"It was nearly four decades ago that I embarked upon what I now realize was a highly ambiguous program: the intro-duction in the Japanese public at large of that complex Okinawan art, or sport, which is called Karate-Do, ''The Way of Karate.''
These forty years have been turbulent ones, and the path that I chose for myself turned out to be far from easy; now, looking back, I am astonished that I attained in this endeavor even the quite modest success that has come my way."
(''KARATE-DO, My Way of Life'', Gichin Funakoshi, Kondansha USA 1975)