Occlith
Well-Known Member
This autobiography is a collection of anecdotes by the man considered to be the father of modern karate -- from his first forays into karate as a sickly child, his tutelage by different masters as a young man, then his teachings as a master in his own dojo.
Funakoshi mingles stories of his own life with stories of his teachers and his contemporaries of various fighting disciplines. He changed the meaning of the word karate from “Chinese hand” to “empty hand”. His wife was also learned in karate but refused to accompany him when he left Okinawa to teach karate in Tokyo as she felt that her staying near her ancestral home was a religious duty.
I found this to be a fascinating story of a humble man who helped spread the knowledge of a now well-known martial art.
Funakoshi mingles stories of his own life with stories of his teachers and his contemporaries of various fighting disciplines. He changed the meaning of the word karate from “Chinese hand” to “empty hand”. His wife was also learned in karate but refused to accompany him when he left Okinawa to teach karate in Tokyo as she felt that her staying near her ancestral home was a religious duty.
I found this to be a fascinating story of a humble man who helped spread the knowledge of a now well-known martial art.