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Musings on Japanese and Ryukyu Budo
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For those interested here in the 1964 Interview from Blackbelt Magazine (all rights reserved by Blackbelt) by Ned Paige interviewing Chitose Sr with translation provided by Tsuruoka Sensei. Of note within here is Chitose Sensei talks about his medical career and also some ideas around karate. Paige notes the charisma of Chitose.   
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 One doesn’t have to study or be involved in ‘martial arts’ long before the myths start to appear. The Bodhidharma is organising the Shaolin, the mystical mountain hermit with secret Daoist techniques or the mythical visions that led to the founding of various ryuha. While both Japan and China have a rich heritage of such stories and indeed a great legacy of storytelling, such accounts must not be interpreted as historical fact.
In this blog, I want to explore two legends that raise their heads once in a while about Chitose Gochuku that require historical verification. Neither story is repeated in either of the works that Chitose authored. However, they appear in various places across the net and indeed in manuals which should engage with better historical research before passing on such legends. As I said at the outset of this exploration of Chitose’s life, the goal here is to return him to his historical place. I sincerely hope that those who head organisations following Chitose’s linage will provide evidence to counter what I believe is a more accurate historical presentation of O-sensei. Indeed I would argue that the two legends I explore in the coming blogs may have been intended to cast Chitose-sensei in an impressive light, however, in the light of day they may detract from his real legacy and character. The first legend is that in 1922 a 24 year Chitose having asked who was the greatest budoka in Japan he is pointed in the direction of Nakayama Hiromichi (中山 博道)(whose name is more commonly read as Nakayama Hakudou). The story then unfolds that the young Chitose went to Nakayama’s dojo and ‘challenged’ him. Nakayama with a naked blade faces off against the young Chitose until, after an hour or so, both realising the greatness of the other, they smiled and agreed that is was a draw and became life long friends. This historical evidence of this story, however, needs to be questioned. Firstly, the story is itself a typical budo archetype that can be seen from Yoshitune’s time through to Funakoshi’s experience with Kogura at from Keio University in the 1930s(see https://shotokai.com/gichin-funakoshi-sensei-informal-biography/). The idea of a brave budoka facing a naked blade has been and continues to be a part of the Japanese storytelling that unfolds in many manga and other forms of the popular press. The date 1922 is also relevant. According to Collins (https://www.dragon-tsunami.org/Dtimes/Pages/article33.htm) the young Chitose just returned to Tokyo after having quit his military job due to a severe case of typhoid. This is also the year when, under the invitation of Kano Jigoro, Funakoshi was invited to the mainland to help promote karate following his demonstration before the Crown Prince and other members of the military elite at various points in the early 1920s. The goals were to promote karate as one of the new Japanese Budo that would be a gift of Japan to the world (Funakoshi, To-Te Jitsu, 1922/25 (Trans) Ishida). It is hard to believe that Funakoshi, who was Chitose’s senior and teacher would have condoned such behaviour as Nakayama was a leading light in the revising of Budo in the new Post Meiji Japan. {For an excellent, researched account of Nakayama and the whole movement to revive Koryu and reframe Kendo, please visit Mark Tankosich http://www.marktankosich.com/ accounts of this era}. Nakayama was born in 1872 and created the Shindo (Shinto) Muso Ryu Iaido Ryuha. By the mid-1920s he was recognised as one of the great swordsmen of Japan and was a founding principle of the Toyama Military School. Moreover, as part of this school which also developed its style of swordsmanship, there were precise expectations that the sword should be used to develop the self, like a mirror that reflect the inner person. Indeed, after Japan’s surrender, Nakayama was a leading voice encouraging the Japanese not to lose heart and to understand that great bravery came from accepting their loss and in working towards a better future. He also urged the Japanese to treat the US occupiers with great respect for this reflected the soul of the samurai (Nippon Times, August 28, 1945, p. 2). Indeed these ideals led him to help for the All Japan Kendo Federation in the mid-1950s. Nakayama was a recognised 10th dan in Koryu Jodo, Kendo and Iaido. For a young Chitose to walk into a Nakayama’s dojo and challenge him would have not only made Chitose look like a country bumkin unaware of the political movements of his time, but it would also have risked the wrath of Funakoshi and other karatekas who were desperately trying to establish karate on the mainland. In Japan, one did not throw down a challenge to a man of Nakayama’s standing without risking social and political exile. Indeed the gap in the 1920s between the new karate movement and that of the Judo and Kendo dojos could not be starker. We know from Funakoshi’s biography that during these early years in Tokyo he worked as a custodian (Funakoshi, 1956). In contrast, we know that Nakayama was regularly performing for the Imperial family and the military elite. Karate was not yet on a ground where socially, politically or physically, it could take on a man on Nakayama’s standing. The other aspect of this story is that the young Chitose would have to have been pretty cocksure to take on a live blade in the hands of an expert such as Nakayama. For anyone, who has ever used a katana this is not something you would undertake lightly, especially for bravado. Moreover, he risked being arrested as such duels were illegal, and as an Okinawan, he would not have been judged well by the judicial system on the mainland. Additionally, there were other candidates who Chitose, had he so wished could have challenged such as Motbu Choki, who would shoot to fame after his match against the western ‘wrestler’ John Kentel. However, Motobu’s brother taught Chitose, and he was of a much higher caste that Chitose so challenging him would again, have been not acceptable. There were also his dojo mates at Funakosihi’s school or Judoka at the Kodokan to name but a few. If Chitose and Nakayama did have a meeting, the likelihood is that it was far more cordial than the current legend portrays. The young Chitose (who will not be awarded his Judan until 1968) was still learning his art and Nakayama would have recognised that. Given Nakayama’s standing and what we know of his as a person, he would have had too much to lose and nothing to gain by killing or injuring the young Okinwana. They may have faced off against each other, but chances are it would have been with a shinai (wooden sword) or bokken, and it was as a teacher and student, not as adversaries. Most importantly, that neither men mention this event and that is bears all the hallmarks of an archetypical Japanese story suggest it never took place - at least in the current guise presented. Besides the young Chitose also had much to lose too, as he would soon become a father for the first time. In my next post, I will explore the legend, although not as popular as the one above, that Chitose was part of the Japanese fighting force in China, and learned King Fu (i.e. Wushu or Quan) from a villager he befriended. |
James M. HatchInternational Educator who happens to be passionate about Chito Ryu Karate. Born in Ireland, educated in Canada, matured in Japan Archives
July 2024
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