OKINAWAN KARATE MASTERS

     

 OKINAWAN MASTERS AND THE TRANSLATION OF KARATE 

Though it is certain that some Japanese people had already been exposed to karate, the demonstrations in 1916 of Okinawan karate master, Funakoshi Gichin in Tokyo, and his decision to stay in Japan in the early 1920's (Mottern 2001), signal the opening of the period when most Japanese would become familiar with karate for the first time.  By 1922 Funakoshi Gichin was teaching karate at the Okinawan dormitory of Japan University in Tokyo.  By 1935 he had established more than 30 dojo, or training halls, mostly aligned with educational institutions (Madis 2003: 187).  He was also instrumental in convincing the government to make karate part of the curriculum in Japanese schools in 1927, as it had been in Okinawa for over two decades (Krug 2001).  As Itosu and Miyagi had simplified the system in order to make it more appropriate for introduction into public schools in Okinawa, so too did Funakoshi:

In response to his students requests, Funakoshi introduced jiyu-kumite, or sparring, into the practice of karate in Japan (Krug 2001).  This represented a departure from the kata centric, or pattern-practice focused, nature of karate as performed in Okinawa until that time.  This change also opened the art up for sportification and competition, and it is credited for greatly increasing the popularity of karate in Japan (Krug 2001; Friman 1996). 

 “At this time, numerous techniques and teachings of karate were systematically removed from the bunkai (explanations) of kata and from the kihon waza (basic techniques). The system was reduced to punches, blocks, kicks, and weapons, while advanced techniques were considered unsuitable for school children or the general public.  This deskilled karate became the public face of the art” (Krug 2001: 

These changes should not be characterized as simply a process of subtraction as techniques were pared away.  As Moening states, “With the introduction from Okinawa to Japan, karate developed by incorporating new ideas from young Japanese students.  The university clubs, which were often Shotokan schools of Funakoshi, played an especially important role in karate's rapid development” (2011: 10).  One of Funakoshi's students, Nakayma Masatoshi, reported, “My seniors... knew only kata; it was the only thing Master Funakoshi taught them... [But] all of us had studied judo and kendo... [which] were centered around combat... So, the idea of combat was deeply ingrained in us... and we all really needed the combative aspect that karate lacked” (Hassell 2007: 43).397). 

Funakoshi was quite aware of the judo and kendo sport culture that his Japanese students had grown up in and were motivated by in their requests for live competition.  From judo he adopted the ranking system of colored belts and degrees of black belts, as well as the basic uniform or gi (Mottern 2001).  Before adopting uniforms, karate practitioners in Okinawa simply practiced in their everyday clothes.  In many cases they practiced in nothing other than their underwear because of the oppressive heat and humidity of their tropical island home (Madis 2003).  As Donohue points out, the significance of the uniform is of a highly symbolic nature, in that it is, “a statement of individual conformity and identification with the group” (1993: 113). 

Perhaps no one else at this time understood the importance of the connection between the uniform, group identity and physical exertion better than Yabu Kentsu:

“A former officer in the Japanese army, Yabu [Kentsu] introduced many procedures still practiced in karate schools worldwide... These innovations included... bowing upon entering the training hall, lining up students in order of rank, seated meditation (a Buddhist practice), sequenced training, answering the instructor with loud acknowledgment, closing class with formalities similar to opening class.  Most of these procedures already had been implemented in judo and kendo training and reflect a blending of European militarism and physical culture with Japanese neo-Confucianism, militarism and physical culture.  However, these procedures did not exist in China, or in Okinawan karate before Yabu” ( Madis 2003: 189). 

Donohue points to “the ritual of the bow and the recitation of dojo kun (the precepts of the dojo normally recited at the end of a training session)” (1993: 113) as key markers of a ritualized behavior that serves to create a privileged space in the dojo.  These practices also signal a distinct shift from the karate practiced on Okinawa as described earlier (Friman 1996, Krug 2001, Mottern 2001) and mark the beginning of what is thought of as 'karate' today.  Through the adoption of the sport and militaristic elements, as well as the spiritual philosophies of Japanese martial culture, karate was able to find a place in the culture of mainland Japan.  Often supported by and disseminated through the government, these adaptations of the practice found their way back to Okinawa and were largely embraced both by masters and students. To this day, in Okinawa as well as Japan, students wear the gi and colored belts, line up in order of rank and drill in precise lines. 

In the 1920's, “Funakoshi Gichin suggested to the karate research group at Keio University that the character for “Tang/China”, be replaced with that of “empty””(Mottern 2001: 241), but at that time he had found little support.  In 1936, a collection of karate instructors who had followed Funakoshi's lead and had emigrated to the mainland, gathered together to discuss karate's future at the invitation of Ota Chofu of the Ryukyu Shinpo (Ryukyu Press).  A decade or so after Funakoshi's suggestion, they determined that it would be best to change the characters used to write “karate” from “Tang Hand/China Hand” to “Empty Hand” (Mottern 2001).  This move was largely precipitated by and in recognition of Japanese animosity and contempt for China at the time.  In addition, by changing one character, “The term karate was thus elevated to the metaphysical realm by embracing reference not only to unarmed combative applications, but to Buddhist and Daoist concepts of transcendent spirituality as well” (Mottern 2001: 242).  Central to the continuation and success of karate was this decision to align the art more appropriately with Japanese ideologies, particularly those of a spiritual nature.  Without such concatenation of elements karate may never have found purchase in mainland Japan. 

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