Product Description

Gichin Funakoshi, "the father of karate," once said that "the ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23658 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-07
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 128 pages

Review

"Whether or not you practice the martial arts, they make a great deal of sense, and will take you far, as a philosophy of life." -BookLoons Reviews
"While focused on the practice and application of martial arts, this book's "pursuit of the way" has myriad applications for less physical forms of combat, work-related or otherwise" -Publishers Weekly
"Filled with philosophical musings, fascinating historical episodes, and advice for anyone seeking a better way." -Rafu Shimpo
"The Master insists on a training that involves both mind and body, to create a karate-do, a karate way." -Asian Week

From the Publisher
Gichin Funakoshi, "the father of karate," once said that "the ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants."

To support this life-long stance and offer guidance to future practitioners, he penned his now legendary twenty principles. While the principles have circulated for years, a translation of the accompanying commentary has never found its way into publication--until now.

Master Funakoshi's approach stresses spiritual considerations and mental agility over brute strength and technique. Practitioners should not rely on technique alone--striking, kicking, blocking--but must nurture the spiritual aspects of their practice as well. Attend to yourself and the rest will follow, was the message he set for posterity over sixty years ago.

As axioms, Funakoshi's principles are open to various interpretations. "There is no first attack in karate" has occasioned endless discussion about its true meaning. Many of these ambiguities are clarified in the commentary, which is also filled with philosophical musings, fascinating historical episodes, and advice for anyone seeking a better Way.

Translated for the first time into English by John Teramoto, a karate practitioner himself, and accompanied by original calligraphy, this long-awaited treatise is a provocative read and, for martial arts enthusiasts, a long overdue godsend.

About the Author

GICHIN FUNAKOSHI (1868-1957) is one of karate's great masters. Born in Okinawa, the birthplace of karate, he began training in the secret martial art as a child. In 1922, at the request of the Japanese government, he demonstrated the still-secret Okinawan art of self-defence on the Japanese mainland, which led to karate's introduction to the rest of Japan and subsequently the rest of the world. Funakoshi devoted the remainder of his life to this traditional sport and wrote several classics on the subject, including Karate-do Kyohan and Karate Jutsu, as well as an autobiography entitled Karate-do: My Way of Life.
GENWA NAKASONE (1895-1978), between stints as a schoolteacher and a politician, was an editor and publisher of books on karate and martial arts, among them Karate-do Taikan, a ground-breaking compendium of karate texts and documents. Born in Okinawa, he was an early supporter of Funakoshi, and in an ideal position to compile accurate annotations of the master's twenty principles.
JOHN TERAMOTO was born in Los Angeles, California, and began karate training at the age of 13 under Tsutomu Oshima, reaching the rank of godan in 1990. Since 1998, he has served as the president of Shotokan Karate of America's Black Belt Council.

Customer Reviews

A GREAT AND KNOWLEDGEABLE BOOK
This is an excellent book. It is an easy read, and covers the important spiritual, social, physical and practical parts of Karate. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what Karate or martial arts in general is really about.

A Bible for any Martial Artist.
Again, every Shotokan Karate-ka (in fact any martial artist) ought to have one of these and read it often to learn the proper meaning of what karate is all about.

It's [karate] not just all kicking, punching, grunting and stuff. Some of the 20 "guiding principles" or "precepts" in the book have actually been acquired from earlier great martial art [Budo] masters (Matsumura e.g.)

That's not to say that Master Funakoshi copied them, and even if he did, it was a very wise decision to have them listed all in one place.

A short book that can easily be devoured in a day, it's full of "worldly" wisdom, no matter what martial art you study. It's best read a few times to digest the intention behind each precept.

Even if you're not martial artist, there are many great principles here that when applied to everyday living will enhance your life and help you to be more successful, kinder and a happier person, regardless of your religion. Each short one sentence precept is then interpreted over the next page or two in simple but meaningful way.

I incorpoarte all of these principles in my lessons (one at a time of course!) and try to have my students learn them & understand their true meaning. I'm certain it goes a long way to improving my students character, especially with junior students.

Again, this is another one of those books, that, if I were able to afford it, I would give my students for FREE when they joined my club.

Not exactly "by Funakoshi"!!!
Although the book is announced to be written by master G.Funakoshi, only a 10% of it was actually written by him, the other 90% are commentaries by G. Nakasone. Despite this the book is quite inspiring in the advanced study of karate.