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'
Library's review
(from dustjacket)
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
Various forms of empty-hand techniques have been practiced in Okinawa for centuries, but due to the lack of historical records, fancy oftern masquerades as fact. In telling of his own famous teachers-and not only of the mastry of their 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 perseverence 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.
Contents
Foreword, Preface
Entering the Way
Training for Life
Recognition
One Life
Important Points
The Past, the Future
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
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this autobiograhy 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 formost masters, he gave up his livelihood to devote the rest or his life to the propagation of the Way of Karate. Under his guidance, tecniques 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 oftern masquerades as fact. In telling of his own famous teachers-and not only of the mastry of their 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 perseverence 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.
Contents
Foreword, Preface
Entering the Way
Training for Life
Recognition
One Life
Important Points
The Past, the Future
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User reviews
LibraryThing member cjparker
The life history of Gichin Funakoshi forunder of Shotokan Karate-Do. A unique book about a man dedicated to his mission of spreading the art of karate-do. An insight to the Bushi mind in a novel approach. More is left unsaid than is said in this book. Slight reference to his many years away from
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his family and the turmoil of the II World War and Japans militarisum and role Karate-do played in it. The book generates more question about this man than it answers for the students of Shotokan. It is a must read though if you are a karate-ka espicially of Shotokan. Show Less
LibraryThing member Ensorceled
A must read for all Karate-ka.
Genres
ISBN
870112414
Publication
Kodansha International Tokyo, New York & San Francisco