Who is a genuine master?

ある武道家を「本物」だと思うかどうかは，主観的な判断にゆだねられる。修行者は，通常，この人は本物（の武道家）だと思う人の元について稽古を重ねる。したがって，人それぞれ，自分の師匠を本物だと信じて，その人についていっているはずである。貴重な時間と金を費やしてわざわざ「偽者」についていく奇特な人間などいないことを考えれば，論理的帰結として，あらゆる修行者はすべて，「本物」の武道家の元で修行していることになる。

Whether we think of a martial artist as "genuine" depends on our subjective judgment. Practitioners of martial arts, in general, continue to learn it under the person who they think is a genuine martial artist. Therefore, every person ought to follow his/her own master, who they believe is genuine. Given that there is not such a praiseworthy person who want to spend his/her precious time and money following a "fake" master, as a logical result, all practitioners actually would learn the art under a "genuine" master.

Essential Commonality

武芸における技術の伝承では，身体を媒介としているために，ある程度の変容は免れない。特に空手は変容に対する許容性が高い。したがって，一見異なって見える空手の流派間の技術的差異は，流祖の身体（身体感覚）的差異に基づく理解の差異に起因している可能性が高い。その見かけの違いを捨象し，通底する本質を見極めるべきである。流派は異なれど，空手として通底する本質が存在するはずであり，その本質を探求することが空手修行である。つまり，空手的身体の神髄を追い求めることである。それは，いたってシンプルな諸原理，諸原則と考えられる。空手に流派無し，とした先人の思いがここにあるのではないだろうか。

In the transmission of techniques of martial arts, technical changes to some extent is inevitable because the transmission is done through bodies. Especially karate has a high acceptability to the changes. Therefore, the seeming differences in techniques between schools of karate is possible to be attributed to the differences in understanding of karate based on the founders' physical (body sensational) differences. What we have to do is to find out the underlying truth without the seeming differences. In spite of schools' differences, there ought to be the essence underlying karate, and it is a practice of karate that is to pursue the essence. In other words, it is to pursue the quintessence of "karate-body" (bodily existential style developed by karate). It is thought of as very simple several principles. Is here a desire that forerunners of karate insisted that karate has no school?

Changes of Techniques

空手はもともと，変容に対して許容的な武芸文化ではある。しかし戦後，文字のみでなく写真による記録が盛んになり，映像記録も加わり，近年では個人が気軽に動画撮影をできるようになった。このため，技術の変容は相対的に起きにくくなっているのは事実である。しかし，身体文化である以上，技術の変容は免れない。

Essentially, karate is a culture of martial arts that is tolerant of changes. But, after the world war II, not only literal but also photographic recording is widespread, then added by videotape recording, and in recent years ordinary people can easily take moving images. For this reason, it is true that the change of techniques is getting harder to occur than before. However, the change is inevitable, because of body culture.

Founders of Schools and Technical Differences between Schools

空手は本来，流派という厳密な境界もなく，技術体系もすべて口伝の，曖昧な武術文化であった。こうした緩さのおかげで，摩文仁賢和先生は，首里手も那覇手も学ぶことができたと想像される。そして，伝承はすべて師と弟子の身体間でのみ行われるために，首里手や那覇手の技術は，時代とともに大いに変容してきたはずである。まさに沖縄的「テーゲー主義」の元に。したがって，現代における流派間の技術的差異は，糸洲安恒先生と東恩納寛量先生のそれぞれ高弟であった各流派の流祖の，身体（および身体感覚）的理解の差異に帰することができる。歴史的に見て，沖縄で発達した手という武芸文化は，変容を大いに許容する要素を内包している武芸文化であり，現代において分派が盛んなのもそのためである。同じ那覇手の形でも，糸東流と沖縄剛柔流では，若干異なる。また，沖縄のショウリン流が伝承している首里手の形と糸東流の首里手の形も，細部で動きや用法が異なる。松濤館流の船越先生の首里手は，そもそも安里安恒先生の手であるからかもしれないが，糸洲先生門下の形と違って，船越先生の独自性が強い（したがって，松濤館流の形は，かなり他の流派と異なる部分が多い）。こうした，現代における流派間の技術の違いは，ひとえに，19世紀後半の首里手や那覇手の大家の高弟たち（＝流祖）の，身体（および身体感覚）的な差異に基づく理解の差異に基づくのではないだろうかと考えられる。

