Childrens Book and History of Karate

Kyoshi wrote:

But as I don't want to make it to stylistic based (shotokan story, uechi, goju etc.) who do you consider important then, if you can't chose because of the fact that he is important to one style. How big influence did Funakoshi have, beside of shotokan for instance.

I think it would be fair to say that Funakoshi had a huge influence on karate outside of Shotokan. Also, if it were me, I would also consider including the founders of the key styles on that basis. I’m sure kids would be hugely interested to find out about the people that shaped the style they practise. It would give them a feeling of connection to these “legendary” figures of the past.

Kyoshi wrote:

I know there are a lot of good karate historians on this forum - so i would be very glad if you have some good well reasoned suggestions along with maybe a couple of jaw dropping stories?

I’d suggest doing your own direct research on this rather then relying on others to provide the stories. Firstly it’s because people could get them wrong and that would mean your work was wrong. Secondly, any potential publisher may be uneasy if you had a number of “co-authors” on a website.

If you go to the works of the past masters you will find lots of good stories directly. You then know you are passing them on as originally told and it will be all your own work. For example, if you want tales about Funakoshi (and his main teachers: Matsumura, Itosu and Azato) you should go to “Karate-Do: My Way of Life” and “Karate-Do Nyumon”.

Kyoshi wrote:

(for instance i recall Iains "chinte" story from a seminar!)

I think you may be mistaken there as I don’t have a Chinte story :-) (I think you may mean the tale of Matsumura and Chinto?) I think that illustrates the point about always going to material directly and not relying on others or memory.

Musashi could be another interesting character to consider if you are going wider than karate?

All the best,

Iain

Hmm, interesting idea.

I would suggest that if you are looking for the most major contributors the figures you would want to look at are:

Kushanku to illustrate the contact with China and Chinese origins/ influences on karate development (although this figure is very sparsely documented so anything said about him would perhaps be there more for creative narrative)

"Tode" Sakugawa Kanga as one of the original pioneers who systemized and developed karate on Okinawa

Itosu Anko for his steps towards modernisation, publicity and reform (use in the Okinawan school system etc)

Higaonna Kanryo for his role in bringing the naha te lineage to Okinawa and promulgating it. 

Kano Jigoro for pretty much inventing the modern martial arts movement and  creating the pattern for all modern Japanese arts to follow 

Funakoshi Gichin for his popularisation of karate on the mainland and in the university system

Oyama Masutastu for his post-war "full contact revolution".

Hi Gavin,

I like that approach! You get a pretty good historical overview through the characters that made that history. It will be an entertaining read. The final chapter could be on the child and their training in the modern day to emphasise that they are part of the story and may even go on to be as influential as the characters discussed?

All the best,

Iain

Ofcourse i meant the chinto story - and i would ofcourse research the stories whereabout before a possible publishing - i was merely looking for inspiration.

Thanks for the input so far - i am almost possitive that it would not only try to cover karate - but also mention some stories of other "ancient" masters..

In addition to all of the above i would highly recommend if you have not already read it Bruce Clayton's secrets of Shotokan which gives a very well researched account of the history of Okinawa and the development of Shotokan, also very entertaining.

For other styles I would recommend Patrick McCarthy's work and Karate Do Taikan by Genwa Nakasone.

As Iain has pointed out you really need to do your research and obtain as much detail as possible from as close to the original source which as we are all aware can be problematical with so little recorded originally in writing but good luck