Karate Overseas (Mutsu Mizuho & American Karate)

 

Karate Overseas
(Mutsu Mizuho & American Karate)
By Ogami Shingo
Japanese to English translation by Patrick & Yuriko McCarthy



The following presentation is our informal Japanese to English translation of
Sensei Shingo Ogami's article on Mutsu Mizuho. I'd like to personally thank himfor allowing us to translate it and post it to the KSL and print it in the
Koryu Journal.



Perhaps the (best remembered) teachers of the pre-war Tokyo University Karate Club were: Funakoshi Gichin (Oct. 1926 to Dec. 1929) Mutsu Mizuho (1933 to Feb. 1936) and Ohtsuka Hironori (Sept. 1936 to Dec. 1980)



With Funakoshi (Shotokan) and Ohtsuka (Wadoryu) both being well known
historical figures within traditional karate circles, it's relatively easy to
study them. The same, however, cannot be said of Mutsu Mizuho, because so
little information about his background exists today. Yet, in issue #28 of the
1990 Kenpo Newsletter, Mr. Shiroishi Naoji mentioned Mutsu shihan in some
detail.



Originally known as Takada Mizuho, Mutsu was a graduate of Keio University. After graduating from Keio, he became a staff member at Tokyo University. Inthe 1985 Kenpo Kaiho, issue #23, Kamata Kisaburo (1911-1999) talked about Mutsu's resignation as a karate teacher. According to him, Mutsu resigned as an apology to his fellow members because he unscrupulously used his position, as vice president of the Tokyo University Karate Kenkyukai, as political leverage to run as a member of the House of Representatives in 1936.



Mutsu's name cannot be found in the Keio University Karate Club '50 Year
Anniversary' publication. This is probably because he'd already finished
university by 1924 when the Karate club was established.



Bruce Haines talked about Mutsu in his publication entitled, "Karate's History and Traditions, 1968"; He wrote that Mutsu went to Hawaii to teach karate and lecture with Higaonna Kamesuke in 1933. Mutsu returned to Japan at the end of that year because of his responsibilities as vice president of Todai (Tokyo University) Karate Kenkyukai. Higaonna did not return until later.



In the 16 Aug. 1933 edition of the Hawaiian/Japanese newspaper, "Hawaiian
Hochi", it said that Mutsu and Higaonna were sailing to Hawaii on board the
Chichibu-maru and would arrive 18 Aug. It also described Mutsu, Bachelor of
Law, as a native of Aomori-Prefecture and the vice president of the Karate
Kenkyukai at Tokyo Imperial University. According to the article, Mutsu (82.5kg & 35 years old..I'm guessing that he must have been born around 1898) had also been to Okinawa and China to study. The newspaper went on to say that Higaonna was from Okinawa but also a student of Toyo University. I was able to confirm that Mutsu had, in fact, visited Okinawa, but unable to confirm his journey to China.



According to 30 Aug. edition of the said newspaper, the two performed
'Ita-wari' (board breaking) and demonstrated kata during their reception the
evening before at the Young Hotel. It also mentioned that Mutsu even taught
karate at the prestigious shrine in Shimane Prefecture called Izumo Taisha. Themore I read about these two, the more apparent it becomes that Mutsu and Higaonna were pioneers of Karate outside of Japan during that era. Visiting Hawaii at that time should have been big news in the karate world. However, I can't help but wonder why these facts are not better known today.



Talking about teaching karate in Hawaii, Yabu Kentsu stopped off there in 1927, six years before Mutsu would arrive. On his way back from the States (where he had visiting his son Kenden, a photographer in California; Patrick McCarthy) he stayed in Hawaii teaching karate mainly to local Okinawans for 5 months before returning home. There are photographs of Yabu in Hawaii (and Los Angeles:


There's certainly no argument that Yabu taught karate in Hawaii during his
return from the USA in 1927. However, one question I am left wondering is
whether or not he may have also visited & taught there earlier on his way to
the USA?



