Karate was real and much better then than nowdays, on this great film we can see clearly kime and thus karate. Thank you for showing this awesome material I never seen before.
None of this is 1924. Maybe 1934. Yoshitaka Funakoshi was not teaching until 1932--in 1924 he was 14 years old and in Okinawa. Nakayama Sensei can be seen in one or two scenes and he started training in 1931. Otsuka Sensei does not appear which suggests he has already formed Wadoryu which would make this 1935. Kimura Sensei is performing Nijushiho in a form not adopted until at least 1934. The stances --especially the back stances in Jion, jitter, and Enpi suggest a time around the publication karate do Kyohan. in 1935 or 36. And finally The first four or five black belts were not awarded until 1924.
@@petercrawford5085 That's what I thought, too. The quality of the filming and the styles of karate might suggest that this is a compilation of footage shot at different periods.
My (Sandan in Shotokan) take away from these films is that function was practiced over form back then. The EXACT opposite of what is now the norm. NONE of these original blackbelts in Shotokan would even pass their Shodan tests now with the form they display here in their katas. Karate needs to go back to these practices IMHO! G. Funakoshi's rendition of Tekki Shodan would probably FLUNK a 3rd kyu test now!
