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Okinawan Kempo: Choki Motobu
Choki Motobu was considered by many to be the toughest karate man in Okinawa during the 1930's and1940's his legendary fights with Japanese thugs is recorded in many places in this book he shows you his personal self defense skills.
- GenresMartial Arts
136 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 14, 2025
A Jeremiad, written in the dark hours of the dawn with the stimulation of a very strong and good cup of coffee….
A martial arts friend of mine handed this book to me and asked if I could find a good home for it, as he appears to be nearing the end of his life and is downsizing. He said it was pretty, but very bad.
It is indeed pretty. It’s the first English edition of a Canadian printing from 1995, with a hard cloth case for the book to slip into. The book itself has gold leaf pages and a lovely colored cover that features, inexplicably, a traditional Japanese painting of what appears to be a 17th century samurai warrior. It turns out that this was a limited edition of the book and it bears both a certificate as well as being inscribed with a number verifying that it is number 214 out of a run of 2,000. It is worth anywhere from $115-$125, depending on where one looks online.
And as a martial arts resource, it is indeed very bad.
The book claims that the author, because of his standing as a second son in a noble Okinawan family, was prevented by tradition from formally learning karate. He supposedly spied on his elder brothers training, and learned by watching them. He then went ventured about the countryside hitting trees and whatnot, and perfected his technique there. As a youth he never learned any of the formal exercises known as kata.
He was known as a brawler and allegedly achieved fame at the age of 55 by accepting a general challenge to the public to fight a Russian fighter. The book says he knocked the man out with a front kick to the abdomen. Thus his legend was born. He then started learning kata. I should point out that none of this account concerning the fight is implausible and might well be true. It isn’t necessarily impressive.
(The “spying on lessons” story as well as wandering the countryside while training seems to be a trope in martial arts legends. Whether it started here or not, I don’t know. Reference Mas Obama’s biography for the latter)
The illustrations in the book are early photographs that show very little, and the publisher makes several apologies for the poor quality of the photography of the era. They also point out that some movements aren’t illustrated though they’re mentioned in the text.
Analyzing the techniques as illustrated revealed to me one or two useful interpretations of moves found in contemporary kata. The problem with all of the movements as shown and described is that nobody, anywhere, would ever attack someone as illustrated. This is the main problem with a great many traditional martial arts training paradigms. The “attackers” feed one woefully unrealistic attack, maybe two. In karate and similar percussive arts it is often in a “one step” format, with the attacker going for a hip chamber and a lockout punch. In Aikido, Aikijutsu and some of the Korean “soft” schools (Hapkido, Kuksool, etc.) it very often involves a wrist grab. For the latter, there is likely a historical precedent—those schools were descended from arts that taught a samurai how to counter someone restraining his hands to prevent him from employing his sword. But a formalized attack with a lockout punch and a hip chamber likely never survived a single individual combat. So too pre-arranged “lockout” attacks with knives, clubs, or swords where the weapon is pulled and or directed to a space where the defender isn’t at the outset.
The book ends with crude recipes for meals, broths and herbs that will supposedly heal the injured body. These are essentially magic potions, though some of the meals might provide substantial protein needed for recovering from an injury. One recipe is said to be good for treating tuberculosis in the early phases of the disease. Given that at this writing tuberculosis seems to be on the rise again, let me be the first to advise the reader NOT employ this as a remedy. There are revival techniques and first aid procedures, the only one that comes close to credibility seems to be one for setting a bone, something best left to an E.R. Physician.
At one point Mr. Motobu says these revival and restorative techniques should be accompanied by prayers to God and Buddha for divine intercession.
And in summation, THAT admonition should be applied to every technique shown in the book.
Caveat emptor.
A martial arts friend of mine handed this book to me and asked if I could find a good home for it, as he appears to be nearing the end of his life and is downsizing. He said it was pretty, but very bad.
It is indeed pretty. It’s the first English edition of a Canadian printing from 1995, with a hard cloth case for the book to slip into. The book itself has gold leaf pages and a lovely colored cover that features, inexplicably, a traditional Japanese painting of what appears to be a 17th century samurai warrior. It turns out that this was a limited edition of the book and it bears both a certificate as well as being inscribed with a number verifying that it is number 214 out of a run of 2,000. It is worth anywhere from $115-$125, depending on where one looks online.
