Written and translated by Motobu Naoki
In the article "My Martial Arts Journey: Memories of My Master Takeda Sōkaku" in the book "Takeda Sokaku and Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu" (2002), Satō Keisuke writes the following.
After moving to Tokyo, I entered Takushoku University and began my student life. I found a book on "karate" at a bookstore in Kanda, and when I read it, it looked interesting, so I decided to visit the author, Funakoshi Sensei (Funakoshi Gichin). After hearing various stories from him, I decided to learn karate and became his student (p. 85).
Satō Keisuke, from "Takeda Sokaku and Daitō-ryū Aiki Jūjutsu."
As mentioned in the previous article, Satō Keisuke (1907-2001), a student of Takeda Sōkaku, was also a student of Funakoshi Sensei. The "karate" book mentioned above is probably "Ryukyu Kenpō Karate" (1922). The date of his becoming a student is not clear, but it was probably around 1923. At that time, Funakoshi Sensei was teaching karate while living in the Okinawan student dormitory "Meishō-juku."
At that time, only two schools, Ichikō (First Higher School) and Keiō [University], had karate clubs, and only about ten people came to Meishō-juku every day to learn karate. I had heard that there was someone teaching [karate] in Osaka, but karate was not very popular and was just beginning to spread (p. 86).
The "someone teaching in Osaka" must have been Motobu Chōki. This would mean that Motobu Chōki was known in Tokyo even before the publication of the magazine "King" (September 1925 issue).
One day, Funakoshi Sensei took me to the Saineikan, the martial arts hall of the Imperial Household Ministry, and I demonstrated in front of His Imperial Highness Prince Takeda. I performed a simple karate kata called "Jion." [Funakoshi] Sensei did a kata called "Kūnyankū." At that time, we were only learning kata, not kumite, because it was considered too dangerous (p. 86).
* Kūnyankū: a misspelling of Kūshankū.
The demonstration at the Saineikan was probably a demonstration held on May 5, 1924. As mentioned in a previous article, Funakoshi Sensei did not teach (very little) kumite at that time.
In fact, it is said that Ōtsuka Hironori (Wadō-ryū) was the first person on the Japanese mainland to create a series of pre-arranged kumite (yakusoku kumite) for this demonstration at the Saineikan.
In March, however, it was decided that karate would also participate in a demonstration to be held at the Imperial Palace's Saineikan dōjō on May 5 at the initiative of Master Kanō Jigorō [of judo]. Funakoshi was surprised by this news and was about to go to Master Kanō to decline, but Ōtsuka strongly discouraged him from doing so and insisted that the way to repay Master Kanō's kindness was to participate actively and show the true form of karate in front of martial artists on the mainland.
However, simply listing the fifteen kata does not, by any stretch of the imagination, make it a martial art in its own right. As long as it is a martial art, the randori kata (乱取形) must be demonstrated. Otherwise, the audience would not understand it. Therefore, Ōtsuka had no choice but to cancel his trip to Okinawa and began to create the randori kata, extracting the characteristics of traditional Japanese jūjutsu and Ryukyu karate (see note).
* The fifteen kata (十五の形): the karate kata that Funakoshi Gichin was teaching at the time were fifteen.
At the time, Ōtsuka Sensei was planning to go to Okinawa to learn kumite, but had to abandon the plan due to the above demonstration. The randori kata (literally, sparring form), or pre-arranged kumite, created at that time is the basis of modern karate kumite. The karate kumite that is widely practiced today does not originate from the ancient Okinawan kumite. They originate from mainland Japan, where young people extracted techniques from karate kata and adapted them to the style of jūjutsu kata, and are therefore a product of the modern era.
Satō Keisuke was one of the early students of Funakoshi Sensei at Meishō-juku during the Taisho era, but I have never seen his name in any karate literature. He must have been well known as a student of Funakoshi Sensei at that time, if he even demonstrated at the Saineikan, but since he later studied Daitō-ryū under Takeda Sōkaku, his name may have been forgotten in the history of karate. Satō was appointed by Takeda as an acting professor, and can be counted as one of his senior students. After World War II, however, he seems to have drifted away from the martial arts themselves.
PS: I was informed by Ben Pollock Sensei in England that Funakoshi Sensei had also demonstrated at the Saineikan in 1928, and that the demonstration in which Satō Keisuke participated may have been at that time. This is possible since the Karate Kenkyukai of the First Higher School was established in June 1927. However, since karate clubs were also established at Tokyo Imperial University (1926) and Toyo University (1927) at that time, this contradicts Satō's statement that karate clubs were only at Ikko and Keio. Or perhaps his memory itself was uncertain. (March 27, 2023)
Note: Imamura Yoshio et al. (eds.), Nihon Budō Taikei, Vol. 8, Dōhōsha Shuppan, 1982, p. 172.