To-Te Jitsu

There are a lot of misconceptions about this book, even within these reviews. These misconceptions must be clarified, for without the clarification students of karate will never grasp the true history of Karate-do. So here it goes:Many reviewers claim that this is a translation of Funakoshi's first book. That is not correct. To-Te Jitsu is a translation of his SECOND master text book, not the first one. As Funakoshi himself laments in My Way of Life, the original plates for the first book were destroyed in the great earthquake of 1923. So to make is clear, he wrote three Master Texts, as follows (I will not translate the titles because that seems to be one of the primary reasons for the confusion :In 1922 he wrote his first Master Text commonly known as Tote Ryukyu Kenpo - this book can be easily distinguished from the others by containing mostly drawings instead of photographs accompanying the text, especially for the descriptions of basics and kata (there are a few photos of Funakoshi himself and of a handful of throws);In 1926 he wrote his second book, commonly known as Rentan Goshin Karate-Jutsu, which expanded on the original Master Text and for the first time included photographs of the master himself, distinguished by the crumpled background. THIS IS THIS BOOK, currently titled To-Te Jitsu;Finally, in 1935 he wrote Karate-Do Kyohan, which is available in English in two translations. The most commonly available translation by Ohshima is accompanied by photos of the translator, while less known one, by Suzuki-Johnson, contains photos of Funakoshi himself. To further add to the confusion, the Ohshima translation is of a second edition, rights to which are held by the Shotokai, whereas the Suzuki-Johnson translation is of the original 1935 edition of the book.I have only been aware of the error made by many that this book, To-Te Jitsu is not the first, but rather the second master text, after the text of the first book (the one that had plates destroyed in the earthquake) was scanned and recently posted online by some Okinawan and Japanese historical societies. I can not include links here, but the book is now in public domain and still available if one looks for it diligently. Hope this helps.

Great original book by the founder of Shotokan Karate. It helps explain the history of Karate as well as the Kata movements. Some of the old moves reveals the applications of the Kata movements that we do today.

Great

An extremely valuable translation that in addition to laying out the foundations and roots of karate and the Imperial Japanese Government's support of it as a physical education tool in public schools, this book provides insight into the introduction of karate into Korea during the 1920s...way before the supposed "9 kwans" timeline espoused by so many taekwondo mythologists.

This is a reprint of Master Funakoshi's first book on Karate. It is the exact same book with "Karate Jutsu", which is out of print though. The content in both is identical. The history and value of Karate are covered in the early chapters. It gives brief description and photos of basic techniques and 10 of Shotokan's kata featuring the Grandmaster himself. However only the first 3 kata are detailed step-by-step in photos. The book has a nice cover.Master Funakoshi considered this book "an amateur work" and authored "Karate Do Kyohan: The Master Text" in his last years. The truth is that in To-Te-Jitsu the photos are kind of blur and the book is not very analytic, whereas "Karate Do Kyohan: The Master Text" features all katas and techniques in great detail using more photos (featuring a student of Master Funakoshi and thus are of higher quality concerning the viewable details) and its writing reveals the greater experience Master Funakoshi gained (since the time he introduced karate to Japan for the first time).The book is a bit expensive too for a paperback and so I give it 3 stars for historic value, a must have for collectors. But if someone already owns Karate Do Kyohan, simply don't bother with this book.

This is a translation of the older version of his big book and has some very interesting pictures. I recommend reading the introduction by the Admiral which mentions how Karate used to be too deadly so some moves were changed by Funakoshi. You will see that the pinan were not switched until after the original version of this book was written as was the side-kick. You can see that the original stances for kata which were presented here were more natural as seen in the Okinawan versions of karate. Breaking Points: Using History, Maxims and Modern Science to Understand Kata

The photography is really bad. It is a shame something so meaningful only surrrived in this form. The father of modern Karate should have had his work presurved on a much higher quality of media.

Very Good book for a shotokan praticioner. Must have in your library.

Excellent historical work, good pictures, old Okinawan Kata names. Really enjoyed this and bought coooes for friends

Reprint of “Karate Jutsu” (1922) by Master Funakoshi Gichin. It is my understanding that this is the first book ever published on Karate.Worth looking at for a glimpse of The way Funakoshi was practicing Karate shortly after arriving on mainland Japan from Okinawa, before any sort of standardization or “Japanification”.For the Karate enthusiast interested in the origins and history of their art this is a must have.

Great book minus the errors. There are some spelling errors throughout the copy but not a big deal.

okay

hat mir bereits nach wenigen Wochen geholfen, die ursprünglichen Gedanken des Karate-do. zu erahnen, sehr hilfreich für mich und lehrreich zugleich