Lesley Jackson reads Funakoshi’s autobiography, the man who launched Karate in modern Japan and the rest of the world. Despite being written in the late fifties, this book was not published in the West until 1975.
When this book plopped through my letter box, I was expecting a much chunkier affair as I anticipated the life story and descriptive journey of this great man’s personal world of Karate. What I actually got was a slim pocket-sized volume which was described by Funakoshi as, “random reflections about Karate-do and myself.” Mr Funakoshi was a man of little words that was directly reflected in his austere and modest approach to life and sparse prose style.
Rather than getting a potted linear history of his life we are given short blasts of what he was doing when; intermingled with anecdotes about certain episodes in his life that involved Karate, all usually with a moral lesson. For example, we are given very little detail about Funakoshi’s childhood but we are told how he learnt Karate in secret (Karate was banned in Okinawa after the Meiji restoration in 1868) by the two masters Azato and Itosu, which only takes a few short pages to tell. It was only from reading Clayton’s book previously did I realise the importance of who these two men were, I definitely felt that you learnt more about Funakoshi as a person from what he didn’t say than what he chose to include in what could have been a dramatic and sensational autobiography. It is only later do we happen to learn that Funakoshi’s father drank heavily and as a result, he grew up in genteel poverty during a time of political and cultural upheaval. The same sparse treatment is given to Funakoshi’s experiences of the Second World War, a very dangerous time for him as he was living in Tokyo at the time. One couldn’t help thinking when he was writing this autobiography in the late fifties that the elderly Funakoshi was still reeling from the trauma of his wartime experiences, particularly after reading the moving account of the death of his wife in 1947.
We also learn of Funakoshi’s career as a school teacher and his subsequent move to Tokyo where he introduced Karate to Japan and later, to the rest of the world. Again, you cannot underestimate the man’s humility as he describes this as, “the quite modest success that has come my way.” Although slim, this pivotal work by Funakoshi has layers of meaning that take a couple of readings to fully comprehend and despite devoting his life to a martial art, Funakoshi’s main motivation was that of promoting peace and living by example. He encapsulates this when he says: “Karate-do is not only the acquisition of certain defensive skills but also the mastering of the art of being a good and honest member of society.”
This autobiography is essential reading for any practitioner of Karate, but I would recommend you read Bruce D. Clayton’s book Shotokan's Secret first so that you understand the cultural context of Funakoshi’s personality and historical perspective.
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By: Dan Cassidy (Registered IP 87.232.1.91) on 22-02-2008 17:27
Karate Do - My Way of Life is a slim volume and disappointing as it adds very little to what is already known about Funakoshi. It sometimes verges on the didactic, perhaps, and once finished I felt as if there was a great deal missed out of this karate-ka's story. Shotokan is the most widely -practised style of karate in the world and I cannot but think that this book was written to reinforce some of the myths surrounding its origins. I once attended a course given by the late Steve Cattle who was quite open when talking about Funakoshi's limitations but Shotokan grew because of his great pupils such as Nakayama, Nishiyama, and later on Enoeda and Kanazawa. I think it would do the reader more justice and the author mmore credit if this book had given a more full and objective account of Gichin Funakoshi's life and art.
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By: Dan Cassidy (Registered IP 87.232.1.91) on 22-02-2008 17:27
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