MartialSportsGear.com - Karate-Do: My Way of Life
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List Price: $9.00
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Manufacturer: Kodansha International
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.81530924
EAN: 9780870114632
ISBN: 0870114638
Label: Kodansha International
Manufacturer: Kodansha International
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 144
Publication Date: 1981-09-15
Publisher: Kodansha International
Studio: Kodansha International
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Editorial Reviews:
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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.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Somewhat Different Perspective
Comment: Okay, this is the guy who took karate from Okinawa and demonstrated it on mainland Japan. It had previously been as secret as could be, and was practiced at night so nobody would see the training.
Funakoshi worked at menial jobs in Japan to support himself while he was teaching.
And his real work didn't start until he was 70. And the first dojo his students built for him was destroyed in World War II, and also many of his students. And he lost his son, a karate innovator, to tuberculosis.
And he kept going.
This book has value far beyond an ordinary marital arts book. This book is a story of the effect of focus and a long time horizon.
Funakoshi wasn't rich. He wasn't well connected, at least when he came to Japan. He wasn't the only karate teacher in Okinawa by a long shot, and he may not have been the best.
But he didn't quit. He had the same grit and refusal to stop that marks the lives of all great men (and women).
Yes, he was a karate master. But he was a great deal more than that.
And he should be an inspiration to everybody, including those of us who are a little older than we used to be.
This book, by the way, is all text and no pictures. That doesn't make it less useful. I've re-read it five times, and I learn something useful every time.
Sidenote: take a look at the book "Hidden Karate" after you read this, and the book "Shotokan's Secret".
Those are interesting books that review the same historical periods, and the same body of technique, and have totally different perspectives. Hidden Karate talks about a pact to hold back the real techniques of karate from the general Japanese population. And Shotokan's Secret takes the position that a number of changes in the body of Shotokan technique were to prepare for a sort of hand to hand melee party by Okinawa's karate bodyguards and Perry's marines.
If the history of karate is of interest to you, you have to read this Karate-Do: My Way of Life. You simply don't have a choice, because Funakoshi was the gateway through which karate reached the rest of the world. When he was a child, karate was essentially unknown outside of Okinawa. When he reaches the end of the book, he points out that his next project would be sending karate experts to the rest of the world to teach.
It is hard to find other examples of long term planning and execution that come close to Sensei Funakoshi's life story.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Truly a master
Comment: This is a great book for anyone taking Shotokan Karate. This is more of an autobiography on Funakoshi. I think his life is very interesting. He tells of how he was a very sick boy but became 100 times healthier through his study of karate. This book gives his philosophy on the way he lived his life. He reminds us that everybody starts out as a beginner and the true nature of what karate really is. Anyone can learn karate, there is nothing super human about it. If you are interested in the origins of karate and how Shotokan became organized and introduced to the world, then this would be a great book for you. It's an easy read and very much enlightening.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good insight into Master Funakoshi's life and philosophy
Comment: This really gives a great insight into a lot of the philosophy of the master. How you take the information inside this book is up to personal opinion but whatever your opinion it is an eye opener if you wanted to know why perhaps some things are the way they are
Customer Rating:
Summary: Humbled by the master
Comment: A wonderful book from the man who effectively created Shotokan Karate.
Funakoshi was a very humble man who was trained by two early Okinawan masters (Yasutsune Azato & Yasutsune Itosu). He never boasts of his acheivements and indeed claims only ever to have used his skills once, when he was quite old, to protect himself and his goods from a young thug. He regretted this act though.
The book is only small, and perhaps this reflects a man who lived a very simple life. As he says "think of everyday life as Karate". Whether you are a new student nervously awaiting your first grading or a Dan grade with years of experience you should really read this book to bring a sense of perspective to your Karate.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Interesting glimpse in to the unwavering mind of a master
Comment: This is an interesting book written by Gichin Funakoshi in the eves of his life. More than 80 years of his life he dedicated to this ancient and fantastic way of phsysical and mental training. All the while trying to become a better person, never becoming selfabsorbed or complacent. I particularly like the story where he, as an old man, is attacked by a much younger man. Master Funakoshi repels the assailant without hurting him, but afterwards he chides himself and feels that he should have been able to avoid physical confrontation completely...
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