Karate Do My Way of Life [Hardcover]

Gichin Funakoshi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1981

The father of Karate-do describes his life of devotion to the practices and spirit of the ancient martial art and his contributions to its modern-day evolution.

Editorial Reviews

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.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 127 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha Amer Inc; 1st edition (March 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870112414
• ISBN-13: 978-0870112416
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #572,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More 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: My Way of Life, Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text, and Karate Jutsu: The Original Teachings of Gichin Funakoshi. Master Gichin Funakoshi died in April 1957.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the First Men Who Brough Karate into the Modern Age, April 6, 2006

By 

C. J. Hardman (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Karate-Do: My Way of Life (Paperback)

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.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for any karate student!, December 18, 1999

By 

Mike Troxel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Karate-Do: My Way of Life (Paperback)

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.)

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Point is Communicated, May 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Karate-Do: My Way of Life (Paperback)

I was overwhelmed by the feeling this book and this man generated. Even though the book resembles a brief of his memoirs, Funakoshi communicates the attitude, mood, and a small glimpse of the mindset one should bring to the study of karate. One might find the humble nature of this man's writings subtly profound in many aspects. The expectations I had before reading the tome were cleverly diverted, and my appreciation of karate of which I am a student grew immeasurably. I find myself recalling points he mentioned during my training sessions, other tasks in my daily routine, and even personal situations.