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| Gichin Funakoshi illustrating the kata kusanku [dai] in Rentan Goshin Karate Jutsu (1925) |
I have a theory. That Gichin Funakoshi instructed Gigo Funakoshi and Masatoshi Nakayama, with Hironori Otsuka possibly no longer present by then, and Isao Obata not around at that time, to learn under his respected contemporary, Kenwa Mabuni, who had studied under many of the same teachers as himself (Gichin Funakoshi) - albeit when they were much older, and also not all of the same teachers - and other experts such as Chojo Oshiro, and for Gigo to learn - at least, if not more - a kata (system) in Okinawa from a master who wanted to pass on the correct way of doing it to Gichin Funakoshi specifically, and the reason for this was actually because Mutsu (Takada) Mizuho and Miki Jisaburo published, demonstrated and started teaching other kata they learnt from other Okinawan teachers, at least in Okinawa if not also in Japan, without, it seems, having permission or instruction from Gichin Funakoshi, their teacher, to do so.
They published two books on karate, meanwhile Jisaburo was just a beginner when he travelled to Okinawa in 1929, and he was only there for a few months, and his teacher, Mutsu Mizuho (aside from Gichin Funakoshi directly), apparently had to return to Tokyo early, whether that was before he made it to Okinawa at all, I don't know. In any case, while he was more experienced, he still would have only at most learnt for the shortest time in Okinawa, which is certainly not long enough to study so many kata properly. Maybe one, if taught solely to an experienced student, but not so many as the number they published. No wonder Gichin Funakoshi walked away from Tokyo University shortly after all of this.
At the Shotokan, or to one or more senior students of the Shotokan, Kanken Toyama apparently also taught gojushiho, his specialty, which was from Kentsu Yabu, and was / is like the gojushiho presented in Mutsu Mizuho's Karate Kenpo Zen in 1933, which was also described and partly shown in the 1930 text by Miki Jisaburo and Takada (Mutsu) Mizuho, Kenpo Gaisetsu, along with a gojushiho noted as Yabu gojushiho. I think it would make sense, upon seeing Mutsu and Jisaburo introducing kata they bearly knew, to call in a expert of that system, Toyama, to teach the kata properly in place of the inexperience of Jisaburo and the plain disrespect of Mutsu. Gichin Funakoshi must have felt it necessary to specifically instruct some of his senior students to learn those kata and others legitimately to ensure they were not being mis-taught in his school. This includes several bojutsu kata, including Sakugawa no kon and Shuji no kon, possibly Shirotaru no kon, and maybe also others before Gigo Funakoshi devised Matsukaze no kon.
Around this time Gichin Funakoshi devised Meikyo from the three Itosu rohai, so he clearly knew more than just the fifteen kata he is known to have emphasised. Hironori Otsuka learnt rohai; perhaps all three Itosu rohai before just keeping the first as he did with naihanchi. Whether or not he learnt rohai from Gichin Funakoshi, I'm not sure, but it would make sense. Though, where did he get niseshi? That could have rather been from Kenwa Mabuni, but not necessarily. Gichin Funakoshi likely actually knew many more kata than he ever even mentioned, ranging from being simply aware of them to actually having been taught them to completion. He was clearly a trusted student, having been taught by several esteemed Okinawan teachers, for a lot longer than Kenwa Mabuni, for example, and just to note. He was also evidently given a Bubishi to copy, and he was asked personally to learn a kata the right way from that old master, as mentioned. That kata seems to have been the sochin transmitted in the Shoto karate lineage. There is really no reason to believe that he did not know all of the kata (systems of techniques) he noted in Rentan Goshin Karate Jutsu, at least, if not more, if he was a trusted student with recommendations from noted masters when he was young, and if we happily assume that other Okinawan experts knew more kata than they wrote about or than are listed in connection with them, including Kanken Toyama, who apparently taught different kata to different students, Yabu Kentsu, who focused on naihanchi as a base before kusanku and gojushiho, and who apparently taught different students differently, Choshin Chibana, who did not, it seems, teach gojushiho, or did not always teach it, but who at least knew of it, and Choki Motobu, who is known for only showing naihanchi shodan, while his son illustrates naihanchi nidan as well, yet neither demonstrated any more kata publicly, though Choki Motobu mentioned many others, and said he learnt and taught passai as well, but it seems that either he chose to forget any other kata, or he did not know any more, in truth, or he knew a lot but kept it all very secret and even to this day it remains a family secret.
Choshin Chibana apparently took some degree of a beating from several people simply because he knew it wasn't life-threatening, thereby successfully avoiding fighting to the maximum level possible, yet we accept that he was an expert who learnt how to fight properly from Tawada and Itosu. So, just because Gichin Funakoshi also avoided fighting, matches, and counterattacking unless necessary, why do so many people still think ill of him, yet no one questions others such as Chibana, at least not commonly? There is so much evidence in his favour, let alone the side of the lack of evidence being true for plenty of other Okinawan experts for various aspects of the art of ti, even, dare I say it, Choki Motobu. He clearly knew how to fight, but how many kata did he actually know more than naihanchi shodan? His son wasn't only taught by him, as well. Where's the evidence, other than stories?