The 1930 publication entitled, "Kenpo Gaisetsu," by Mutsu Mizuho and Miki
Nisaburo (presently being translated into English by Patrick & Yuriko McCarthy) mentions that Mutsu went to Okinawa to visit Yabu Kentsu in summer of 1929 with Miki. Publishing "Karate Kenpo", 3 years later, in 1933, the book has 482 pages, which, when compared to the 184 pages of "Kenpo Gaisetsu," (or 241 pages in the letterpress printing) is considerably larger. Fortunately, "Karate Kenpo" is not too difficult to obtain nowadays as it's recently been
re-printed.



Concerning kata, "Karate Kenpo" includes Passai-sho, Kushanku-sho, Niseishi, Chinte and Gojushiho along with the 15 kata which Funakoshi sensei introduced through his publications. I found it rather interesting that these kata are virtually the same as the Shotokan versions taught within the JKA.

 

 

 What might this tell us? Moreover, and thanks to the vintage video footage (probably shot by Prof. Kasuya at Keio University around 1931?) recently made available (by Masters Publications) we can also study Funakoshi personally demonstrating (kata) Rohai nidan along with the students of the Keio University karate club demonstrating niseishi.



In the "Fifty Year Anniversary" publication of "Keio University Karate Club",  it describes Funakoshi teaching Gojushiho 1 Feb. 1929 and his assistant, Ohtsuka Hironori, teaching Unsu (10 May) the year before. If this is true, then it is apparent that Funakoshi Sensei brought more than 15 kata with him from Okinawa. (However, there's also one more issue to consider which supports the rumor he learned the kata from Mabuni .PM)



With the publication date being 15 Aug., it would appear as if Mutsu took
"Karate Kenpo" with him to Hawaii. Through his own research, Mr. Charles Goodin (Matsubayashi-Ryu) was kind enough to confirm that Thomas Miyashiro (1915-1977) actually owned a copy of the book. According to the 1985 issue #23 Kenpokai Jiho, Mr. Kamata, who belonged to the karate club from 1933-1936, said he purchased a copy of "Karate Kenpo" from Mutsu in Sept. of 1933.



In May of 1934, Miyagi Chojun was invited to Hawaii through the invitation of  Kinjo Chinei of the Yoen Jiho newspaper company there. Kinjo had studied karate under Miyagi before he immigrated to Hawaii. (Mr. Charles Goodin; The History of Karate, Morio Higaonna 1996) While there doesn't seem to be any photos of Miyagi teaching in Hawaii, there is at least one photo of him in May of 1934 with his three sponsors from the Yoen Jiho newspaper company. At any rate, there's certainly no argument that he did, in fact, visit and teach there in
1934.



Miyagi Chojun first wrote "Karatedo Gaisetsu" 23 March 1934 (translated into English by Patrick & Yuriko McCarthy; Tokyo 1993: and later published a revised edition 28 Jan. 1936. In the 1934 edition there appear a list of seven people who taught Karate: They are Funakoshi Gichin, Motobu Choki, Mabuni Kenwa, Konishi Yasuhiro, Miki Nisaburo, Mr. Sakai and Sawayama Masaru. However, in the 1936 issue, three more names appear: They are Ohtsuka Nobuzumi (I guess they probably mean Ohtsuka Hironori), Mutsu Mizuho and Higaonna Kamesuke. As Miyagi had gone to Hawaii between the time of his first publication in 1934 and his 1936 publication, it would make sense that he probably discovered these facts in Hawaii.



In March of 1932, Motobu Choki also sailed to Hawaii. However, he was unable to actually enter the country and was quarantined by the Bureau of Immigration where he stayed a month before returning to Japan. The details of this issue remain ambiguous but I suspect were probably over his visa. On 13 March 1932 the Hawaiian Hochi newspaper reported Motobu's visit and published his photo.



Motobu published "Watashi no Karatejutsu" in March of 1932 (soon to be
re-published in English by the Ryukyu Karatejutsu Kokusai Kenkyukai) before he headed off to Hawaii. In 1934, Motobu sensei opened his Daidokan dojo in Tokyo's Hongo district. Mr. Kamata, wrote, in issue #6 of Kenpo Kaiho (1965) that, "In the autumn of 1935 Mutsu sponsored a seminar for Motobu at Tokyo University Karate Club where he taught Naihanchi kata." Judging by what appears in "Karate Kenpo," we already know that Mutsu's karate came from Funakoshi, however, I just wonder how much influence Motobu Choki also had upon him?



