Book Review

Noted karate researcher Patrick McCarthy is back, this
time with his long awaited translation of Motobu Choki's
1932 "Watashi no Karate-jutsu." This little book is packed
with additional related research and translations, making
it well worth the $24.95 price tag.

After the Translator's Introduction on pp. 8-9, we move
into an essay by Kinjo Hiroshi Hanshi, arguably one of the
senior-most authorities on old-style Okinawan karate in
the world today. This article, entitled "Revival of Motobu
Choki," gives us some personal insight into the great
master by someone who knew him personally. The Kinjo
article appears on pp. 10-11.

Next is a translation of an article on Motobu that first
appeared in the local Okinawan magazine "Aoi Umi," in
1978. The author of this article, Shabana (Jahana)
Kiyoshi,
interviewed the late Shorinryu master Nakama Chozo for the
article, and there are several interesting stories
regarding Motobu and his teachers. "Recollections: The
Shabana/Nakama Interview" appears on pp. 12-16 of the
McCarthy book.

Page 17 is a calligraphic piece masterfully brushed by
Gisho.

Page 18-26 is an article by Patrick McCarthy, entitled
"More on Motobu." Thoroughly researched and brilliantly
written, this article serves well to better the reader's
understanding of Motobu Sensei.

Page 27 is a calligraphic piece powerfully brushed by the
late Shitoryu master Sakagami Ryusho.

Page 28-30 is a translation of the article entitled
"Talking about my Teacher" by Marukawa Kenji, who was a
direct student of Motobu. This article also contains some
interesting stories surrounding the visit of some foreign
"boxers" to the Motobu dojo while the master was away.
This event warrants more research, as a representative
apparently took the foreigners to the dojo from the Japan
Times, Japan's most prominent English-language newspaper.

Page 30-33 is a collection of Motobu's Favourite Sayings
as compiled by Nakata Mizuhiko. This chapter is important
because it lets the reader glimpse into what Motobu
himself had said, thus helping to gain a better
understanding of his views on karate.

Page 34-35 is a collection of stories gleaned from an
interview with Shorinryu master Miyahira Katsuya, who had
studied directly under Motobu in Okinawa.

Page 36-42 is the complete translation of the 1925 King
Magazine Article describing Motobu's bout with the foreign
boxer. Although rather imaginative in its narrative, this
article is nonetheless a very important document in the
history of karatedo. One added bonus is the positive
identification of "John Kentel."

Page 43-46 is an excerpt from the chapter on Motobu from
Nagamine Shoshin's precious book entitled "Tales of the
Okinawan Masters." The late Matsubayashi-ryu founder was
also a direct student of Motobu Sensei.

Page 47-51 is an English translation of the very rare
"Karate Training" by Kyan Chotoku. This article, which
originally appeared in the second edition of Takada
(Mutsu) Mizuho & Miki Nisaburo's 1930 "Kenpo Gaisetsu,"
contains important advice for handling physical
encounters.

Page 52-61 includes English explanations and original
photographs of Motobu Choki's 1926 Kumite Drills. These
two-person drills are an important part of the Motobu
legacy.

Page 62-73 represents 12 pages of vintage photographs,
many of which are exceedingly rare, and some of which have
never been published in an English language source before.

Page 74-110 is the meat of the text, the complete English
translation of "Watashi no Karate-jutsu." Disclosing not
only the history and theory, this book focuses upon the
Naifanchi Shodan kata and several kumite drills that can
be seen as applications of this kata. This is important,
because it is well known that Motobu favoured the
Naifanchi exercise for fundamental development of karate
technique, and the publication includes Motobu himself
demonstrating this kata.

Noted British karate historian Graham Noble offers his
insights into the master, especially his infamous bout
with the foreign boxer, in "Motobu Choki in Retrospect,"
which appears on pp. 111-117.

A Motobu Choki Teacher/Student Lineage Chart, Bibliography
and Photo Credit & Written Sources close out this little
gem of a book.

All in all, the reader will not be disappointed, and I can
heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in the
history, philosophy and application of the old-style
Ryukyu self-defence traditions.

Joe Swift
Mushinkan Dojo
Tokyo, Japan
April 4, 2002

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