And as a martial arts resource, it is indeed very bad.
The book claims that the author, because of his standing as a second son in a noble Okinawan family, was prevented by tradition from formally learning karate. He supposedly spied on his elder brothers training, and learned by watching them. He then went ventured about the countryside hitting trees and whatnot, and perfected his technique there. As a youth he never learned any of the formal exercises known as kata.
He was known as a brawler and allegedly achieved fame at the age of 55 by accepting a general challenge to the public to fight a Russian fighter. The book says he knocked the man out with a front kick to the abdomen. Thus his legend was born. He then started learning kata. I should point out that none of this account concerning the fight is implausible and might well be true. It isn’t necessarily impressive.
(The “spying on lessons” story as well as wandering the countryside while training seems to be a trope in martial arts legends. Whether it started here or not, I don’t know. Reference Mas Obama’s biography for the latter)
The illustrations in the book are early photographs that show very little, and the publisher makes several apologies for the poor quality of the photography of the era. They also point out that some movements aren’t illustrated though they’re mentioned in the text.
Analyzing the techniques as illustrated revealed to me one or two useful interpretations of moves found in contemporary kata. The problem with all of the movements as shown and described is that nobody, anywhere, would ever attack someone as illustrated. This is the main problem with a great many traditional martial arts training paradigms. The “attackers” feed one woefully unrealistic attack, maybe two. In karate and similar percussive arts it is often in a “one step” format, with the attacker going for a hip chamber and a lockout punch. In Aikido, Aikijutsu and some of the Korean “soft” schools (Hapkido, Kuksool, etc.) it very often involves a wrist grab. For the latter, there is likely a historical precedent—those schools were descended from arts that taught a samurai how to counter someone restraining his hands to prevent him from employing his sword. But a formalized attack with a lockout punch and a hip chamber likely never survived a single individual combat. So too pre-arranged “lockout” attacks with knives, clubs, or swords where the weapon is pulled and or directed to a space where the defender isn’t at the outset.
The book ends with crude recipes for meals, broths and herbs that will supposedly heal the injured body. These are essentially magic potions, though some of the meals might provide substantial protein needed for recovering from an injury. One recipe is said to be good for treating tuberculosis in the early phases of the disease. Given that at this writing tuberculosis seems to be on the rise again, let me be the first to advise the reader NOT employ this as a remedy. There are revival techniques and first aid procedures, the only one that comes close to credibility seems to be one for setting a bone, something best left to an E.R. Physician.
At one point Mr. Motobu says these revival and restorative techniques should be accompanied by prayers to God and Buddha for divine intercession.
And in summation, THAT admonition should be applied to every technique shown in the book.
Caveat emptor.
December 14, 2023
I read a different translation by Oyata. In general, the book contents offer an introduction to applications in Karate. I've seen many worse books and a few much better. The photos are not always good, but clear enough. The descriptions are general and not too specific on targets. For a book from 1926, it was excellent for it's time. I think serious Karate practitioners will find this book historically educational.
October 17, 2014
Mrpk karya masterpiece Grandmaster Choki Motobu, teknik kumitenya merupakan hasil interpretasi dan pendalaman komprehensif thd Naihanchi Kata plus pengalaman bertarungnya yang hampir tidak terkalahkan di Okinawa. Konon Funakoshi Gichin pun tak berdaya dibuatnya. Pertarungannya yang paling fenomenal bagi masyarakat Jepang adalah saat mengalahkan petinju dari Eropa hanya dengan satu pukulan, dari sini lah teknik bertarung Tote atau Karate-jutsu mulai populer di Jepang.
Buku ini selain simpel, langsung dan tanpa banyak penjelasan yang panjang lebar (tidak seperti karya Funakoshi) merupakan bukti kejeniusan beliau dalam seni beladiri asli Okinawa.
Buku ini selain simpel, langsung dan tanpa banyak penjelasan yang panjang lebar (tidak seperti karya Funakoshi) merupakan bukti kejeniusan beliau dalam seni beladiri asli Okinawa.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews