Côté Coach · Shotokan

Coaching Shotokan karate, from the youngest to the black belts

Choose your age group, find a drill or prepare a session. The guides explain the sources and age-specific guidance.

Sources and overview

A free knowledge base built on two authorities that are never merged: competition (WKF, FFKarate, Swiss Karate Federation, DKV), a controlled-contact (sundome) karate, and the curriculum (JKA, SKIF, WSKF, ITKF), which diverges from one organisation to the next. Contact is graded by category: no percussion under 14, no hand contact to the head for cadets and juniors, controlled sundome for seniors.

Côté Coach · Shotokan

What the sport and the style organisations actually publish about youth Shotokan karate

Two authorities never merged: the sport (WKF, FFKarate, the Swiss Karate Federation, the DKV) for sundome competition, the style (JKA, SKIF) for the curriculum, the kata and the grades. Contact controlled by category, the pre-arranged ladder (gohon to jiyu-ippon), kata, conditioning — sourced, dated, comparable.

28 published drills

8 guides

6 authorities cited

Pick an age group

Priorities change completely from one band to the next, and the contact gate is set by the WKF/FFK rules, category by category.

Do

Everything runs through line kihon: choku-zuki, gyaku-zuki, the block family (age, soto, uchi, gedan-barai) by name, with hikite and kime, on a slow count.
The only kumite at this age is the pre-arranged (yakusoku) ladder: gohon then sanbon kumite in controlled blocking, and non-percussive distance games. That is the safe bridge to fighting, not a jiyu kumite.
Kata starts by segments: Taikyoku, then Heian Shodan along the embusen line. Half the grade syllabus lives in kata.

Avoid

Free jiyu kumite: no WKF competition category exists below cadet, and under 14 the WKF rules forbid any skin-touch. Fighting at this age is pre-arranged and non-percussive.
Head contact: the hand strike to the head (jodan) is forbidden for cadets AND juniors, and there is no skin-touch under 14 (WKF). A strike that seeks the head is a foul, not a point.
Hard tameshiwari and partner body-hardening: that is Kyokushin, not Shotokan. Shotokan competition is controlled contact (sundome), never a force-breaking test at this age.

Do

Run the grade-by-grade program: each kyu adds its kihon block, its kata (the Heian series through Godan, Tekki Shodan approaching) and its rung of the pre-arranged ladder (JKA, DKV).
The pre-arranged ladder widens: gohon then sanbon, then kihon-ippon kumite (6th kyu at JKA), each counter announced and controlled.
Kumite stays pre-arranged and non-percussive: under 14, no skin-touch (WKF), helmet + external chest protector if any contact format is used.

Avoid

Head contact and free jiyu kumite below cadet: under 14 the WKF rules allow no skin-touch. You do not rehearse a foul by training it.
Presenting one organisation as « Shotokan »: where a kata sits in the grade diverges (JKA, SKIF, DKV); name your dojo's organisation, never « Shotokan ».
Writing Pinan for Heian: Shotokan says Heian (Pinan is the Shitō/Wadō name), Kanku (not Kūshankū), Empi (not Wanshu), Bassai (not Passai). The name is the lineage.

Do

Controlled shiai begins: jiyu-ippon then jiyu kumite under the WKF cadet/junior categories. Cadets 14–15: face mask/grille compulsory, no hand contact to the head, light kick skin-touch allowed.
The competition game is learned on the tatami: maai (scoring distance) management, the kizami-zuki / gyaku-zuki lead-and-counter, the ashi-barai sweep then strike, the debana (interception) timing.
The advanced kata arrive (Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai, Empi, Jion, the sentei kata for 1st kyu and Shodan), with paired bunkai.

Avoid

Hand contact to the head: jodan is forbidden with the hand for cadets and juniors (WKF). A punch that seeks the head is a penalty, not a waza-ari.
Treating 14–15 and 16–17 as one regime: the cadet carries the face mask and the no-hand-to-head gate, the junior differs. The band straddles them, the rule does not.
Excessive contact as a way to score: Shotokan is sundome; excessive contact is a penalty (the Chui ladder), never a point (WKF).

Do

Full senior sundome: the tally yuko 1 / waza-ari 2 / ippon 3, the 8-point gap, senshu (the first unanswered point), and kata scored on two components (technical + athletic). Senior from 18, bare-headed.
Name the edition: the penalty ladder changed. In 2026, Chui (up to ×3), then Hansoku-chui, then Hansoku / Shikkaku. The pre-2019 Chukoku / Keikoku / C1 / C2 system is retired.
The dan grade is a state diploma in France (CSDGE); the style organisation supplies the curriculum. Dan age gates: DKV Shodan 16, Nidan 20; SKIF Nidan 16+.

Avoid

Excessive or uncontrolled contact: jodan is skin-touch or no-contact and heavily penalised; excessive contact is a penalty, never a scoring event (WKF).
Seeking the KO: Shotokan is controlled contact (sundome), not knockdown (that is Kyokushin, a separate discipline).
Citing a style manual for a competition rule, or a WKF rulebook for a kihon standard: two authorities, never merged (SPORT = WKF/FFK, STYLE = JKA/SKIF).

Session generator

Age band, duration, theme, and a minuted outline. The 28 drills trace to an authority document (WKF/FFK for competition, JKA/SKIF/DKV for the curriculum).

The drills

Filter by theme. Any age or contact gate is written into each drill's coaching points, naming the authority (WKF/FFK) that imposes it.

The guides

Fundamentals by age & contact The contact gate category by category (WKF/FFK): no percussion under 14, no hand to the head for cadets and juniors, controlled sundome for seniors. Building a session Warm-up, kihon, ido geiko, kata, the pre-arranged ladder, kumite, cool-down: the balance of the three streams (kihon / kata / kumite) on a minuted outline. Kihon & techniques Stances (dachi), tsuki, uke, keri by name: the JKA principles (hikite, kime, hip rotation koshi) and the correction ladder, one fault at a time. Kata & bunkai Taikyoku, the Heian series, then the advanced kata (Bassai, Kanku, Empi, Jion): embusen, segmentation, paired bunkai, and a per-grade placement that differs by organisation. Kumite rules (WKF) The tally yuko 1 / waza-ari 2 / ippon 3, the 8-point gap, senshu, the two-component kata score, and the 2026 penalty ladder (Chui, Hansoku-chui, Hansoku / Shikkaku). Grades & promotion The per-grade pre-arranged ladder, the dan age gates (DKV Shodan 16, Nidan 20), and the dan as a state diploma in France (CSDGE) above the style curriculum. The grade-by-grade program The grade-by-grade syllabus, organisation by organisation (JKA, DKV, SKIF, FFKarate): the kata and kumite examined at each kyu, with the deltas, the wall chart for the dojo. Tactics & competition The WKF game: maai management, the kizami / gyaku-zuki lead-and-counter, the sweep then strike, the debana timing, senshu and the end-game at the 8-point gap or on the clock.

These drills are in Paak

The generator above also lives inside the app, on the session itself: pick the age band, the duration and the theme, and Paak builds a five-block minuted outline from this same library of 28 drills, a warm-up, two mains, a kumite form and a cool-down. Edit it, save it to the session: that is free. Printing the session sheet and club-authored drills beyond 5 are in Paak One.

Create a club account See Paak for a karate dojo

In Paak

These drills are in Paak

The generator is right on the session: plan by the players’ age band and the duration, pick a theme. Paak builds a minuted five-block outline — warm-up, two work blocks, a game and a cool-down — from this same library of 28 drills.

Planning, editing and saving the session is free.

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