The History of Dō

The Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society, the “Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (大日本武徳会), was established by the Japanese government in 1895. This was a time of aggressive military expansionism for Japan. The original purpose of the Butoku Kai was to aid the Japanese military efforts by creating better soldiers for the Japanese war machine.

At this time, anti-Chinese sentiment was strong in Japan. Beginning in 1868, Japan, during the Meiji Restoration, began to modernize building both a strong economy and military. Friction often arose with China, eventually resulting in the first Sino-Japanese war of 1894–95. Into this strong cultural bias, Funakoshi Gichin began a campaign to have karate recognized by the Japanese government sponsored Dai Nippon Butoku Kai.

Karate’s Chinese Roots

The barrier to the acceptance of karate as a Japanese art by the Butoku Kai was Okinawa’s historic association with China that began in 1372 and only ended in 1872 when Japan forcibly abolished Okinawa’s Ryūkyū Kingdom. Karate developed from the blending of Okinawa te with Chinese chuan’fa. Due to the strong Chinese influence, the art of karate was known as tōdi (唐手), meaning “China hand.” Starting with the name, tōdi, the language of karate was primarily Chinese-style words and pronunciation. The movements were derived from Chinese chuan’fa style movements. Everything about karate was foreign to the Japanese.

Ancient History

Okinawa was made a prefecture of Japan in 1879. Before that time, the island of Okinawa had been a tiny, nominally independent nation called the Ryūkyū Kingdom. Beginning in 1372 and continuing for over four hundred years the Ryūkyū Kingdom enjoyed a special relationship with the Ming Dynasty of China. Through the association with China, the Ryūkyū Kingdom enjoyed a “golden age” of prosperity, trading goods throughout Southeast Asia, Korea, China and Japan.

In 1609, the Satsuma Clan of Japan invaded the Ryūkyū Kingdom. No longer even nominally independent, the Satsuma tightly controlled their new acquisition in such a way that the Chinese never suspected that Japan had taken over the Ryūkyū Kingdom. Therefore, the Satsuma could siphon off the trade profits that the Ryūkyū Kingdom enjoyed through their long association with China. Forbidden to learn Japanese or adopt Japanese ways, the Ryūkyū Kingdom remained like a foreign country to Japan. The martial arts were rigidly suppressed by the Satsuma, for fear of uprisings. They continued to be practiced, but in secret and typically only passed from father to eldest son. Therefore, karate became almost unknown in the country of its birth.

Gichin Funakoshi

By 1879, the Ryūkyū Kingdom had been abolished and Okinawa was made a prefecture of Japan. Once a prefecture of Japan, the martial arts could come out into the open. A group of famous practitioners gave public demonstrations to the Okinawan people. Gichin Funakoshi was encouraged to help bring karate to mainland Japan.

Gichin Funakoshi was not the greatest karate master of Okinawa, but he was well-educated. He was able to communicate with the Japanese on a cultured and intellectual level. Moreover, he was clever. He understood that the Chinese roots of karate would have to be disguised. From “China hand” to “empty hand” is just one example. Kata names and techniques were changed to be more acceptable to the Japanese. Most of all, at a time of Japanese expansionism, he promoted karate as a type of physical fitness in the schools that would help create young men better prepared physically to be soldiers. A curriculum, uniforms, belts, and testing were added to make karate acceptable as a school subject.

tōdi唐手“China hand”
tō
kara		唐China
te
ti		手hand
kara空empty
karate空手“empty hand”

Disguising Karate’s Chinese Roots

As part of his campaign to have karate recognized by the Butoku Kai, Funakoshi Gichin’s sought to disguise the Chinese influence, starting with the name, tōdi, itself. The kanji, tō (唐), has a native Japanese pronunciation of “kara.” Another kanji, kara (空), has the meaning of empty. Ti (di) was an Okinawan pronunciation of te. By the early 1900s tōdi (唐手) was known as karate (空手), meaning “empty hand.”

Karate in the Schools of Japan

Another part of his campaign to have karate recognized by the Butoku Kai, Funakoshi Gichin promoted karate for schools as a form of physical fitness for young boys. To that end, a curriculum, ranking system (tests!), uniforms and belts were introduced. Stances were lengthened to develop leg strength. Techniques were changed to make them less dangerous.

We remember Funakoshi today as the “father of modern karate,” but he was only partially successful. Rather than unifying all of karate he managed to create yet another style, known today as Shotokan.  He was successful in his campaign to gain recognition by the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai, but in the process changed karate in many ways. Today, there are styles of karate, like Wadō Ryū, Shotokan, Shitō Ryū and some branches of Gojū Ryū, that are recognized by the modern day Japanese Karate Federation,  a national governing body of sport karate in Japan, but the Okinawan styles remain apart and distinctly Okinawan.

Funakoshi Gichin himself was a scholar and an educator. He wrote books about karate that are still read today.

The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants.

Gichin Funakoshi

Karate is the martial art of intelligent people,
空手は君子の武芸
karate wa kunshi no bugei

Gichin Funakoshi

What you have been taught by listening to others’ words you will forget very quickly; what you have learned with your whole body you will remember for the rest of your life.

Once a kata has been learned, it must be practiced repeatedly until it can be applied in an emergency, for knowledge of just the sequence of a kata in karate is useless.

