The Beginning of the Legend of Motobu Chōki
Written and translated by Motobu Naoki
Last week (Nov. 30, 2019), in the article “Itosu Ankō in the Ishimine Period,” I introduced an article contributed by Yamauchi Seihin (1890–1986) to Monthly Karate-dō (1956). In it, there is a section that mentions Motobu Chōki.
In my childhood, I was fascinated by stories of karate sagas, just as today’s children are fascinated by stories of movies. We would talk all night about how Motobu Sārū (Chōki) soaked a hand towel in water and used it to take a sword from a Satsuma samurai, or how a kenpo fighter named Kiyuna broke a stack of roof tiles, shattering the inside but not a single crack on the surface. Learning karate inspired a child’s sense of honor, and especially being initiated into Itosu Ankō Sensei was the greatest glory (p. 24).
Kiyuna referred to Kiyuna Pēchin, who was a keeper of the Tama Udun (the royal mausoleum). In 1918, he demonstrated karate with Motobu Chōyū at the Okinawa Normal School.
It is interesting to note in the above quote that one of the reasons Yamauchi came to…