My point is, the old way was (is) different, so they were taught far more secretively, then they selected which kata (systems of karate, as Motobu also stated they are) on which they wanted to focus. Each kata is a kind of karate, as Anko Asato put it. And the Chinese way, therefore the old Okinawan way (though also heavily influenced by Japanese martial arts, ways and customs), is to prescribe training to each student. You may teach someone without limits, but that can mean multiple things, including not teaching this kata, but rather teaching that one. We have to remember that a kata is not part of a syllabus, it's simply a method of boxing in itself. So, Motobu could focus on naihanchi alone if he wanted to, and still be potentially more skilled than any other fighter. Yabu Kentsu chose naihanchi as well, but favoured kusanku and gojushiho, and no others. Similarly, Matsumura seems to have preferred kusanku and gojushiho, while he apparently also taught sesan and passai, and apparently also naihanchi. Hanashiro liked jion, and Asato mentioned naihanchi, sesan, passai, kusanku and jitte, and also noted that a Fujian-Chinese from Annan taught chinto, mariti (chinte), ji'in and jitte (at least).
One point I'm trying to make here is that, for example, gojushiho is not a kata that must be practised or even known to know karate completely, nor do you need to know so many other kata, either, as each is a kind of karate, and karate is not martial art per se, but rather just a term for a collection of many different systems, rather like gongfu or quanfa. You can't really study quanfa. You study taiji-quanfa (taiji-quan), for instance. And taiji would be equivalent to, for example, studying kusanku solely. Therefore, Gichin Funakoshi, like other older experts in particular, wasn't, of course, necessarily superior to other experts in skill - this was untested, so cannot be proven nor disproven - and refused to fight unnecessarily, the same as Chibana, for instance, but on his kata, selected those he preferred and those he felt he wanted to practise and transmit, but may have additionally simply been taught certain kata while another student might have been taught different kata. Both are equal, so there is no real debate. The Chinese expert, Kusanku, taught the techniques of the system that became known in Okinawa as the kata kusanku, taking various forms. So, whether Funakoshi ever taught any other kata to anyone, who knows (some people say he did, while others say he didn't), and maybe we'll discover some new evidence at some point, but it really doesn't matter in the sense of content. He consciously chose the kata he perpetuated before his son and Nakayama legitimately added others, which Gichin probably knew anyway, considering he mentioned them so early on when he was in mainland-Japan. But whether or not he did actually know them is important only to know for certain what "Funakoshi karate" is directly from him in complete form, what was from him earlier in Okinawa and just after moving, and what is from his son and ratified by Gichin. Otherwise, it really doesn't actually matter too much as the kata always discussed by Gichin Funakoshi in his works are, for the most part, the most important systems to study if you want to try to understand the teachings of Funakoshi and his karate, before either transmitting it as it is / was, or finding your own Funakoshi karate, or, indeed, your own karate / ti.
Primary Funakoshi Karate Kata
Taikyoku-no-Kata
Ten-no-Kata
Pin'an-no-Kata
Naihanchi-no-Kata
Kusanku [Dai]
Passai [Dai]
Sesan
Chinto
Wansu
Jitte
Jion
Meikyo
Plus
Sochin
As well as
Bojutsu
Saijutsu
Additional Funakoshi Karate Kata Practised at the Shoto-kan
Kusanku [Sho]
Passai [Sho]
Chinte (Mariti)
Niseshi
Gojushi-ho (including Gojushiho [Dai] & Gojushiho [Sho])
Ji'in
Unsu
Okan
Sakugawa no Kon
Shuji no Kon
Matsukaze no Kon
and possibly others, too.
Bibliography
Rentan Goshin Karate Jutsu, 1925 (Karate Jutsu, 2001), Gichin Funakoshi
Ryukyu Kenpo: Karate, 1922, Gichin Funakoshi
Karate-Do Ichiro, 1956, Gichin Funakoshi
Karate-Do Kyohan, First Edition, 1935, Gichin Funakoshi
Karate-Do Kyohan, Second Edition, 1973, Gichin Funakoshi
Karate Kenpo Zen, 1933, Mutsu Mizuho
Kenpo Gaisetsu, 1930, Miki Jisaburo, Takada Mizuho
Karate-Do: For the Specialist, 1970, Shigeru Egami
The Heart of Karate-Do, 1981, Shigeru Egami
Karate-Do Tanpenshu, 2006, Gichin Funakoshi and others
Karate-Do Nyumon, 1943, Gichin Funakoshi, with Gigo Funakoshi and others
Various Articles from Shotokan Karate Magazine: Including: Mysterious Martial Art "Karate", Tokyo Newspaper Article [about Gichin Funakoshi's karate], 1922; My Years With Funakoshi, Dr Yasukiyo Takeda M.D. (both pieces from Issue 41). Editor: John Cheetham
Watashi no Karate Jutsu, 1932, (Karate: My Art, 2019), Choki Motobu and others
Ancient Okinawan Martial Arts: Koryu Uchinadi, Volumes 1 & 2, 1999, Patrick McCarthy
Bubishi, 2008, Various, Patrick & Yuriko McCarthy
The Study of China-hand Techniques, 2012, Morinobu Itoman, Mario McKenna
Introduction to Karate-Do: Its Inner Techniques and Secret Arts, 2019, Toyama Kanken, Tobey Stansbury
My 2cents Karate Blog, Matteo Muratori
Ameblo.jp, Ameba Blog, Motobu Naoki, Andreas Quast
and other works and articles
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