Two sides of the same medal

This is a story about two men who formed modern karate.

The story of Gichin Funakoshi and Motobu Choki.

The men of totally different karate approaches and philosophies.

Motobu, a ‘self-made’ karateka, developed more on his own, was a fearsome fighter who took many years on self-development in rough parts of Naha before he began training with instructors.

On the opposite side, Funakoshi gained his reputation as a man of sharp though, a man of philosophy which we transferred to Karate.

The differences between Funakoshi and Motobu weren’t just theoretical. They encountered and disliked one another.

Motobu considered Funakoshi to be rather soft and superficial in his understanding of karate.

Funakoshi, on the other hand, looked at Motobu with disdain due to his constant rough behavior and his apparent lack of social grace.

Funakoshi did not believe Motobu was a proper representative of Karate.

There were a few alleged meetings between Motobu and Funakoshi, one in which Motobu dared Funakoshi to attempt techniques on him.

He’s even accused Funakoshi that changes he was making, moving away from the true core of Okinawan karate.