The original Dai Nippon Butoku Kai was disbanded in 1946 following Japan’s defeat in WW II. In1953, the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai was re-established with the philosophical vision of preserving the virtues and traditions of the original Dai Nippon Butoku Kai. the new Dai Nippon Butoku Kai also supported research, instruction and service, promotion of international peace and harmony, and the advancement of greater humanity through Budo education.

Through his famous words “空手に先手なし” (karate ni sente nashi) meaning There is no first attack in Karate and

 “to purge oneself of selfish and evil thoughts … for only with a clear mind and conscience can the practitioner understand the knowledge which he receives.” Funakoshi believed that one should be “inwardly humble and outwardly gentle.” Only by behaving humbly can one be open to Karate’s many lessons. This is done by listening and being receptive to criticism. He considered courtesy of prime importance. He said that “Karate is properly applied only in those rare situations in which one really must either down another or be downed by him.” Funakoshi did not consider it unusual for a devotee to use Karate in a real physical confrontation no more than perhaps once in a lifetime. He stated that Karate practitioners must “never be easily drawn into a fight.” It is understood that one blow from a real expert could mean death. It is clear that those who misuse what they have learned bring dishonor upon themselves. He promoted the character trait of personal conviction. In “time of grave public crisis, one must have the courage … to face a million and one opponents.” He taught that indecisiveness is a weakness.[55]

This might come as a surprise to many who train in Japanese karate, who have come to regard Funakoshi (1868-1957) as the most towering figure in the art, the man who brought it from the countryside of Okinawa to Japan and the man who oversaw its introduction to the rest of the world. But it’s true.While Funakoshi was a central figure in those accomplishments, we know that there were others — some with more experience in karate than he had — who also contributed. We also know that a primary reason Funakoshi was promoted to bring karate to mainland Japan was the fact that he was well-educated and able to communicate with the Japanese at a level that wouldn’t lead to his dismissal as an uncouth hillbilly — which is how many Japanese regarded Okinawans back then.So it’s reasonable to remove Funakoshi, gently, from his pedestal and view him in a more realistic light. However, in doing so, we should avoid going too far in reducing his stature. He wasn’t a saint. He was, though, a remarkable figure.


Dave Lowry Black Belt Magazine May 14 | 2020

Funakoshi left 20 precepts, a distillate of his karate philosophy. They are engraved on a plaque at his grave at Engakuji, the Kamakura temple where he’s buried. His sixth precept is a window into the character of the man.Kokoro wa hanatan koto o yosu. “Be able to release your mind.” That’s a poor translation, but it’s challenging to come up with a more accurate one. The idea is that you should not be so rigid that you can’t adapt to changes in circumstances that are part of life.More than two centuries before Funakoshi’s era, the concept of marobashi was described by Yagyu Sekishusai, founder of the Yagyu Shinkage Ryu, as a core element of his school of strategy. In part, marobashi describes a “rolling log,” and it refers to the ability to cope and adjust and exploit circumstances in life that change as quickly as a log rolling down a slope.

But Funakoshi was quoting a Chinese philosopher from centuries before that. Shao Yong (1011-1077) was a Confucian thinker who lived during the Northern Song dynasty. As a classically trained scholar, Funakoshi was familiar with Shao Yong’s writings; he incorporated a line from the philosopher’s poetry in his precepts. To be able to release one’s mind from an inflexible frame would have been important to a man in Funakoshi’s circumstances.Think about it: Funakoshi went from tiny, quiet Okinawa to bustling Japan, a land that was only a couple of decades past a violent uprising, the Satsuma Rebellion, during which dissatisfied samurai sought to overturn the new imperial government and along the way threw the whole country into turmoil. The Japan of the early 20th century was the scene of fierce politics, with communists and labor-union workers frequently brawling in public.There was tremendous energy in the debate over Japan’s future, with the military insisting on an expansionist course (that would soon translate into Japan’s invasion and occupation of Korea) and industrialists and others seeking a more isolationist approach. Demonstrations often spiraled into riots; political opponents were frequently beaten and assassinated. It must have seemed like an apocalypse to Funakoshi.

Additionally, he was trying to introduce his foreign (to the Japanese) art. Most karateka know this, but they may not understand just how difficult that task was.Okinawans who lived in Japan were not even considered full citizens. Further, karate was seen as a crude system when compared with the elite warrior traditions of Japanese budo. Imagine going to Burgundy, France, home of some of the world’s great vintages, and trying to market some homemade dandelion wine you’ve cooked up in your basement. That would have been what it was like for Funakoshi to introduce karate in Japan.Funakoshi owed a huge debt to judo founder Jigoro Kano, who took an interest in karate and provided introductions and facilities that allowed Funakoshi to bring his art into the mainstream of Japanese budo. Even so, it was an uphill climb. Karate, for many years in Japan, had to fight against the image it had, one of being something that was used by thugs and lowlifes.Funakoshi also had to deal with critics back in Okinawa. His “Japanizing” of karate was met with animated disapproval. Funakoshi adopted Japanese names for kata. He brought teaching and training in line with Japanese customs. Traditional Okinawan karate was taught informally, but Funakoshi, once in Japan, introduced the notion of group practice, with rows of exponents moving in unison, which was similar to what was seen in kendo schools. (Nearly all the Osu! and Hai, sensei! utterances have their roots in this period, when the influence of the Japanese military came to dominate the world of budo.)