Funakoshi Hated Shotokan?

Did Gichin Funakoshi really hate Shotokan, the art he himself founded? Was Judo founder Jigoro Kano really buried in his white belt? Did Ip Man tell the truth about the origin of Wing Chun? Today we look at some martial arts myths and celebrate the launch of our Forefather custom Art of One apparel.

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Video Production by Fade 2 Black Productions, Inc.

#karate
#shotokankarate
#wingchun

[themartialartway]

We as a society like to romanticize the past but they were real people who had real problems like us all. They brought a lot of good into this world and they should be celebrated

[mandomusic]

Been practicing martial arts for over 36 years and I still love it! No one martial art is better than another, it’s what you put into it!

[rocirish]

That's something that has always bothered me. Throughout my martial arts journey, I've always studied the history, mythology, philosophy and legends...
And most are just that, myth and legend.
People talk about 'traditional' training style, which are what we can the way in which arts like Karate and Taekwondo are taught... but these arts, in the way we know them, are only about a century or less old... not the 'down through the ages' way that people believe they are studying a thousand year old system. Wing Chun, though there is question about the specifics of its origin, 'white crane gung fu' which purportedly became fukien and then was studied in Okinawa and became the root of tode-te, and hence kara-te, and Chen taijiquan, which have birth to Yang family taijiquan, and from there all other 'tai chi' styles, are maybe a couple centuries old... none of this thousand year old secret system crap.
People get so caught up in the myth and legends, they forget to study the art as an art. Or they try to talk about the BEST system, and don't look at application, context, and in most cases rule sets.
This can be very frustrating as a scholar that is also a practitioner.

[User-rfiq]

It's true. Gishin didn't even want free sparring. He only wanted step sparring. It was his son Gigo who introduced high kicks, additional kicks, free sparring, and lower stances.

[christophervelez]

My favorite myth in BJJ is the lineage of being right up to Mitsuyo Maeda. Choque and Opening the Closed Guard does a great job exposing this. There is also the problem with the BJJ creation myth how it was made and modified. and yes I'm a proud BJJ practitioner of 10 years but I think the truth is more interesting than the myth that is told.

[kennethmullins]

Yet another amazing video. Seeing the martial arts masters as human beings instead of legends makes them a lot more relatable. It makes me enjoy my practice of karate even more.

[jimmybutler]

And not just style; but work able attack and counter attack that works without to much effort that you are not tired out; but win without being winded out for the battle soft and hard to get the battle over !...

[JoNatMuaythai]

This is like the story of Preying Mantis, it was the 4th gen who coined this term, and decided to solely focus on the fancy speed techniques. They also split and named three new styles for almost no reason other than competition and marketing. By the 5th gen the original meaning of hook hand was lost, as 1st gen used Shuaijiao influences.

[IsaacLausell]

Your video presentations are awesome, I really enjoy them.

I suspect that Gigo was a partner of his father in the evolution of Shotokan. Even the stances in Funakoshi’s own videos gradually become lower. Funakoshi also used him to demonstrate the techniques and kata for the Karate Kyohan book. They even trained with weapons and Gigo composed his own bō kata “matsukaze no kon”.

While Gigo’s style pointed towards the modern traits Shotokan is associated with his passing had a devastating effect on the evolution of Shotokan. He would most likely had been Funakoshi’s successor. Instead the JKA and Shotokai disputed that role. The JKA under Nakayama sensei spread out further and with it Nakayama’s idea of Shotokan.

Part of the issue in general was the expectation in Japan of karate to become the Japanese style of boxing or striking as western boxing was rising in popularity. As the style spread the students of that early generation wanted to jump kick, break boards and do feats of strengths. They wanted to punch and kick and were not interested in the rest. In a way understandable as they had judo, jujutsu and sumo but also problematic as karate is systemic, if you remove the weapons and the joint locks, throws and grappling you basically nullify much of its technical arsenal. It is a systemic issue, if you remove one or more components you compromise the viability of the entire system which is exactly what Nakayama sensei did. He removed weapons training and having not learned the contextual range of interaction in the kata he presented the world with these unrealistic and improvised explanations that missed even the most basic concepts. The reception techniques are taught as blocks specially when they employ the word “uke” from “ukeru” or in other words “to receive”. “Tsuki” became a punch when the word in his own language means a thrusting motion which can also be a shove or a stabbing motion with a bo, Jo, tanto or bokken. Also in the absence of structural components that made karate a viable martial art Nakayama and his contemporaries had to forge something else that would function within the parameters and limitations they set. Unfortunately that won't always translate into the realm of self defense which was mainly the original design.

