I am not a Shotokan stylist, though I did spend over 10 years
training with one in my various studies. I do find it continuing
amazing how the same erroneous ways of understanding Shotokan keep popping up.
I find this important to understand what occurs in the past continues to have lessons today. But only if we look closely without assumptions.
Realistically today Shotokan is not one system, it is literally
hundreds of different systems that encompass many different
approaches to training. It was the first attempt to offshore the
Okinawan arts in a systematic way, soon to be followed by many
others. Almost every growing pain that the martial arts world
experiences, Shotokan went there first, but kept much of it private allowing the rest of the world to find out on its own what wasn't going to really work.
The discussion of Shotokan stories about Funakoshi Ginchin has been repeated ad-infinitum since the English martial publications business began. On that I must make some points.
First I made the mistake as a sho-dan competitor to explain to a Shotokan stylist how Okinawan stances were superior than the deeper Shotokan ones. The gentleman (later my friend and instructor) just exploded back into zenkatsu-dachi and proceeded to place his mae-geri in my mouth with perfect
control.
Yep those stances are flawed and can't work. Of course not all
Shotokan practitioners are trained the same way or experience the same depth in their studies, but then neither are all of us trained the same way either.
Look the past is gone. We weren't there and for each story about the Funakoshi-Motobu `feud', there are counter stories explaining it in a different way. Harry Cook's book on Shotokan does try and present a more balanced analysis of the situation. On the other hand they possessed good manners, and there are numerous pictures with both of them present at the same events.
Regardless of what they and/or their camps felt about each other,
they had little business between them. In the large picture Funakoshi Ginchin was more successful as an instructor, period.
IMO, to understand Funakoshi you have to take a long look at what was happening on Okinawa. They were really in a severe depression. The old ruling families had their incomes cut off the new order in Japan saw no reason to give them money for existing. Those families were the source of much of the Okinawan arts.
Japan took over control of the school system. Funakoshi Ginchin as a teacher was in the middle of that Japanese control, till he got to his 50's and was essentially without a job or much prospect for one.
Okinawa was in a depression. Overpopulation in a restricted place, and no prospect for jobs made the disporia, or movement of Okinawan's a continual reality. People left Okinawa for space, for work or even to avoid the draft into the Japanese military.
Then the opportunity comes to present the Okinawan arts formally in Japan. Selecting one used to speaking to groups, one who had a better command of the Japanese language, made Funakoshi a sensible choice. In turn as a result of his demonstrations he found another educator, Kano Sensei of the Kodokan, who found a value in the public offering of the Okinawan art.
He may have been first, but there were many who followed quite
quickly. Whether to provide income, to establish a place for Okinawa in the larger Japanese picture, or create opportunity for one's family and friends, the offshore movement of karate began.
One might suspect that Kano's judo provided an inspiration for
Funakoshi. Move into the university system, probably with Kano's backing. Train the young Japanese elite, a natural for one with an Okinawan karate background, which was an elite art.
But the focus wasn't to develop a dojo, rather a young adult male
training program. You had them for 4 years at University, then, they would leave year after year. They weren't there because they were interested in the depth of the Okinawan arts. Karate fit a nitch that other arts weren't offering there. Many of them had trained in Judo in their schools previously. They had a grappling art. C.W. Nicole in Moving Zen described how many of his JKA seniors were also long time judo practitioners.
The art was shaped to fit the nitch, striking and kicking, basics and
kata.
Then the students moved on to Industry (and became captains of
industry), Teachers, civil administrators (administrating in Korea, Manchuria and other fun Japanese conquests), or the military as officers (preparing to lead the troops to the world's first terrorist bombing campaign, the rape of Nanking, or the military administration of `comfort women'). In turn they became a Funakoshi support group helping his arts place grow in stature in Japan.
Think about this, Funakoshi creating a training program to train
healthy young men in vigorous percussive aspects of the Okinawan arts.
He didn't hide anything. He was the first to write about the Okinawan arts. He shared throwing practices, he shared striking points and their effects, he shared applications of karate technique, and he shared some tantalizing portions of the Bubishi as a puzzle prize, that does not seem to have been realized..
But was he truly in charge. That is a qualified yes. He was the top, but in reality his new quickly trained students were running all of those programs, and he was moving between them to teach and share a bit. Their training, lack of training, and their own efforts controlled what his art became. In time he did develop a central dojo, worked with his son and senior students to refine his teachings, but he got older, his son died, the war intervened, many of his senior students died, and likely he became as much a figure head as a leader. His Karate-do Koyan went through multiple versions and material such as the original published applications was edited out. Whether by his design or his organizations.
