Gichin Funakoshi KARATE-DO MY WAY OF LIFE Kodansha 1981 Vintage PB Martial Arts

Description: Gichin Funakoshi KARATE-DO MY WAY OF LIFE Kodansha 1981 Vintage PB Martial Arts Crease on front cover, sticker on back cover. Please see photos Any questions or concerns please ask before bidding. We want you to be happy with your purchase. The photos in the listing are of the item you will actually receive, not a stock photo or someone else'sI pack really wellLet me know if you need more info or additional photosI can combine shipping on multiple items (and provide additional discount) Linking the time when karate was a strictly Okinawan art of self-defense shrouded in the deepest secrecy and the present day, when it has become a martial art practiced throughout the world, is Gichin Funakoshi, the "Father of Karate-do." Out of modesty, he was reluctant to write this autobiography and did not do so until he was nearly ninety years of age. Trained in the Confucian classics, he was a schoolteacher early in life, but after decades of study under the foremost masters, he gave up his livelihood to devote the rest of his life to the propagation of the Way of Karate. Under his guidance, techniques and nomenclature were refined and modernized, the spiritual essence was brought to the fore, and karate evolved into a true martial art. Various forms of empty-hand techniques have been practiced in Okinawa for centuries, but due to the lack of historical records, fancy often masquerades as fact. In telling of his own famous teachers--and not only of their mastery of technique but of the way they acted in critical situations--the author reveals what true karate is. The stories he tells about himself are no less instructive: his determination to continue the art, after having started it to improve his health; his perseverance in the face of difficulties, even of poverty; his strict observance of the way of life of the samurai; and the spirit of self-reliance that he carried into an old age kept healthy by his practice of Karate-do. GICHIN FUNAKOSHI is world famous as one of Karate's great masters. Born in Shuri, Okinawa Prefecture, in 1868, he studied Karate-do from childhood and organized the first public demonstrations. He was trained in the Confucian classics and was a schoolteacher early in life. After training for decades under the foremost masters in Okinawa he was elected president of the Okinawa Association for the Spirit of Martial Arts. He was chosen to demonstrate Karate at the First National Athletic Exhibition in Tokyo in 1922, which led to the introduction of the ancient martial art to the rest of Japan and subsequently to the rest of the world. Among his writings are Karate-do: My Way of Life, Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text, and Karate Jutsu: The Original Teachings of Gichin Funakoshi. Master Gichin Funakoshi died in April 1957. Much has been published in Japanese about the great karate master, Gichin Funakoshi, but this is the first translation in English of his autobiography. Written not long before his death at the age of ninety, he describes in succinct detail his own life—his childhood and young manhood in Okinawa, his struggle to refine and popularize the art of karate, his prescription for longevity—and reveals his unique personality and his somewhat old-fashioned way of viewing himself, his world and his art. Through this volume the follower of Karate-dõ will gain greater insight into the master’s own way of living and thinking and, as a consequence, a sharper understanding of the art of self0defense that he brought to a state of such high perfection. I most heartily recommend these memoirs of Funakoshi not only to those who already practice Karate-dõ, or plan to do so, but also to anyone interested in the culture and thought of the Orient. The Origin of karate remains impenetrably hidden behind the mists of legend, but this much we know: it has taken root and widely practiced throughout East Asia, among peoples who adhere to such varied creed as Buddhism, Mohammedanism, Hinduism, Brahminism and Taoism. During the course of human history, particular arts of self-defense have gained their own followings in various regions of East Asia, but there is a basic underlying similarity. For this reason karate is related, in one-way or another, to the other Oriental arts of self-defense, although (I think it is safe to say) karate is now the most widely practiced of all.

Price: 6.99 USD

Location: Astoria, New York

End Time: 2024-12-14T14:06:26.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.38 USD