Investigations into the history of karate

Heiko Bittmann is a Japanologist and sports scientist. He practises iaidō (Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū, 6th Dan), jōdō (Shintō Musō-ryū, 5th Dan) and karatedō (Shōtōkan, 3rd Dan). In the course of publishing his dissertation Karatedō – The Way of the Empty Hand, he founded his own publishing house. Mr. Bittmann has been an assistant professor since 2001 and a professor at Kanazawa University in Ishikawa Prefecture (Japan) since 2009, where he holds seminars on budō, among other things.

Mr. Bittmann, you have been working at Kanazawa University for ten years now. What are your main areas of teaching and research there?

My work here at the International Student Center at Kanazawa University covers a range of tasks. On the one hand, I am one of the coordinators of a one-year short-term exchange program with currently over 40 foreign students from partner universities. This includes looking after these students as a so-called “supervisor” in the academic field, but also beyond that in everyday life.

As part of this program, I hold courses and organize seminars, some of which are also open to other students at the university. In a practical seminar on traditional Japanese crafts, which are mainly found in Kanazawa and Ishikawa Prefecture, students can make gold leaf, lacquerware or pottery, for example, under the guidance of experts and learn about the origins and history. I also give several courses in karatedō and jōdō. One of the jōdō courses is part of the sports science course at the Faculty of Education. In a theoretical seminar, texts on the history and philosophy of Japanese martial arts are read and discussed. Finally, I also give a conversation course in German, mainly for Japanese students.

In addition to the tasks already mentioned, I am also involved in the university’s cultural program, which offers a kind of taster course in traditional Japanese arts that is open to students as well as interested members of the public. I coordinate or lead these, such as budō courses. Recently, this program has also been offered as a seminar in teacher training at universities.

As you can easily imagine, there is hardly any time left for research and this usually takes place in the (little) free time that remains.

In Japan, you give seminars on budō. How do Japanese students react when a Western lecturer talks about Japanese martial arts?

Most of them are (a little) surprised at first, but that actually changes quite quickly once the lessons have started. So far, some of the students who have attended the jōdō course have gone on to become interested in this martial art, and several “dan” holders have emerged over the years. This makes me personally particularly happy. It should be noted that jōdō is also a relatively unknown martial art in Japan, and the majority of students come into contact with jōdō for the first time through the course.

As part of the publication of your dissertation, you founded your own publishing house. What is your aim in doing so?

I would like to offer readers an insight into Japanese culture and martial arts in particular, based on academic work. In doing so, I try to ensure readability and comprehensibility in order to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.

New books on martial arts and martial arts are published every year. There is now a very wide range of books in this area. What characterizes good budō literature?

Well, I personally pay attention to the scientific treatment of a topic. In the case of a discussion of Japanese martial arts, Japanese sources and previously known accounts or secondary literature are also included. In the case of translations of historical texts, the translator’s language skills and theoretical and practical martial arts experience are very important.

You use a large number of original Japanese sources in your research work. How difficult is it to obtain historical sources in Japan?

That depends very much on the sources: if they are listed in libraries, they are easy to find and sometimes even to borrow or copy, or at least to consult. Sources in private collections are more difficult to access, but I personally have not had any major problems in obtaining sources so far.

You have met with well-known people in the course of your academic work. For example, with the former JKA General Director and student of Funakoshi Gichin (1868–1957), Takagi Masatomo (1912–1996). How important are such discussions for your work?

This is an important part of the work, as questions can be asked or historical details discussed that are not included or are unclear in a book or essay, for example. You also learn a few anecdotes.

In your work to date, you have dealt with the disciplines of karate, swordsmanship and jûjutsu, among others. What topics will you be focusing on in the future?

I am currently writing an article about Shimizu Toshiyuki (1899–1979), a rather unknown master of the first hours of the transmission of karate to the Japanese main island. He was a senior student of Funakoshi and introduced his karate to his home prefecture of Tōyama. This is the neighboring prefecture of Ishikawa and my iaidō teacher in turn learned under him the karate and other martial arts called Shimizu Shōtō-ryū. This essay will appear in Henning Wittwer’s next book.

In Japanese, I am currently working on an encyclopaedia entry on “Karatedō” for which I have been commissioned by a Japanese publisher. Beyond that, I have no concrete plans at the moment. However, I will of course continue to devote myself to the field of “martial arts” in the future.