Kodawari Hombu Dojo
Funakoshi and Motobu
Funakoshi Got His Butt Kicked?
I don’t want any Shotokan folks to have their heads explode…
Funakoshi and Motobu…did you know that they got into a fight? That is, Funakoshi Gichin and Motobu Choki. As is the case with many things related to the martial arts of Japan and Okinawa (really, all Oriental countries and martial arts), the details are a bit “clouded”. But, we know for sure that Motobu Choki was no fan of Funakoshi. And, he most certainly was a fighter. And, according to the historical writers, Funakoshi was no fan of Motobu. In this posting, we will try to take a deep look at the two (2) respected karate practioners and what historical accounts remain of their supposed confrontation. Be sure to share your thoughts on this at the bottom of the page. What do you think? Not to worry! I’ll give you my thoughts and opinion in the closing section of the post.
If you have not read my post/article on my Shotokan Karate-do training, you can click below to view it. It could, potentially, give you some additional insight as to my background1The TLDR version is that Shotokan Karate-do was the first martial art that I seriously studied and eventually obtained a Yondan – 四段 – 4th degree black belt and why I decided the Shotokan Karate-do was and is not for me.
Motobu Choki
If you are not familiar with Motobu Choki2本部 朝基, April 5 1870 – April 15 1944, you should be! In my opinion, he is the “original karate badass” and certainly deserves a few minutes of your research time.
The video above was created by Jesse Enkamp3 aka The Karate Nerd…you can find his website at Karate By Jesse…on occasions some good reads when you have the time. BTW, I just noticed that what I said here could be taken in a negative light…and I don’t mean it that way. I believe that someone of my age may not be his target demographic. So, some of his social media and postings are probably geared more towards a younger audience. And there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that. Just clarifying…. I tend to agree with him referring to Motobu Choki as the most dangerous karate fighter.
Uehara Seikichi
12th Soke
Ryukyu Oke Hiden Motobu Udunti
You can’t really have a discussion of any member of the Motobu family and their fighting or combative arts without making a quick side note that references the extremely interesting character that is Uehara Seikichi.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the Motobu family combative arts, there is a HUGE amount of incorrect information out there. Let’s try to clear it all up with primary source material.
Listed below are some of the best products you will find (they are few and far between!) by and about Motobu Choki, Motobu Udun Ti and Uehara Seikichi. If you have any interest in these arts or the lineage of these arts, all are highly recommended!
Additional information can be found by clicking on the link below. This is to the Motobu-ryu website in Japan. It is in Japanese, but if you use the translator built into your web browser, there is some very interesting information there as well. This link will open in a new browser tab, so you can always bookmark it and come back to it at a later date.
Funakoshi Gichin
Most people are familiar with Funakoshi Gichin. At least by name. After all, he is called (by some) the father of modern karate4Personally, I would call him the father of modern Japanese karate-do. But, to be honest, that is a little splitting of hairs. More on that to come in future postings here..
Funakoshi was, of course, the founder of Shotokan Karate-do5松濤 – Shoto – translates to “pine waves” and kan – 館 – which translates to “house” or “hall”.. And, he does deserve quite a bit of the credit for making modern karate-do6Please note that I am using karate-do very specifically and this is quite different than the karate-jutsu that was being taught and studied at this time on Okinawa. an internationally studied art that is popular with millions and millions of folks.
In reference to the quote directly above, I have some issues. So much so that I just can’t let it go without commenting on it. You can decide for yourself it is applicable and respond accordingly.
Look, we practice martial arts.
It’s widely known that Motobu and Funakoshi didn’t really like each other. The two really could not be more different…like oil and water. Here’s a quick quote to give you an idea:
But, here’s what probably caused more issues than anything else. In 1922, Motobu (at the age of 52) fought a foreign boxer in a public match and after a few rounds was said to have knocked the boxer out with a single strike to the head. Later, King Magazine printed a large article that recounted the match. Have a look:
Does That Look Like Anyone We Know?
That Could NOT Have Gone Over Well!
As I have said before and I will, no doubt, be saying many more times in the future…
So, at this point and based upon the quote from above, I think it is appropriate to unwind things a bit before moving on (get everyone on the same page) and define some terms being used here.
