Product Description

Linking the time when karate was a strictly Okinawan art of self-defense shrouded in the deepest secrecy and the present day, when it has become a martial art practiced throughout the world, is Gichin Funakoshi, the "Father of Karate-do."
Out of modesty, he was reluctant to write this autobiography and did not do so until he was nearly ninety years of age. Trained in the Confucian classics, he was a schoolteacher early in life, but after decades of study under the foremost masters, he gave up his livelihood to devote the rest of his life to the propagation of the Way of Karate. Under his guidance, techniques and nomenclature were refined and modernized, the spiritual essence was brought to the fore, and karate evolved into a true martial art.
Various forms of empty-hand techniques have been practiced in Okinawa for centuries, but due to the lack of historical records, fancy often masquerades as fact. In telling of his own famous teachers-and not only of their mastery of technique but of the way they acted in critical situations-the author reveals what true karate is. The stories he tells about himself are no less instructive: his determination to continue the art, after having started it to improve his health; his perseverance in the face of difficulties, even of poverty; his strict observance of the way of life of the samurai; and the spirit of self-reliance that he carried into an old age kept healthy by his practice of Karate-do.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21548 in Books
• Published on: 1981-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780870114632
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Language Notes
Text: English, Japanese (translation)

About the Author

GICHIN FUNAKOSHI is world famous as one of Karate's great masters. Born in Shuri, Okinawa Prefecture, in 1868, he studied Karate-do from childhood and organized the first public demonstrations.
He was trained in the Confucian classics and was a schoolteacher early in life. After training for decades under the foremost masters in Okinawa he was elected president of the Okinawa Association for the Spirit of Martial Arts.
He was chosen to demonstrate Karate at the First National Athletic Exhibition in Tokyo in 1922, which led to the introduction of the ancient martial art to the rest of Japan and subsequently to the rest of the world. Among his writings are Karate-do Nyumon: The Master Introductory Text, Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text, and Karate Jutsu: The Original Teachings of Gichin Funakoshi.
Master Gichin Funakoshi died in April 1957.

Customer Reviews

Perfect for any karate student!
This is probably the most important book for any student of Shotokan karate-do to read, and is extremely helpful for a student of ANY karate style or method. I first read this book when I was beginning my training, and besides Funakoshi's biography already being a very fascinating read, I found the insight into the mind of the greatest karate master in modern history to be extremely useful in understanding what Karate-Do REALLY is. (It's interesting even more still because Funakoshi doesn't really speak much on the spirit of karate-do, but reading about his life gave me more insight into the Do than any speech on the subject probably ever could.)

One of the First Men Who Brough Karate into the Modern Age
Funakoshi Gichen was many things to many people. Although today he is for the most part remembered and respected as the founder of the style we know today as Shotokan, Funakoshi Gichen was also a school Teacher, a family man, a man educated in the Confucian classics, a practitioner and teacher of Karate, and an Okinawan who undertook the task of bringing the art of Karate-Do from its native island of Okinawa to the Japanese Mainland in his later years.

Remarkably, Funakoshi lived through several important eras in Okinawa and Japan's history. As a young man he recounts the impact of Meiji-era forced modernization, where men holding public posts were required to cut their traditional top-knots. His accounts of training with Master Itosu and Master Azato and stories of their explaits are some of the most specific known to us. Funakoshi also describes the sacrifices he made to continue practicing Karate while on Okinawa, at one point turning down a promotion because the travel would have separated him from his karate teachers. We learn how Yasutsune Itosu was instrumental in helping make karate a part of the physical culture curriculum in Okinawa's schools, and later how Funakoshi's background as an educator and karateka made him the ideal candidate to travel to Japan to demonstrate karate.

Funakoshi describes how his extended family of 10 in Okinawa struggled to make ends meet on his teacher's salary of 3 yen a month, scraping by only because of the diligence of his wife, who grew vegetables and wove cloth to help make ends meet. His wife he tells us, also became adept at performing Karate kata, which she practiced to raise her spirits when tired (page 39)!

Funakoshi initially came to Japan to demonstrate karate, was invited to the Kodokan by Jigoro Kano and ended up teaching Kano some basic manouvers which are now included in the Judo curriculum. Perhaps it was his exposure to Judo that led him to stay in Japan and undertake the task of teaching Karate with the hope of popularizing it among the masses. Maybe he was just a teacher at heart, and he finally realized an opportunity to combine the two subjects he enjoyed--teaching and karate.

In the beginning of his stay in Japan, Funakoshi started with virtually nothing, taking employment as a groundskeeper and watchman, at times having to pawn his personal belongings for basic necessities. His efforts did eventually pay off in spite of his evidently gentlemanly good manners and lack of hard-driving salesmanship. Keio University took an interest, with Takushoku not far behind...and from here, the establishment of Funakoshi's karate began to take root in Japan.

Throughout the book author Funakoshi mentions specific events and people, peppering his writing with funny and interesting anecdotes. A first class view of a specific period in time during which an art travelled from a village in Okinawa, to Japan, then world.

The study of Karate
Funakoshi writes about his life. And what it was like to learn karate in the times when it was hard to find a teacher. The book should be read by all karateka. There are two things I feel that are missing from this book. The focus on the Shuri district (there are three districts that are important to the development of Karate)and the fact that Funakoshi never likes to have dates recorded in any of his books. It is easy reading.