Surviving the war years, his karate became one of the few sources of pride the post war Japanese could turn to, and the Shotokan and Kodokan grew in that light.
The art changed. First in addition to what he shared, others shared too. Motobu, Mabuni, Mutsu and others showed new aspects of the Okinawan arts. Mutsu in particular, a former Funakoshi student in a University karate setting , studied in Okinawa, wrote quite extensively about the range of karate technique applications, and essentially defined the future JKA kata syllabus in his writings.
The JKA knew what karate contained. It wasn't a secret. It just
didn't fit the need they saw for their art, and then they developed
competition to fill the hole left in their minds.
Funakoshi wasn't alone. Mabuni Kenwa was building as strong an organization in Japan as Funakoshi had, it just didn't get the same world wide exposure.
The Okinawan instructors were supported by various Okinawn business people who wanted Karate's transmission to succeed. They supported them, helped publish books and in general were as involved in the changes to remove the Chinese names as did the instructors. Why push Chinese origins when Japan was conquering China.
Funakoshi never took it on the chin. He supported changing names to make them more acceptable to the Japanese martial establishment (after all who else in Japan would have cared) but each of his books proudly showed the Chinese origins and contained the original Bubishi texts, a practice Mabuni trumped by publishing even more of in 1934.
To me it seems Funakoshi tried to successfully balance his past with his developing art.
It seems to me that there hasn't been anyone who didn't evolve their art to their circumstances. Funakoshi's big problem isn't that he changed things, it's that his changes were spectacularly successful and well as spectacularly unsuccessful at the same time. It always depends on your point of view.
He left his followers plenty of indications what their art could be.
How it developed is as much their burden as it was his.
They sought out other kata (following Mutsu's published Karate Kempo) from Mabuni.
Funakoshi getting older concerned himself with making simpler kata and developing basic instruction to a greater degree, which btw on Okinawa creating basic kata became more of a trademark among the various traditions too (Shorin, Goju, Uechi). (side note- this was not the case in Isshinryu instead it was the reverse, a more strategic advanced kata was developed…incorporating both the past and the new.)
In many senses it is not surprising that the senior instructor works harder on training new students, leaving advanced instruction to their own senior students, focusing on the beginners.
As a side note Shotokan certainly participated in the development of Sport karate. As time passed factions splintered the art, they worked to develop instructorship training programs and then exported those instructors to establish their Shotokan in many places around the world.
Their arts kept changing, many of today's Senior instructors are also involved in change such as creation of new forms.
Now is this an art created for Children. Certainly not. In fact the
entire idea seems to arise from the old days when those who didn't go to university would deride new young workers who had. And of course today those who have gone to university are wont to deride those who haven't. Both being ridiculous changes.
For after all does kids karate have programs that beat students to death, such as any number of University programs have done over the years.
Should we be techniques snobs. They don't use what we use so we're better?
Look almost everyone snipes at each other, whether other systems or in the same system.
Theoretically any one technique in and of itself can defeat any other technique. The question is whether they've trained hard enough to do so.
Are we so secure in our own training to believe Shotokan training cannot be so focused that they can't hit one hard enough. Makiwara is a part of their training potential. Does one need more secrets than that?
What does Shotokan have, few of us have experienced it deeply enough to really know.
For example it doesn't have tai sabaki? The first I ever heard of it was in Nakiyama's Best Karate 2 where it was demonstrated as a training, sparring potential.
Or Shotokan doesn't have bunkai. Interesting I'd really like to
introduce anyone who really believes that to Tristan Sutrisno, whose father trained under Funkaoshi in the 30's at the Naval War college. His `bunkai' is among the most extensive and explosive I've ever seen, as well as a very textured supporting training program that uses karate in ways I've seen few duplicate elsewhere.
What Shotokan truly is varies from time and place.
It needs no apology to exist. It's just a different flavor.
Then there's reality. Today on Okinawa 70% of the karate-ka are children. Something Funakoshi never developed his programs for, and that is likely the standard world wide.
If the reality of karate on Okinawa is Karate is for children, then
the training changes to fit the shape of those needs.
It may not be what you're doing, but it is what the Okinawan people want.
Got a problem with teaching Children. I've been doing it 30 (then to 40 ) years along with my own studies and a handful of adults.
Or a stronger reality. Karate left Okinawa's shores and they have no control what is done it its name any place. They are controlled by Japan and a lot of pressure (meaning money) is being brought to bear to force the inclusion of the WKE Japanese karate at their events, as well as even holding Shotokan only festivals on Okinawa (where I doubt there is any Shotokan).
It is becoming more difficult for the Okinawan arts to survive on
their own.
Victor Smith
Bushi no te Isshinryu
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