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Memories of Yabu Kentsū
Yabu Kentsū, who was born in 1866, died in 1937. The sympathy was great especially in the Shuri district and among students and teachers of the Okinawa Normal School. Beside several obituaries which were published following his death, the school publication Ryūtan in 1938 prepared a lengthy article which extensively remembered Yabu’s life and work. Continue reading
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Mistakes in book chapter about Yabu Kentsū
Over the years several authors portrayed Yabu Kentsū 屋部憲通 (1866–1937). Probably the first in English language was Richard Kim (1917–2001) in his book The Weaponless Warriors, which was published in 1974 and reprinted many times afterwards. My copy is the 19th printing dated 1996. Kim certainly did not want to present an academic work but rather Continue reading
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Itosu Ankō medical history
For my book Ankō Itosu: The Man. The Master. The Myth (2021), I had a medical specialist evaluate the health of Itosu Ankō 糸洲安恒 (1831-1915) in his last 2–3 years. For this task based on my research, I prepared a brief profile and an anamnesis of Itosu. ———– Profile: Name: Itosu Ankō Gender: male Born: Continue reading
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Analysis of 1940 karate clip
In the reportage “Ryūkyū no Fūbutsu” 琉球の風物 (Ryūkyū scenery), karate in Okinawan was probably captured on film for the first time. Yanagi Muneyoshi 柳宗悦 (1889–1961), founder of the Japanese folk art movement, traveled to Okinawa with his team in 1940 and captured the unique karate training scenes. Recently, Sakihara Kyōko from the Okinawa Prefectural Museum Continue reading
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Articles on unveiling of the Itosu monument in 1964
On May 30, 1964, Master Chibana Chōshin 知花朝信 (1885–1969) and adoptive grandson Itosu Angō 糸洲安剛 (1915–1996) gathered family, friends, karateka and officials to remember Itosu Ankō 糸洲安恒 (1831–1915). Very close to his burying place in Furushima 古島 in Mawashi, a stone monument was unveiled to commemorate the venerable master. On that occasion, speeches were held Continue reading
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Magazine article about Itosu Ankō
I wrote an article about Itosu Ankō (1831–1915) for the new issue of the martial arts magazine “Bugeisha. Traditional Martial Artist”. In it, I mainly look at his last years. The article “Anko Itosu. In the autumn of his life” is available on Amazon. Continue reading
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About the large number of karate associations
The reason for the numerous associations and federations in karate lies primarily in its nature. The number of active karateka increased significantly when various masters began to accept more than a handful of students and karate was introduced into school education at the beginning of the 20th century. With the spread of karate to Japan Continue reading
Investigations into the history of karate 