Product Description

Gichin Funakoshi, the father of karate, once said that "the ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants". To support his life-long stance and offer guidance to future practitioners, he penned his now legendary "Twenty Principles". While the principles themselves have circulated for years, a translation of the accompanying commentary has never been published. This translation is aimed at martial arts enthusiasts in general and followers of karate in particular, The original text was written as terse axioms, the precepts of which are open to various interpretations; "There is no first attack in Karate" has occasioned endless discussion about its true meaning. Many such unresolved questions are answered in the commentary, which is filled with philosophical musings, historical episodes, and advice for anyone seeking a better way. The text is translated by John Teramoto, a karate practitioner and respected translator in the field and is accompanied by rare photographs and original calligraphy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19889 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 128 pages

Customer Reviews

A life guide- philosophical musings
Gichin Funakoshi is known as the father of modern karate, and in this book he explores the mental side of karate, as opposed to the techniques. 'The Twenty Guiding Principles' are explored, more discussed than explained. Master Funakoshi did not plan to tell people what the twenty guiding principles meant, in black and white, but wrote the book to guide people, and let them decide for themselves.

It is a book that makes you think, as a person, whether you practise shotokan, or another martial art, or not, about your principles and what you do. I recommend it.

A good place to start
For practitioners of Shotokan, this book should be essential reading. Spirituality is a major component of martial arts. Some say that Western world martial arts instruction sorely lacks in teaching of spirituality. However, isn't the point of self-discovery that it's an internal journey? This book provides an essential starting point for said journey and should be read at some point of their training by all karateka. Hopefully the reader will agree with the 20 guiding principles and may already follow them. Discovering principles that the reader is unaware of will provide the basis for further growth.

A Bible for any Martial Artist.
Again, every Shotokan Karate-ka (in fact any martial artist) ought to have one of these and read it often to learn the proper meaning of what karate is all about.

It's [karate] not just all kicking, punching, grunting and stuff. Some of the 20 "guiding principles" or "precepts" in the book have actually been acquired from earlier great martial art [Budo] masters (Matsumura e.g.)

That's not to say that Master Funakoshi copied them, and even if he did, it was a very wise decision to have them listed all in one place.

A short book that can easily be devoured in a day, it's full of "worldly" wisdom, no matter what martial art you study. It's best read a few times to digest the intention behind each precept.

Even if you're not martial artist, there are many great principles here that when applied to everyday living will enhance your life and help you to be more successful, kinder and a happier person, regardless of your religion. Each short one sentence precept is then interpreted over the next page or two in simple but meaningful way.

I incorpoarte all of these principles in my lessons (one at a time of course!) and try to have my students learn them & understand their true meaning. I'm certain it goes a long way to improving my students character, especially with junior students.

Again, this is another one of those books, that, if I were able to afford it, I would give my students for FREE when they joined my club.

For more information and in depth interpretations of the Niju Kun, please also consider 1) The Twenty Precepts of Gichin Funakoshi: And Other Essays on the Philosophy of Karate Do and 2) Perfection of Character: Guiding Principles for the Martial Arts & Everyday Life.