Karate-Do: My Way of Life (Paperback)

by Gichin Funakoshi (Author) "The Meiji Restoration and I were born in the same year, 1868..." (more)
Key Phrases: karate kata, Master Azato, Master Itosu, Meiji Restoration (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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.

Language Notes
Text: English, Japanese (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha International (September 15, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870114638
• ISBN-13: 978-0870114632
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #62,465 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Mike Troxel (San Jacinto, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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.)

4 of 4 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)

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.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The study of Karate, June 17, 2000

By	M. A. Ramos (Florida USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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

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.