Karate was essentially a vague culture of martial arts not only without strict boundaries of schools but also with wholly transmission of techniques by word of mouth. We can imagine that this easiness enabled Kenwa Mabuni sensei to learn both shuri-te and naha-te. Then, the techniques of shuri-te and naha-te might have been changing with the times, because all of them are passed down from masters to disciples only through their bodies. It is just under Okinawan "teegee." Therefore, the technical differences between schools today can be attributed to the differences of bodily (and sensory) understanding between school founders, each of who was a higher disciple of Itosu Anko sensei or Kanryo Higaon'na sensei. Historically, te (tiy) as the culture of martial arts developing in Okinawa includes an aspect that accept a change very much, and that is why today a lot of karateka actively leave from their master and found their own school. Shito-ryu and Okinawa Goju-ryu are a little different from each other in their same katas of naha-te. On the other hand, the katas of shuri-te in shito-ryu are different from the ones in okinawa shorin-ryu concerning the details of movements and usages. Seemingly, the shotokan-ryu founder Funakoshi sensei's shuri-te has his striking originality, different from te of disciples of Itosu sensei, though, it may be because Funakoshi sensei is a disciple of Anri Anko sensei. Then, the katas of shotokan-ryu has a lot of points different from the ones of other schools. In sum, we can guess that these differences of techniques between schools today might be entirely based on the differences of comprehension led by the physical (bodily sensational) differences of founders who were leading disciples of shuri-te or naha-te masters in the last half of 19 centuries.

Schools of Karate

流祖（開祖）とは，師が継ぐ流派から分派した者のことである。ただ，空手の場合は，多少様子が異なる。空手家が流派を名乗り始めたのは昭和に入ってからであり，それまでは流派らしい流派はなく，沖縄の各地域でそれぞれ独特の技術が伝承されていた。代表的なものがすなわち，首里手と那覇手である。糸東流開祖・摩文仁賢和先生は，首里手の糸洲安恒先生と，那覇手の東恩納寛量先生から，それぞれ手を学んだ。本土に移住後，両師の名から，自身の手を「糸東流」としたことは有名である。こうして流派を名乗るようになったのは，近年になってからであり，多分に，日本の剣術や柔術の影響によるところが大きい。一説には，本土では「何流」と名乗るのが通例であったために，やむを得ず名乗ることとなったという話もある。糸洲安恒先生の高弟である遠山寛賢先生は，「空手に流派なし」として流派を名乗ることを拒み続けた。また，松濤館流の開祖である船越義珍先生も，自身は流派を名乗っていない（”松濤館流”は船越門下の弟子が名乗り始めたものである）。したがって，沖縄の剛柔流や小林流（松林流，少林流，少林寺流），本土の糸東流や松濤館流などは，糸洲安恒先生や東恩納寛量先生などの，流派なき時代の師の直弟子が創始したという意味で，厳密には，流派からの分派とは微妙に異なる。つまり，空手は本来，流派という厳密な境界のない，もっと曖昧な武術文化であったと考えられる。

A founder of the school is basically defined as a person who form an another original school depart from the school his/her master succeeds. But, karate has a little different situation from other martial arts. It was not until Showa era that karateka identified themselves with a specific school name. There had been not any schools like the so-called "school" until then, and original techniques had been passed down at each area in Okinawa. Representative ones are nothing but shuri-te and naha-te. The founder of shito-ryu Kenwa Mabuni sensei learned both shuri-te from Anko Itosu sensei and naha-te from Kanryo Higaon'na sensei. It is a very famous episode that he identified his techniques as "shito-ryu" named after his two master after he had migrated from Okinawa to Osaka in Japan mainland. It is not until recently that karateka has given themselves a name of school, and probably this phenomenon in karate might have been influenced mainly by ken-jutsu and ju-jutsu in Japan mainland. Some say that Okinawan karateka unavoidably gave themselves a name of school against their will because it is usual that martial artists have their own name of school in Japan mainland. Kanken Toyama sensei, who was the leading disciple of Anko Itosu sensei, had been refusing to identify himself with a specific school name, saying "there is no school in karate." In addition, Gichin Funakoshi sensei, who is the founder of shotokan-ryu, also did not identify his class with a specific name of school ("shotokan-ryu" has been given by the disciples of Funakoshi sensei). Thus, goju-ryu and syorin-ryu in Okinawa and shito-ryu and shotokan-ryu in Japan mainland are subtly different from a sect of main school, since that the direct disciples of such masters in the age of no school as Anko Itosu sensei and Kanryo Higaon'na sensei have founded their respective schools. In other word, it is suggested that karate must have been essentially a more vague culture of martial arts without strict boundaries of schools.