On Choki Motobu – Part 1
By By Patrick McCarthy
Editor’s Note: This article
was originally titled “More
On Motobu” and is included in the book “Motobu Choki Karate – My
Art” compiled and translated by Patrick and Yuriko McCarthy. The
article has been edited to stand alone and appears in two parts on FightingArts.com.
 How
many martial artists in the history of karate had ever enjoyed the opportunity
to study directly under such formidable masters as Bushi
Matsumura, Tokumini Pechin, Itosu Ankoh, Matsumora Kosaku, Motobu Choyu
and Satkuma Usumei? To the best of my knowledge there was only one, Motobu
Choki. With instructors of that caliber, the experience that 100 street
fights in Naha’s Tsuji district bestows, and the ambition to continually
improve his skill, Motobu Choki stands alone in the annals of karate
history as its most tenacious pioneer. Other than his training, extra-curricular
activities in Tsuji and failed horse-drawn carriage taxi business, not
much is known about the years between his young adulthood and middle
age. In 1921, at 51 years of age, the master left his home in Okinawa
and ventured to the mainland of Japan. Setting up in Osaka, for the next
twenty five years he took on a few odd jobs, gained a reputation as the
strongest karate fighter in the entire country, reared a family, developed
his own style, published two books on the subject, established the Daidokan
dojo and became the most controversial karate teacher of his generation.
Returning to Okinawa in 1941 during the escalation of WWII, the master
quietly passed away three years later in Tomarai at 74 years old.
In his interview with Motobu Chosei, Charles Goodin wrote: “The
Motobu family descended from the sixth son of King Sho Shitsu who reigned
from 1648 to 1668. There were four classes in Okinawa: the Royal family
(the King and Princes), the Lords, the Aristocrats and the commoners.
Families with blood relations to the King were known as Keimochi. In
such families, all son’s names began with “Cho.” Among
the Keimochi, the Motobu family was the highest ranking.
An area of Okinawa was even named “Motobu” to honor the
Motobu family. Motobu Choshin, an Okinawan Lord (or Anji), and his wife
Ushi, had three sons: Choyu, Choshin and Choki (born on April 5, 1870).
This is based on Motobu Choki’s Koseki Tohon (family registry),
which Motobu Chosei brought to Hawaii. “Motobu Choshin was an important
official, so much so that he was the first to meet with Commodore Perry
during his historic visit to Okinawa.” (Setting The Record Straight,” 3rd
Quarter issue jounal 2001, page11). This is important information as
it discredits the un-sourced allegation that Motobu was little more than
the illegitimate son of his father’s so-called Tsuji-based courtesan.
Another remarkable discovery was learning that Cyan Chotoku (1870-1945),
another of Okinawa’s greatest karate masters, was Motobu’s
cousin. According to Motobu Chosei, “Cyan was born as a Motobu
but became a Cyan family member to maintain the Cyan family name. In
Okinawan noble families, this was not unusual. First sons had to maintain
their own family’s names to preserve the family’s lands and
entitlements. Later born sons would often be adopted or marry into other
noble families in which there were no sons. Motobu Choki and Cyan Chotoku,
who were about the same age, often practiced karate together.” (Setting
the Record Straight,” 3rd Quarter issue journal 2001, pages 12/13)
Introducing Karate to the West
In addition to Yubu Kentsu and Miyagi Chojun, two other pre-war teachers
named Mutsu Mizuho and Higaonna Kamessuke also taught karate in Hawaii.
What only a few people probably know is that Motobu Choki also visited
and taught karate in Hawaii.
Two announcements of Motobu’s arrival in Hawaii appeared in local
Hawaiian newspapers at that time. The March 13th 1932 issue of a local
Japanese newspaper named, “The Nippon Jiji,” reads, “Karate-jutsu
authority, Motobu Choki will be arriving in Hawaii on board the Shunyo
Maru. Motobu Choki who is teaching karate-jutsu to several hundred students
in Tokyo is a well-known authority and presently has his own dojo in
Hara Town of Koishikawa Ward of Tokyo. At this time, we understand that
he is en route to Hawaii on board the Shunyo Maru, scheduled to arrive
on the 26th. Invited by Tamanaha Yoshimatsu of Hawaii, Motobu Choki is
the third son of the wealthy Motobu family from the town of Suri in Okinawa
Prefecture. He’s enthusiastically studied karate-jutsu since his
childhood and is recognized as an authority on Japan.”