If you are not familiar with Aikido, Aikijutsu, Aikibudo, Jujutsu or the like (I have a Yondan in Matsukaze Aikibudo7Matsukaze Aikibudo – 松風合気武道 – a gendai budo – 現代武道 – meaning a “modern martial art” and refers to any Japanese or Okinawan martial art created after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and a renshi teaching license…so I am familiar with it…OUCH!), you might not be familiar with the technique that Motobu says that he used. Kote-gaeshi8 小手返し – 小手 refers to the forearm and 返 means to turn over is a very interesting technique. I won’t take you through all of the minutiae around it, but I do want to bring up one key aspect of it. Kote-gaeshi can be done one of three ways. Reference the image directly above to follow along. First, the “nice” way to do it is that you apply a very painful lock to their wrist. It is uke’s9uke – 受け – the receiver of the technique or the person the technique is being applied to right wrist/arm and tori’s10tori – 取り – the attacker or person applying the technique left hand (grabbing the opponent’s right). This, in itself, can be a quite painful [compliance] technique when done correctly. Second, in the image above, you can see tori’s right hand coming down to uke’s left hand. When pressure is applied (in the direction shown by the arrow) and, usually combined with a little taisabaki11taisabaki – 体捌き – whole body movement or shifting will force a [painful] throw or fall. Lastly, if tori were to slam his right hand into uke’s locked hand/wrist, it will generate a very nasty break.12Yes, technically speaking, it could be a dislocation. But, as I told a medical doctor at a seminar once…it the joint does not function as it should, it is broken.
Now things get really interesting! Kake-kumite…do you know what this is? Based on my experience, not many people do. Even those that study Okinawan based martial arts. This and all of the related information is a long post or article in itself. I’ll do my best to keep it as short as possible while still providing enough information for you to do your own research should it be of interest.
Most people should be familiar with kumite (NO! Not the movie!). Kumi or 組 is translated as unite, cooperate, grapple. And te (手), of course, means hand. Many of you probably do ippon kumite (一本組手), sanbon kumite (三本組手), gohon kumite (五本組手) and/or jiyu-kumite (自由組手).
If you have not read anything about my background and training, you should know that the first martial art that I studied seriously was Shotokan Karate-do. I did spend a number of years training in Shotokan and achieved a fairly high rank. I will be writing more about this soon. However, if you are interested, you can read about my background here or clicking below:
- 1The TLDR version is that Shotokan Karate-do was the first martial art that I seriously studied and eventually obtained a Yondan – 四段 – 4th degree black belt
- 2本部 朝基, April 5 1870 – April 15 1944
- 3aka The Karate Nerd…you can find his website at Karate By Jesse…on occasions some good reads when you have the time. BTW, I just noticed that what I said here could be taken in a negative light…and I don’t mean it that way. I believe that someone of my age may not be his target demographic. So, some of his social media and postings are probably geared more towards a younger audience. And there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that. Just clarifying…
- 4Personally, I would call him the father of modern Japanese karate-do. But, to be honest, that is a little splitting of hairs. More on that to come in future postings here.
- 5松濤 – Shoto – translates to “pine waves” and kan – 館 – which translates to “house” or “hall”.
- 6Please note that I am using karate-do very specifically and this is quite different than the karate-jutsu that was being taught and studied at this time on Okinawa.
- 7Matsukaze Aikibudo – 松風合気武道 – a gendai budo – 現代武道 – meaning a “modern martial art” and refers to any Japanese or Okinawan martial art created after the Meiji Restoration of 1868
- 8小手返し – 小手 refers to the forearm and 返 means to turn over
- 9uke – 受け – the receiver of the technique or the person the technique is being applied to
- 10tori – 取り – the attacker or person applying the technique
- 11taisabaki – 体捌き – whole body movement or shifting
- 12Yes, technically speaking, it could be a dislocation. But, as I told a medical doctor at a seminar once…it the joint does not function as it should, it is broken.
- 1The TLDR version is that Shotokan Karate-do was the first martial art that I seriously studied and eventually obtained a Yondan – 四段 – 4th degree black belt
- 2本部 朝基, April 5 1870 – April 15 1944
- 3aka The Karate Nerd…you can find his website at Karate By Jesse…on occasions some good reads when you have the time. BTW, I just noticed that what I said here could be taken in a negative light…and I don’t mean it that way. I believe that someone of my age may not be his target demographic. So, some of his social media and postings are probably geared more towards a younger audience. And there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that. Just clarifying…
- 4Personally, I would call him the father of modern Japanese karate-do. But, to be honest, that is a little splitting of hairs. More on that to come in future postings here.
- 5松濤 – Shoto – translates to “pine waves” and kan – 館 – which translates to “house” or “hall”.
- 6Please note that I am using karate-do very specifically and this is quite different than the karate-jutsu that was being taught and studied at this time on Okinawa.
- 7Matsukaze Aikibudo – 松風合気武道 – a gendai budo – 現代武道 – meaning a “modern martial art” and refers to any Japanese or Okinawan martial art created after the Meiji Restoration of 1868
- 8小手返し – 小手 refers to the forearm and 返 means to turn over
- 9uke – 受け – the receiver of the technique or the person the technique is being applied to
- 10tori – 取り – the attacker or person applying the technique
- 11taisabaki – 体捌き – whole body movement or shifting
- 12Yes, technically speaking, it could be a dislocation. But, as I told a medical doctor at a seminar once…it the joint does not function as it should, it is broken.