Thomas (Shigeru) Miyashiro, was a person who vigorously studied karate from these few early experts who traveled to Hawaii. A Nikkei, Miyashiro (1915-1977) was born in Hawaii and first learned karate under a man from Okinawa named Kuniyoshi.



Later, he also studied under Yabu, Mutsu, Higaonna, Miyagi and even Motobu, during the short period he was quarantined by the Bureau of Immigration. (Charles Goodin) Motobu Choki's son, Motobu Chosei, kept a letter from Miyashiro to Motobu Choki. In it, he wrote, "I don't think Choki sensei was able to fulfill his original mission here because of his visa problem, but I was fortunate enough to learn from him and later with Mutsu & Higaonna." This, then, has to be acknowledged as yet another piece of supporting testimony proving Motobu, Mutsu and Higaonna did, in fact, visit and teach in Hawaii.



The flow of Uchinanchu (Okinawans) to Hawaii began as early as 1900. According to statistics made available by the Japanese Consulate General, the number of residents from Okinawa in Hawaii in 1924 was 16,536 which represented 13.8% of Nikkei. I'd guess that some of them must have known karate. For example, in the 1989 Gekkan Karatedo magazine article, "Kata Heno Shotai" ("An Invitation to Kata"), Hideo Tsuchiya, wrote about an aged man from Okinawa whom he met in
Argentina. Like him, Mr. Charles Goodin, of Hawaii, has been studying karate history diligently with a special emphasis upon such immigrants like the old man from Argentina. I am looking forward to reading his forthcoming book he will publish his book soon which promises to provide some great information about karate in Hawaii.



Presently, the principal styles of Japanese/Okinawan karate are very popular in America, however, so too has Kenpo Karate played a significant role in the
development of karate in America. James Mitose (1916-1981), was another Nikkei from Hawaii, who was recognized as an expert in Kenpo Karate. Mitose was Born in Hawaii but sent to Kyushu (Japan) when he was four year old in order to learn 'Komatsu-ryu Kenpo', which was allegedly part of his family heritage. It is said that he stayed in Japan for 15years (c.1920- 1935) before returning to Hawaii where he taught his style to anyone without prejudice, even after WW2. (Ref: What is self defence? Kenpo Jujutsu by Mitose)



Other than the name Komatsu-ryu being located in the "Bugei Ryuha Dai Jiten", there's virtually no other information about it anywhere?! I think four years old is just a tad young to actually learn anything seriously, but, it is said
that this style went to the mainland and Kenpo Karate was created from it.
Notwithstanding, if Mitose really did reside in Japan during the said time
frames, that must also mean that he would have never been able to meet Yabu, Motobu, Higaonna, Mutsu or Miyagi there. At any rate, if we look at the first two pages of Mitose's book it is obvious that he took the photos of Mutsu & Higaonna from "Karate Kenpo" and published them. However, later Mitose replaced these with photos of Motobu from his 1932 publication entitled, "Watashi no Karatejutsu"). By virtue of the photos published in his own book, Mitose obviously was influenced by Motobu and Mutsu. If for no other reason, at least he'd seen their books. I wonder if he got them in Japan or Hawaii?



Is it just my curiosity, or does "Karate Kenpo" (Mutsu's book) and "Kenpo
Karate" (Mitose's book) just sound too similar to be a coincidence??



I may sound over confident, but it would appear as if a stream of karate from
Tokyo University found its way to Hawaii, through Mutsu and helped shape the early development of present-day American karate.

 

 

Victor Smith – Just to offer a perspective Tristan Sutrisno in Indonesia was a student of his father  Achmed Sitrisno. His father was a student of Funakoshi as the Japanese Naval War College in the mid 1930’s, at that time Japan was in charge of Indonesia and as a doctor was drafted into the Japanese navy. While there he studied Shotokan, Aikido under one of Usheiba’s students, and also has his family tradition of Tjimande.

 

 

When Tristan was a boy of 4 his father taught him Tjimande basic drills. A life time of practice and he learned how efficient they were, to drop an attacker instantly. While Tristan was primarily a Shotokan instructor as his father, he was fully versed in the other arts in which he trained.

 

 

I would just note beginning training at age 4 is not an impossible  task. Of course I experienced what those drills can do, most unfortunately. I am forever grateful Tristan taught them to me.