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Unknown testimonial by Gima Makoto (1983)
Gima Makoto (儀間真謹, 1896–1989) is one of the most important eyewitnesses to the early development of karate on the Japanese mainland. He is best known for assisting Funakoshi Gichin (1868–1957) during the historic karate demonstration at the Kōdōkan in Tōkyō in 1922. On that occasion, Funakoshi performed the kata Kūsankū, while Gima demonstrated Naihanchi. Funakoshi… Continue reading
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The Okinawan Years of a Karate Pioneer – Interview with author James M. Hatch
I am delighted to share an interview with James M. Hatch. After many years of research, James published a book in early 2025 on Chitose Tsuyoshi (千歳 剛直, 1898–1984), an influential figure in Okinawan karate who later taught and promoted the art on the Japanese mainland: Chinen: The Okinawan Years of a Karate Pioneer (Lulu,… Continue reading
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Sakamoto Manshichi and the documentation of pre-war karate
Sakamoto Manshichi (坂本万七, 1900–1974) was a distinguished Japanese photographer from Hiroshima Prefecture whose work is closely associated with ethnographic documentation. He developed a particular sensitivity for capturing folk crafts and Buddhist statuary—subjects that required both technical precision and an eye for cultural nuance. In 1939, Sakamoto joined the research group led by Yanagi Muneyoshi (柳 宗悦, 1889–1961),… Continue reading
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Kicks in pre-Columbian fighting arts
In 2005, I wrote a short piece on martial arts in pre-Columbian South America. It was written in response to a discovery by Agustín Seguí (1949–2023), who taught at Saarland University and headed the Spanish Department at the Institute of Applied Linguistics there. In 2003, he was the first to publish on what he described… Continue reading
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The 1927 photograph and the early misidentification of karate in Europe
Knowledge about karate outside Japan before the end of the Second World War was extremely limited. Apart from a few early mentions in Western publications—such as those by Ernest Satow in 1872/3 and William Furness in 1899—information about the art remained scarce. There were, however, occasional points of contact. Overseas Okinawan communities, for example in… Continue reading
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Investigations, Volume 2 available now
Volume 2 of “Investigations into the history of karate” is available now. Based on this blog, the book traces a range of historical contexts in which karate surfaces, from everyday settings such as plantations in Hawaiʻi around 1900 and personal diary entries from the early twentieth century. Other contributions draw on visual and textual sources,… Continue reading
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Book about Izumikawa karate lineage published
Last week, I received a personal copy of The Lost Karate Goju-ryū: Advanced Techniques and Methodology by Izumikawa Katsuya 泉川勝也. Izumikawa is the son of Izumikawa Kanki 泉川寛喜 (1908– 1967), the founder of Senbukai, who relocated from Okinawa to the Japanese mainland and established his dōjō in Kawasaki in 1939—the first Goju-ryū school on the… Continue reading
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Remembering Miyagi Chōjun: A conversation with his grandson on the Chōjunkan project
Okinawa is the island of karate. It may sound like a marketing slogan, but it is simply true. The island is home to hundreds of karate dōjō; every year, countless visitors travel to Japan’s southernmost prefecture to explore the birthplace of karate and kobudō, to train, and to immerse themselves in the history of the… Continue reading
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Bringing Funakoshi Gigō’s thoughts to English readers for the first time
Eric Shahan, a highly accomplished translator known for his numerous English editions of classic Japanese martial arts texts—from ninjutsu and jūjutsu treatises to seminal karate works by masters such as Mabuni Kenwa and Motobu Chōki—once again delivers a remarkable contribution to the study of traditional martial arts. With The Fleeting Karate Master: Funakoshi Gigō, his… Continue reading
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A remarkable yearbook find: New light on an old photograph
When Yabu Kentsū 屋部 憲通 (1866–1937) returned from his time in North America (1919–1927) in the late 1920s, he was again employed at the Okinawa Shihan Gakkō (Okinawa Normal School) in Shuri, located not far from his home. At that time, he was one of the most senior karate masters in Okinawa and as a… Continue reading
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Investigations into the history of karate 