Where did Karate’s Vital Points go? - An Older Discussion

  

The simple answer is that Funakoshi got rid of them. We know for a fact that Gichin Funakoshi learned the use of vital point striking as part of the Karate he learned in his youth in Okinawa. We could reference the fact that other Okinawan Karate schools, less affected the by the development of Karate-do, still use vital points today. But we don’t need to. Funakoshi told us himself, in his first 2 books in the early 1920’s:

 

“With continuing research it is not unfeasible that as in judo and kendo our karate, too, might incorporate a grading system through the adoption of protective gear and the banning of attacks to vital points.”

 

The picture I’ve used here shows Funakoshi himself using a single knuckle fist to strike a vital point on the face.

 

Its clear that, at one point, Funakoshi was flirting with the idea of Karate as a competitive sport, much like Judo and Kendo. Ultimately he backed away from that idea and came to decry the idea of competition in Karate. Instead he encouraged the pursuit of perfection, much like Kyudo or Iaido. But for a time he considered going in the sport direction and realised that striking vital points needed to be removed for safety reasons.

 

Kyusho-jutsu, the skill of striking vital points was an integral part of Karate. But Funakoshi saw that it had no place in his new Karate-do. So he reduced all the richness and depth of knowledge about how to traumatise the human body into 3 simple target areas – jodan, chudan & gedan – high, middle and low.

 

You can do effective bunkai, ie. self-defence applying the lessons of the kata, without using vital points. But you’ll always be missing something, something that used to be there, something that would enhance and enrich your Karate.