On the removal of grappling from Shotokan

[Makalakumu]

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-...d20-On-the-removal-of-grappling-from-Shotokan

I've got two books in front of me right now. Both of them are very old and are contained at the Hawaii Karate Library at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Which, by the way, has the most extensive sections on karate in the world.

The first book is Karate Do - My Way of Life by Gichin Funakoshi. Funakoshi Sensei wrote it in 1956, in Japanese for Japanese Karateka. The first translation of this book was made available to an English speaking audience in 1975, thirty-three years ago. In this book, Gichin Funakoski discusses the origin of karate, his training under the great masters, bringing karate to Japan, the foundation of the Shotokan, and his vision for the art in the future.

My book deals with this subject in depth. Funakoshi's Sensei's son, Gigo was instrumental in shaping the modern Shotokan curriculum. Much of the grappling elements were removed by him and Nishiyama Sensei.

 

[David43515]

Very interesting. Trying to understand the application of different forms and kata is one of my favorite topics. I wonder what shape Shotokan would`ve taken if Funakoshi`s son hadn`t died in the war. I`ve read that Funakoshi wanted to send him back to Okinawa for much more extensive training with people more knowledgable than he was.(Gichin Funakoshi was sent to Japan more for his language skills and education than for his karate skills. He knew there were men in Okinawa who could teach his son more than he himself could.)

 

[Makalakumu]

Very interesting. Trying to understand the application of different forms and kata is one of my favorite topics. I wonder what shape Shotokan would`ve taken if Funakoshi`s son hadn`t died in the war. I`ve read that Funakoshi wanted to send him back to Okinawa for much more extensive training with people more knowledgable than he was.(Gichin Funakoshi was sent to Japan more for his language skills and education than for his karate skills. He knew there were men in Okinawa who could teach his son more than he himself could.)

In Okinawa, it is tradition that one learns karate from one's grandfather. So Funakoshi Sensei would have been following tradition by sending his son back to train with someone who would have been like his grandfather. Also, in those days, old style karate was taught primarily within a family. It was nigh impossible to be taught anything but the modern style if you were not directly related.

One of the main reasons the grappling was removed was to make it an austere martial art separate from kendo and judo. There was to be the same kind of zen like drills and the same kind of class structure, but the material had to be different. No weapons, no grappling. So Shotokan kata ended up being modified further.