Anko Itosu brought Karate out of its secrecy and into the Okinawan school systems. He developed the Pinan (Heian) katas and taught their application in a manner fitting for kids. His letter to the Japanese government explaining the benefits of Karate-Do on the youth of Japan (specifically Okinawa) is credited with spurring Karate’s spread all over Okinawa. He also was the teacher of more famous Karateka then anyone else I can think of – at a time when Karate was still being taught only by a select few.

Gichin Funakoshi on the other hand holds this title for his work spreading Karate-Do into Japan. Before he (and I believe Chojun Miyagi) started demonstrating the art in Japan, it was almost unheard of outside of Okinawa. Funakoshi was unique in the fact that he actively tried to adapt Karate to the culture of Japan. He was integral in its change in spelling from To-te (Tode) to Kara-te. Japanese people at the time (and probably still today ) did not find things from China to be as great as Japan, unlike the Okinawans of the 18th and 19th centuries, so they stopped calling it China-Hand. Funakoshi also changed the names of many things to help the people of Japan pronounce it (Kanku instead of Kusanka, Passai/Patsai to Bassai, Naifanchu/Naihanchi to Tekki…the list goes on).

With this all said. I think the most accurate answer I can give you is that Gichin Funakoshi is the father of modern JAPANESE Karate and Anko Itosu is the father of modern OKINAWAN Karate. I would bet if you polled people who they thought the father of modern Karate was there would be a shockingly high correlation to the type of Karate they do – specifically – is it Okinawan or Japanese based.

Hope that clears it up. I teach Okinawan Karate and refer to Itosu by that title. All in all though, they are both crazy awesome people.