leading martial arts association, the Butoku-Kai. After numerous meetings and demonstrations, Karate was finally granted national recognition, but there were a number of conditions attached. The Butoku-Kai insisted that Karate develop a unified teaching curriculum, distance itself from its Chinese origins, adopt a standard training uniform (a lightweight Judo gi was decided upon), assign a system of ranking (the kyu-Dan grade system of Judo), develop a system of competition, and to further reduce some of the more violent methods employed. Funakoshi and his group were successful in these tasks and karate gained national recognition and hence continued to spread.

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