The other announcement of his arrival in Hawaii appears in the March
13th 1932 issue of the “The Hawaii Hochi.” It reads, “Karate
authority Motobu Choki will be arriving on the 26th. Motobu Choki, who
is teaching several hundred students in Tokyo, is well known as an authority
on karate/martial arts. Presently he has a dojo in Hara Town of Koishikawa
Third Ward in Tokyo but we recently heard that he’ll be arriving
in Hawaii on board the Shunyo Maru, on the 26th. He is the third son
of the wealthy Motobu family from the town of Shuri in Okinawa. He’s
been devoted to studying karate-jutsu since childhood and he’s
a very famous martial artist. In fact, there’s almost no one who’s
not familiar with his nickname, Saru.”
 On pages 64-65 of Bruce Hain’s Master’s thesis entitled “Karate & Its
Development in Hawaii to 1959,” I found the following testimony
from an interview with Thomas Miyashiro, the only person to ever train
directly under Motobu Choki during his brief stay in Hawaii in 1932: “In
the late twenties and early thirties in Hawaii it was common for boxing
promoters, etc., to match judo men against boxers. Seeing that these
matches proved interesting and profitable, a group of Okinawan men headed
by Mr. Chosho Tamanaha decided to pit a karate man against a boxer. This
group selected Choki Motobu, the great Okinawan master who had defeated
a ‘Russian heavyweight boxer’ in a bare-handed bout in 1922.”
If this is true, and knowing that Kano was an avid supporter of Funakoshi
Gichen, it is not completely surprising that he did not welcome Motobu
into the Tokyo budo community. In fact, it is entirely possible that
Kano saw Motobu in the same harsh light as he did the old-school jujutsu-ka
who fiercely critiqued him during the time he was establishing judo.
I concur with Goodin’s observations when he wrote, “In many
ways, Kano and Funakoshi had similar roles. Kano was largely responsible
for the transformation of the ancient fighting discipline of Ju Jutsu
into the modern sport of Judo. Funakoshi played a similar role in the
transformation of karate-jutsu into karate-do. The change of karate was
probably inevitable. It had been initiated in Okinawa as the turn of
the century by one of Funakoshi’s teachers, Anko Itosu. Funakoshi
is rightly regarded as the father of modern karate in mainland Japan.” (Setting
the Record Straight, 4th Quarter issue journal 2001, page 8). Who is
to say that the hostility between Funakoshi and Motobu is not unlike
that experienced between Kano and the old-school jujutsu-ka?
An incident that never sat well with Motobu was the unfounded publicity
Funakoshi Gichen received for his (Motobu’s) unprecedented victory
over the foreign challenger at the Butokuden in 1922. The only Okinawan
martial artist that we know of to enter the ring and confront a larger
foreigner in a contest, Motobu dispatched the fighter and helped bring
national attention to this little-known Okinawan tradition. However,
when the story was finally featured in the 1925 edition of King Magazine,
despite naming Motobu (actually mispronouncing his name), it pictorially
illustrated Funakoshi confronting and defeating the foreigner!
According to Motobu Chosei “his father was incensed by this and
suspected that it had been done in an effort to give Funakoshi credit
for something that he had not done. In fact, photographs of both Motobu
Choki and Funakoshi appear in the article, making one wonder how the
magazine’s artists could have possibly confused the two. The rivalry
that existed between Motobu Choki and Funakoshi is well known. Put simply,
Motobu Choki did not believe that Funakoshi, a retired schoolteacher,
was qualified to teach authentic Okinawan karate. In essence, he thought
that Funakoshi’s karate would not work in an actual fight. Motobu
Choki’s detractors responded by attempting to discredit him personally
(for his speech, manners, appearance, etc.). Behind his back, he was
wrongfully portrayed as an uneducated, uncivilized brute. His childhood
nickname of “Saru” or “Monkey” was even used
to mock and belittle him.
