• Shotokan Karate Book
• by Gichin Funakoshi
• Following his life in Karate
• Founder of Modern Day Karate
• Great read

Karate-Do My Way of Life Description

Linking the time when karate was a strictly Okinawan art of self-defense shrouded in the deepest secrecy and the present day, when it has become a martial art practiced throughout the world, is Gichin Funakoshi, the "Father of Karate-do."

Out of modesty, he was reluctant to write this autobiography and did not do so until he was nearly ninety years of age. Trained in the Confucian classics, he was a schoolteacher early in life, but after decades of study under the foremost masters, he gave up his livelihood to devote the rest of his life to the propagation of the Way of Karate. Under his guidance, techniques and nomenclature were refined and modernized, the spiritual essence was brought to the fore, and karate evolved into a true martial art.

Various forms of empty-hand techniques have been practiced in Okinawa for centuries, but due to the lack of historical records, fancy often masquerades as fact. In telling of his own famous teachers--and not only of their mastery of technique but of the way they acted in critical situations--the author reveals what true karate is. The stories he tells about himself are no less instructive: his determination to continue the art, after having started it to improve his health; his perseverance in the face of difficulties, even of poverty; his strict observance of the way of life of the samurai; and the spirit of self-reliance that he carried into an old age kept healthy by his practice of Karate-do.

'On the Back' of Karate-Do My Way of Life

For the first time in paperback, the life story of the father of modern Karate-do

"His childhood and young manhood in Okinawa, h struggle to refine and popularize the art of karate, h prescription for longevity...his unique personality...
"Through this volume the follower of Karate-dö n gain greater insight into the master's own way of livir and thinking, and a sharper understanding of the art self-defense.” -Genshin Hironishi, President, Japan Karate-do Shöto kai

Also by Gichin Funakoshi

KARATE-DO KYÖHAN (translated by Tsutomu Ohshima)
In this fully illustrated volume nineteen kata ("forms") demonstrated. Both fundamentals and applications are cussed in detail. This is a basic text in karate technique a character development.

KARATE-DO NYÜMON (translated by John Teramoto)
The master of Karate-do discusses the history of karate a traces its origins as a strictly oral tradition. Funakoshi reco nizes the value and importance of the written record a clearly establishes the standard for Okinawan Karate.

Shipping Karate-Do My Way of Life

• Europe: 2-3 working days
• USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand: 3-4 working days
• All other destinations: 4-7 working days.