Karate; not a peasants art!

Karate- not a peasant’s art I often hear instructors talking about how some farmers learned Karate from Chinese pirates and students sit there and suck this fable up like it is gospel. The truth is that it is about as true as Moby Dick! None of the instructors in the early lineage were peasants and farmers. Yes, a few might have owned land…but most Samurai of their time did! Thas right Samurai, or Shizoku. Actually Azato…Funakoshis Instructor was a Tonochi ( Hereditary town and village chief) and served the king of Okinawa. He was a master of horse riding and Jigen Ryu Kendo…a past time that only a rich and influential person would undertake at that time in the history of Okinawa. Anko Itosu or Uchinaguchi Ichiji Anko, the other instructor who influenced most of modern Karate was a Keimochi ( a family of position) and went on to become a member of the house of King Sho of Okinawa. He was more than a member of the government, he was a secretary for the government and spoke directly to the king on matters of state. The men who taught Itosu and Azato were also men of wealth and influence. The fact is that Karate was generated from men who had educations, were not accustomed to hard labor on a farm and for the most part were seen as “military” and “government” men who ran the country. They were not peasants who were uneducated and fell into training in a Chinese martial art by accident. The exchanges were done in the government compounds and in cultural exchanges. The people doing this exchange were government officials and Chinese emissaries. The men that brought Karate to the masses were students of these great men, and for the better part none were peasant farmers. Funakoshi Sensei came from upper class family, his family name Tominakashi, was one of notable influence in Okinawa. He went to school, were most farm kids did not! He was well read and well educated and seen as a good teacher with great skills in teaching children the hard lessons of the Chinese classics, not something that a Farmer would have as a skill set. Another famous Karate instructor was Choki MOtobu, granted he was not as well educated as Funakoshi sensei but he was of noble blood. Chomo Hanashiro was another famous master Karate pioneer who helped with the evolution of Shorin ryu karate in Okinawa, he too was a school teacher with a good family name. Other school teachers also helped spread Karate to young students and service men, they too came from wealthy families or families with influence. One such instructor was Kanken Toyama. Toyama was a student of Itosu and he was born of a noble family in Shuri. His name was originally Oyadameri Kanken. His father arrainged for him to train with some of the best instructors in Okinawa. Itosu Anko, Itarashiki Sensei were his primary instructors but with great wealth came opportunity. He also trained under Okinawan greats like Ankichi Aragaki, Azato Anko, Choshin Chibana, Oshiro, Tana, Yabu Kentsu, and Kanryo Higashionna, all of the great masters were also noble or wealthy family men. The end result is that Karate is not and was never a peasants art. That is a fanciful idea that some instructors use to entertain their students. With just a little research and thinking you will find that this idea, like many Karate ideas is not true! With this blog I will throw a bit of truth into the mix and hopefully be more entertaining than the instructors who blindly tell these fairy tails and forge half truths and false hoods. Kensei