But it does not appear that any of his detractors ever challenged him
to a fight! Remember that in Okinawa a challenger was expected to do
just that – to literally “put up or shut up.” Fists
were the medium of discussion rather than words. Motobu Choki was certainly
not one to mince words. And no one could claim that his karate was anything
less than effective. (Setting the Record Straight, 3rd Quarter issue
journal 2001, page 14)
There’s a ten page article – in Japanese –entitled “Konishi
Yasurhiro,” by Kaku Kouzo, published by Baseball Magazine that
my wife, Yuriko, and I translated into English that helps provide deeper
insights into this issue. A very rough English translation of this same
article also appears in the 1993 publication entitled, “Karate & His
Life,” on pages 13 through 16 published by the Ryobukai. Our translation
is as follows:
“Konishi Yashiro exerted tremendous effort to improve the level
of karate-jutsu during his time. In fact, what he did was, even by today’s
standards, questionably daredevil. Despite a long tradition of having
multiple teachers in Okinawa, and the cross training freedom we enjoy
today, as a student of Funakoshi Gichen, Konishi did the ultimate unthinkable
thing when he petitioned Motobu Choki, then a principal pioneer of karate-jutsu,
to enter his dojo as a student. Describing Motobu as, “his irreconcilable
enemy,” Funakoshi Gichen cared little for his fellow countryman
and even less for his efforts to cultivate their native art on the mainland.
In other words, according to this inflexible standard it was considered
an act of betrayal that Konishi would contact Motobu for any purpose,
such as that of widening and deepening his insights into karate.
At that time, a great swirl of criticism against Konishi surfaced amidst
the supporters of Funakoshi’s movement. Even later, when Konishi
became regarded as the principal Japanese architect of karate on the
mainland through his connection with the Dai Nippon Budokukai, animosity
and criticism lingered on. A teacher not generally known for openly criticizing
other people, Funakoshi maintained that Motobu was a densely illiterate
person, irrespective of Konishi’s support. In fact, whenever the
name of Motobu was mentioned, Funakoshi’s face contorted. Conversely,
Motobu referred to Funakoshi’s karate as a Shamisen (3 stringed
Okinawan guitar), beautiful on the outside but hollow on the inside.
About The Author Patrick McCarthy is an internationally known teacher, lecturer, seminar
leader and author who is a 7th degree Black Belt in karate (under Kinjo
Hiroshi Hanshi) and holds a Kyoshi Menkyo issued by the Dai Nippon Butokukai
Kyoto Honbu in April 1994. He has been a supporter of the Dai Nippon
Butokukai for many years, as a student of Richard Kim Hanshi (the man
originally responsible for first establishing the Butokukai in North
America). A veteran Canadian/American touriment competitor during the
1970’s and 1980’s he was recognized as a North American top-ten
rated competitor in kata, kumite & kobudo and received many meritorious
awards. He then migrated to Japan as a 5th dan where he immersed himself
in the study of karate, its origins, ethos & technical theories.
He was invited to test before a board of DNBK honbu Hanshi at the Kyoto
Butokuden in 1988 and was awarded his Renshi accreditation and 6th dan
in karatedo. In 1995 McCarthy moved to Australia where he oversees that
county’s first government accredited instructor's program in traditional
Karatedo. He also represented the international division of the Butokukai,
but discontinued this association when he established the Ryukyu Karate-jutsu
Kokusai Kenkyukai as an international organization. He is the author
of hundreds of articles on karate, its history and origins that have
appeared in leading martial arts journals. He has also authored a number
of books including: “The Bible Of karate: Bubushi”, “Ancient
Okinawan Martial Arts: Koryu Uchinadi 1 & 2”, compiled and
translated materials for the books “Tanpenshu: Funakoshi Gichin“ and “Motobu
Choki: My Art” and translated “Tales of Okinawa's Great Masters
by Shoshin Nagamine.”
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