The “Karate” Teachings of Anko Asato

Anko Asato, for example, learnt a range of martial arts, including Jigen-ryu kenjutsu, archery, horsemanship, various other weapons arts, and empty-handed fighting. He had more than one teacher, as he was apparently taught Jigen-ryu swordsmanship by the same teacher who instructed Sokon Matsumura. But Asato was taught ti by Sokon Matsumura and no one else. Anko Itosu learnt such kata as gojushiho from Matsumura, evidently, so Asato surely must have also learnt gojushiho. 

There are two points that I want to make here. The first is that what we call “karate”, as if “karate” is really a martial art in itself, used to just be whatever martial arts a person learnt from wherever. Ti (te in Romanised-Japanese) means hands or skills. It’s just a reference to martial arts. If you learnt some Chinese boxing method from someone, in Okinawa or elsewhere, it would become part of your ti. If you learnt jujutsu in Japan, that would also become a part of your “Okinawan” martial arts. Karate/karati is a mixture of various methods and arts. Therefore, the same rule applies now. Of course, you wouldn’t call your martial arts “karate” unless you learn something that is called “karate”. But if you also study jujutsu, kenjutsu, Chinese boxing, or any other fighting method, depending on how you want to approach it, that might become a part of “your” karate, in the same way as the old masters. 

The second point I want to make is just that if Asato probably learnt everything Matsumura had to teach, which included gojushiho, and apparently taught Gichin Funakoshi everything he knew, even saying that he would tell Funakoshi about anything he discovered concerning his later research into ground fighting, with the purpose of having Funakoshi teach Asato’s son, then Funakoshi must have been very trusted, close with Asato, and taught a lot more than he generally passed on to his students. Logically, you would think he had to have been taught such methods as gojushiho, if Asato was being so thorough. I wonder, in order to find evidence if it exists, if Asato’s son did learn everything from Funakoshi, and if he transmitted it to anyone, and if that lineage continues to this day. It doesn’t really matter if a person knows or teaches certain kata, as each kata is a system of techniques, and, as Asato and Kenwa Mabuni noted, you only need a few – between 2/3 and 5/6. And it’s true that you can’t specialise in more than this amount. Each system is so complex and difficult to master, so you need to focus your practice if you want to have any hope of becoming truly skilled and knowledgeable. But, as a matter of interest in clarifying what koryu karate was/is, I wonder if there is a school somewhere, perhaps in mainland-Japan or Okinawa, where the complete teachings of Master Asato can be found. And I wonder if that would include Jigen-ryu kenjutsu and other arts, or, indeed, if not everything was taught to Funakoshi, for whatever reason, or if he simply decided what he wanted to practise and teach, and excluded certain methods. Unfortunately, while I wonder these things based on logic, the evidence may not exist to prove anything more either way. 

S. R. Marshall