Congratulations to all those who participated in multiple 100 kata workouts this week!
Our dojo members participated in the 100 Kata event, held on “Karate Day”, October 25th, with thousands of participants around the world. It was a rewarding workout, so we repeated it.
The 100 kata workout is held on this day to commemorate the day when the kanji for the Okinawan martial arts known as “kara te” were changed from the characters for “Chinese hands” (pronounced to-de or kara-te) to those for “empty hands” (kara-te).
The change was decieded at a meeting of karate leaders, cultural influencers and public officials. They also considered the advisability of using the term karate-do, to conform with contemporary Japanese usage. Attendees noted as an example, the change in name from jujitsu to judo, indicative, they said, of the association of martial arts in Japan with the cultivation of the mind.
The original meeting held in Naha, Okinawa on October 25, 1936, was attended by prominent people in the Okinawan karate community including:
Chomo Hanashiro, Kyan Chotoku, Choki Motobu, Chojun Miyagi, Juhatsu Kyoda, Choshin Chibana, Shimpan Gusukuma, Chotei Oroku, Genwa Nakasone, Karate Kenkyusha (affiliated with Shudokan of Kanken Toyama)
and people with an official position or public role in the development of the culture:
Koichi Sato, Manager of Educational Affairs Department, Zenpatsu Shimabukuro, Director of Okinawa Prefectural Library, Kitsuma Fukushima, Regimental Headquarters Adjutant, Eizo Kita, Chief of Okinawa Prefectural Police Affairs Section, Chosho Goeku, Chief of Okinawa Prefectural Security Section, Gizaburo Furukawa, Supervisor of Physical Education of Okinawa Prefecture, Sei Ando, a writer, Choshiki Ota, President of Ryukyu Shimpo Newspaper Company, Kowa Matayoshi, Chief Editor of Ryukyu Shimpo, Zensoku Yamaguchi, Director of Ryukyu Shimpo Newspaper Company, Tamashiro, a reporter of Ryukyu Shimpo
This information is from “Karatedo Dai Hokan” by Kanken Toyama. Published by Tsuru Shobo, 1960).
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Post and dojo photo copyright © 2023 Jeffrey Brooks
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For more on Okinawan karate read True Karate Dō –
“One of the best books I’ve read in years, inviting and compelling.
Jeff Brooks moves effortlessly from martial arts to Buddhism to consciousness studies, self-transformation, and related fields in this wide-ranging and Illuminating study that has much to offer both novice explorers and veteran practitioners.
A splendid achievement.”
— Philip Zaleski, Editor, The Best Spiritual Writing series
— Co-author, The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams.
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