Iain Abernethy - The Practical Application Of Karate

Welcome to the latest iainabernethy.com podcast! In this podcast I give my thoughts on Gichin Funakoshi’s “Six Rules” (of which there are five!). These rules form part of Funakoshi’s book ‘Karate-Do: My Way of Life’ and about which he states, “The strict observance of these rules is absolutely essential for anyone who desires to understand the nature of karate.” This podcast is obviously not attempting to be a definitive explanation or exploration of these rules, but merely my own take on them. Funakoshi expands and briefly explains all these rules so the podcast also looks at those explanations. Funakoshi’s explanations of his rules raise many points of discussion and are every bit as important to explore as the rules themselves. Overall, I think these rules are very useful for today’s karateka (and martial artists generally). However, I do find some parts of Funakoshi’s rules “uncomfortable” particularly with regards to his presentation of karate as a “faith”. In the podcast I explain my concerns abou