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Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture
Kenei Mabuni thoughts on karate

I’m currently rereading “Empty Hand” by Kenei Mabuni (son of Kenwa Mabuni). Here are a couple of things I thought you may find interesting.

The first thing relates to karate’s modernization when compared to the development of judo and kendo:

“Karate appears to me like a child, which was left behind too early by my farther and Gichin Funakoshi, a child who struggled to the utmost and survived not knowing what had happened to its body. It did not have the means to understand its own situation … Also the fact that competitive karate appeared on the scene in the shape of “karate for a real fight” or “budo karate” shows how difficult it is for karate to find its right way … This is a point I would like to be thought over thoroughly by everyone concerned with karate.”

The other thing that stuck in my mind is this description of karate’s original “all in” nature:

“Young people who practiced karate made real-fight experiences called kake tameshi … the kake tameshi were not competitions like today. It was a serious, real fight and “everything was allowed” but an opponent was never beaten up inexorably. Both opponents served each other to study their own weak and strong points.”

I hope you find these interesting.

All the best,

Iain

Jon Lean
Jon Lean's picture

I've posted on this before and can't help agree, Funakoshi fudged the transformation of karate from -jutsu to a -do focused practice because he never clearly stated his underlying principles. Unlike Kano's judo, which has two core self supporting principles he gave instead a bunch of fortune cookee waffle on his 20(!) principles, 6 precepts, etc etc, and karate has been confused ever since. 

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Jon Lean wrote:
I've posted on this before and can't help agree, Funakoshi fudged the transformation of karate from -jutsu to a -do focused practice because he never clearly stated his underlying principles.

Personally I don’t think Funakoshi did that bad a job, but there is no doubt that the “do concept” is much more thoroughly explained and logically presented in Kano’s writing than it is in Funakoshi’s. It is also generally better implemented in Judo too (if you put the strong influence of modern competition to one side). So I would agree that karate’s “do” is not as well implemented as the “do” of Judo.

All the best,

Iain