It is true that there is little that we can say that we truly “know” to be truth when it comes to the history of karate. Karate is not simply the development of a single style over a long period of time. We can't trace the roots of karate as easily as we can something like judo or kendo. Karate's origins are confused, partly because there is a lack of documentation about karate's beginnings but also because a lot of the early ideas of karate were shared among several different “masters” of different competing arts.

Today there are karate groups that call themselves “traditional” or “authentic” to their Okinawan roots. The truth of the matter is that the original masters of karate cooperated and shared different styles and ideas of empty-handed training in the hopes of learning from one another and benefiting mutually through the exchange of ideas and practices. This is actually a very positive thing for karate.

It means that our art is something that is meant to evolve and change, to grow and develop as new ideas and theories are introduced by different people. Karate has been, right from the very beginning, an act of collaboration. During the early days of karate Japan was not the Japan that we know today. The people of Okinawa did not see themselves as Japanese and the Japanese did not accept them as citizens either. The people of Okinawa were considered outsiders and foreigners, just as people of the West are considered today. In fact the Okinawan people had a rich culture and language of their own, and although influenced by the proximity of Japan were also influenced greatly by China, Taiwan, and other nations whose people traveled frequently through the South Pacific.

When karate came to Japan from Okinawa, many changes took place. The Japanese took the Okinawan art of karate (or to-de as it was also called) and made it their own. The Japanese have done this kind of cultural adaptation to all kinds of other cultures and do so even to this very day. French and Italian restaurants in Japan have a certain Japanese flavor and presentation to them that you would certainly not find anywhere else in the world. Disgusting though it seem, even McDonalds has things like green tea milkshakes and teriyaki burgers with globs of mayo.

During the heyday of karate making it to Japan, the nation was embroiled in war. Young men, hoping to improve their odds of survival during the Japanese war on Asia came in droves to Funakoshi's dojo to receive instruction. Many of these original students never came back to Japan again. The methods of training and the kinds of instruction that went on during Japan's wartime years is not readily shared with the Western world. The virtues of the dojo kun, particularly those of refraining from violent behavior, may not have been taught with the same insistency that they are today. Japan was at war with the world and at that time karate belonged primarily to the Japanese. The war of Japan on Asia is a dark page on the history of the nation. The atrocities of wartime activities in China have scars that still run very deep in Asia.

Gichin Funakoshi, as a karate master and teacher, was very much associated with the upper classes of Japanese society. His books were endorsed and supported by various high ranking military personnel and by the nobility of Japan. As an individual who may have had strong moral parameters for himself, his ability to have any influence on societal change may have been limited. Or perhaps he, like many of his countrymen, endorsed Japan's war efforts.

To this day, we simply do not have enough factual information to form knowledgeable opinions about who Gichin Funakoshi was and what kind of man and teacher he was to others.

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