MAGAZINE ONLINE AJL SEPTEMBRE 2017

KYOSHI FRANK WEBER - 8TH DAN
There are many historical and "human" causes of the loss of applications to
the Kata. The War decimated many of the Japanese and Okinawan dojos, almost
an entire generation of Karateka having been lost. Many of the returning
Karateka had forgotten much of their training and the surviving instructors were
quite elderly and unable to start all over again. Funakoshi himself was nearly eighty
in 1945 and was unable to take much of a physical role in the instruction of the new
generation of Karateka.
Funakoshi himself thought that Karate had changed considerably with its importation
from Okinawa to mainland Japan (Langley) and that many of the original
moves had been altered as "sport" Karate became ascendant.
An example of this was the alterations of the black belt kata Nijushiho. Originally
Nijushiho included two stomping kicks (fumikomi geri) from kibadachi.
In the mid-fifties while attending the JKA instructors class Asai Sensei
and Okazaki Sensei altered the kicks to yoko geri kekomi because they were young,
strong and flexible.
Asai Sensei later performed the kekomi geri in competition and was never penalized
for the alteration.