I believe Funakoshi’s karate alongside his son’s was evolving but these ridiculous expectations partially derailed those efforts, once Nakayama sensei takes over in time it becomes a different martial art.

Funakoshi sensei eventually steps aside as he can no longer recognize what he sees and did not want to cause any disruption that might affect the presence and diffusion of karate. Regretfully we don’t get to see much of the technical potential of Shotokan because by in large there are few people that understand the art contextually. I think people like David Gimberline sensei in the realm of Shotokan in self defense and Vinicio Anthony as well as the Machidas in the realm of MMA and combative sports have done a lot to show the other side of things however finding this type of instruction is quite rare.

[eisbombenterror]

No, Funakoshi was not disapproving Gigo's approach to Karate. Not really. Funakoshi himself clearly stated in "Karate-Do Kyohan" that Karate was at the brink of extinction (following the Meiji restauration because of the abolition of the Yukatchu class; Karate was an art of the nobility). In his mind Karate would have to change from a martial art into a workout routine for the general health and sport with proper rules and protection gear - Judo and Kendo being the references. The Dai Nippon Butokukai also had clear demands for approving Karate as an official japanese martial art, like uniforms, a rank system, competition and being distinct from other approved martial arts. This is actually how modern Karate has been formed to be the way it is today. But... Though Funakoshi knew that competition was a demand by the Dai Nippon Butokukai, he did not promote or condone kumite for a long period of time and he did not like the idea of competition. But this was exactly what the young karateka were after - including Gigo Funakoshi. There were several testimonials about this fact, including Mitsusuke Harada's (Karate Master - The Life and Times of Mitsusuke Harada). Anyway, the poem does refer to the fact that Karate was nearly gone and needed a new impulse to be saved.

[tldogmeat]

Awesome video! Well-researched and informative!

[YoukaiSlayer]

Very good. Though I would say Gigō Funakoshi influenced of kendo & iaido along with his untimely death had a huge impact on Shotokan that you’ll see in the raising split between Shotokan & the Shotokai that became more apparent around Gichin’s death later.

[kyleconger]

These videos are excellent. Thank you sir.

[diosdadoapias]

I think, Funakoshi love his martial art style, otherwise, he did not taught it to others. His students named his karate style Shotokan. It was not Funakoshi who named it. Me think that while Funakoshi was alive and teaching Karate, he might just refer to his karate as Okinawan karate or a particular Okinawan Te style.

[aurelienhenryobama]

Principles and philosophy of those grandmasters are necessary to know to become a person and martial artist

[ShaunCKennedyAuthor]

This is awesome! I may have to get a shirt or two or three.

I know these just came out and it's going to be a bit like asking a new mother to pop out another baby, but I would love for the next batch to include Huo Yuanjia. My grandmaster studied under someone that had learned at Jing Wu, and part of the curriculum that I was brought up in was lifted directly from theirs.

[TattooedSquid]

Love the videos, brother. I'm a martial artist myself and I have greatly enjoyed my time studying Shotokan over the years. One suggestion: if you ever release new designs for these shirts, go with something different for Funakoshi Senei. That picture looks comical, at best. I feel the kneeling image of Funakoshi that we all know and love would be a much better choice. Just a suggestion. Be well. 👊

[mizukarate]

Hi can you direct me too exactly where you got the information about the black belts coming from Japanese Swimming Arm Bands. I can't find any reference to this online or in books.

[gerhardmayer]

I have yellowbelt and allways in life ideas of shotokan often come back to sort the ideas great big thankx for

[warzone]

Mas Oyama has some Myth or 2. As does Frank Dux ☺