Originally Posted by
DustyMars
The introduction of Okinawa Ti, or at least Funakoshi's version of it, to Japan didn't go off as well as people think. He was at odds with some of his fellow travelers and from what I have read he looked down on some of the Okinawans due to education and social class. It is hard to remember but somewhere I have read and/of been lectured to by some who actually knew the participants that even Jigoro Kano was somewhere put aback by Funakoshi’s attitude towards the uneducated masses. Kano was an earthy man who taught anyone his techniques, where as it was told to me Funakoshi felt his art was more or less intellectual and therefore above the average Joe, of Masato, as it were.
Historical accounts are not exact and even lectures are not 100%, but it just seems to me revelry still in present in the different schools and islands.
Interestingly, Funakoshi was invited to make his karate part of the kodokan's judo, but declined.
And frankly, I'd love to see revelry between the different schools, but given some of the infighting I've seen... Heh, just take shotokan and shotokai! Still fighting, decades later, over the karate equivalent of "What she said about our Mabel!"
Trevor Johnson
Low kicks and low puns a specialty.