http://www.brunelkarate.com/ for the full article - and check the instructors belt ranks - bet I could beat him up!
In 1944 Funakoshi’s students-the university clubs, the Old Boys clubs, and the private dojos all over Japan-officially organized themselves into the Nihon Karate Kyokai (Japan Karate
Association, or JKA) and named Funakoshi their chief instructor emeritus Isao Obata, the chairman, was the wealthy president of his own trading company; the first JKA president, Kichinosuku Saigo, was a wealthy politician with major political influence These men had neither the time nor the inclination to administer the affairs of such a large and burgeoning organization, and the board of directors immediately hired a full-time, paid staff to run the organization. Masatomo Takagi, a business manager and a 5th dan in karate, was hired as general secretary. Masatoshi Nakayama was made chief instructor, to conduct day-to-day training at the headquarters; Kimio Ito was appointed director of administration; and Hidetaka Nishiyama was named chief of the instruction committee.
In April 1955 the JKA opened its first commercial dojo in the preview room of the Kataoka Movie Center, and a strong campaign was launched for the recruitment of new students. Many old-line masters, chief among them Isao Obata of Keio, felt it was absolutely immoral for a man to accept money for teaching the art Even those who would not deny a man the right to be paid voiced opposition to placing karate on the market. The Hosei Old Boys were the first to leave the JKA, followed by Obata and the Keio group. Unburdened of the conserved ve Old Boys, the Takudai men pursued the development of karate in their own way; not surprisingly, in view of their training, they chose to internationalize the art.
The Tadukai group thought the best way for an art like Shotokan karate to gain international acceptance was to give it a sporting aspect Turning karate into a sport with rules for competition was not new Since 1936 college clubs had been conducting kokangeiko (exchange of courtesies and practice), in which they tested their techniques against each other on a free-style basis. Without formal rules or supervision, however, these exchange and training sessions were, more often than not, bloodbaths. The Old Boys refused to acknowledge the existence of such shenanigans because these bouts were obviously opposed to the principles of karate as Funakoshi taught them.
Nevertheless, the JKA directors and leaders in other styles brought free-sparring into the open, experimenting with it, debating it, and, finally, encouraging it. By 1950, virtually all the major styles of karate in Japan were practicing some form of free-style sparring. The JKA contest rules, comprising three chapters and 16 articles, were completed in Aug. 1956. Collegiate clubs and branch dojo immediately commenced staging tournaments to try contestant skills and to train judges. This flurry of activity culminated in the 1st All Japan Karate-do Championship Tournament in June 1957.
Concurrent with their efforts to devise a workable set of contest rules, the JKA instituted a stringent instructor training program. Only the cream of young karate men were admitted to the
program, and only after graduating honorably from college and attaining 2nd dan rank. In an intensive year of study, candidates were instructed not only in karate but in psychology, physics, anatomy, business management, history and philosophy of physical education and sports, and other subjects. On completing the training program (with 3rd dan and a dissertation) they were assigned to a year’s teaching internship. The results of this difficult apprenticeship were a dozen or so highly proficient karate men, well prepared to plant and nourish their art overseas.
Technically, there are some gaps between JKA Shotokan and the Shotokai; practically, the gaps are very narrow. While most of the Shotokai groups still regularly practice the taikyoku and ten-no-kata that were so dear to Funakoshi, the JKA has abandoned them as repetitious and of questionable value. Stances among most of the Shotokai groups are generally higher than those seen in the JKA, and there is relatively little emphasis on free-style sparring in Shotokai dojo. From about 1960 forward, the JKA has pursued the study of karate from a scientific viewpoint-body mechanics, kinesiology, anatomy, physics, and modern psychology. This, contend most of the Shotokai people, is unnecessary and detrimental to the traditional ways taught by Funakoshi. Each group continues to insist that it practices karate exactly as Funakoshi would practice it were he alive today.
The present authors, based on the writings of the master, lean toward the JKA claim. Funakoshi frequently said that karate was an unfinished art; it would continue to grow and change, he said, as man’s knowledge and circumstances grew and changed See also Funakoshi, Gichin; Japan Karate Association; karate-do. Further reading. The Way of Karate, Beyond Technique, Shigeru Egami, 1976; Shotokan Karate: Free-Fighting Techniques, K. Enoeda and C.J.
Mack, 1974; Karate-Do Kyohan, Gichin Funakoshi, 1973; Karate-Do, My Way of Life, Gichin Funakoshi, 1977; Karate: The Art of Empty-Hand Fighting, Hidetaka Nishiyama and Richard Brown,
1959; Shotokan Karate, Peter Ventresca, 1970; Kick Illustrated, Oct. 1981-Jan. 1982; Best Karate, H. Nakayama, 1978 (8 vols.); Black Belt Karate, Jordan Roth, 1974.
(technical material by GARY GOLDSTEIN and ALEX STERNBERG; historical material by RANDALL G HASSELL).
