An idea what to read

There are times I really wonder if many really take the time to read the books written in the 1930’s, when a sincere effort was made to explain Okinawan karate to the Japanese martial order, and is the closest most of us can come to getting direct source material. I so rarely find anyone discussing these works.

Now some of them are available only in Japanese, but even for those books the illustrations are extremely revealing. Others have been translated into English (by McCarthy, Swift, McKenna and others), and I know some have bought them, but I wonder if more to glance through and then placed on a shelf.

There are such wonders contained therein, often presenting a clearer picture of older karate by individuals who lived it.

One such book is the 1938 publication by Nakasone, “Karate Do Taiken”.

Then in English we have Mario McKenna’s translation of the book translated title “An Overview of Karate”

The table of contents might give you an idea what is there.

Chomo Hanashiro Performing Jion
Shiroma Shimpan Performing Kata Application
Kenwa Mabuni Performing Sochin
Sochin Applications by Kenwa Mabuni and Shinken Taira
Passai Kata Performed by Choshin Chibana
Bowing Ceremony
Dagger disarming the First Seven Techniques
Shinken Taira Performing Staff Techniques: Kongo no Kata
Juhatsu Kyoda (back toward camera) teaching Karate-dó
Memorial Photograph of Dan Promotion
Takushoku University Karate Club Winter Training
Juhatsu Kyoda (Center) Leading Students
Shimpan Shiroma (Center) Leading Students
A Letter Left by the late Karate Master Anko Itosu I
A Letter Left by the late Karate Master Anko Itosu II
The Writings of Anko Itosu
‘Karate Kumite’ by Chomo Hanashiro
Photograph Commemorating the Establishment of Standardized Karate-dó Kata
Calligraphy by Gichin Funakoshi Sensei
The Life of Genwa Nakasone by Mario McKenna
Foreword by Genwa Nakasone
The Ten Lessons of Toudi by Anko Itosu
Explanatory Words and Notes for Novice Karate-dó Students by Genwa Nakasone
Magnanimity by Soko Yamaga
Strong Commitment by Soko Yamaga
The Twenty Precepts of Karate-dó: An Explanation by Genwa Nakasone
Prepatory Training for Karate-dó by Genwa Nakasone
Karate-dó Kata and their Meaning by Shiroma Shimpan
Basic Karate-dó Kata by Genwa Nakasone
Basic Karate-dó Kata Number 1
Basic Karate-dó Kata Number 2
Basic Karate-dó Kata Number 3
Basic Karate-dó Kata Number 4
Basic Karate-dó Kata Number 5
Basic Karate-dó Kata Number 6
Basic Karate-dó Kata Number 7
Basic Karate-dó Kata Number 8
Basic Karate-dó Kata Number 9
Basic Karate-dó Kata Number 10
Basic Karate-dó Kata Number 11
Basic Karate-dó Kata Number 12
An Outline of the Kata Jion by Chomo Hanashiro
An Outline of the Aragaki-ha Kata Sochin by Kenwa Mabuni
An Outline of Passai kata（Matsumura-line) by Choshin Chibana
An Outline of the Art of the Staff: Kongo no kata (Shushi no kon) by Shinken Taira
Dagger Disarming: The First Seven Techniques by Hironori Otsuka
Tales of Karate-dó by Genwa Nakasone

It is probably one of the best glimpses in the range of Karate at that time.
Of course it is more aligned to the karate that descended from Itosu lineage, IMO.
But there are other works from that same period that answer many other lineages too.
I have just thought of a new way to look at the Shimpan Shiroma material in the book, and am working on that.

Let me offer one example, I know you have seen this photo many times but did you realize the context of it.

Shimpan Shiroma (Center) Leading Students
in Karate Practice from Shuri Students First Elementary School at Shuri Castle