stephen f. Kaufman

[Hanzo04]

does anybody know of this man. he is said to be the founding father of american karate. i thought that was Ed Parker. i will take any inforamtion you can provide. thanks.

 

[arnisador]

Robert Trias is often said to be the Father of Karate in America (using Karate in a strict sense here, as opposed to martial arts in general).

 

[Hanzo04]

well it states kaufmans name as the founding father on back of his art of war book. that's why i had to ask. thanks

 

[Matt Stone]

Kaufman is the one with the weird interpretation of the Book of Five Rings, right? The one that claims to have started "Dojo no Hebi?" (which doesn't mean "Snake Dojo," or "Dojo of the Snake," but rather "Dojo Snake" or better yet "Snake of the Dojo" - that's what happens when you don't speak the language and try to use it anyway...)

Whatever... Another gaijin trying to "out-Asian" the Asians.

 

[Cthulhu]

Kaufman is the one with the weird interpretation of the Book of Five Rings, right? The one that claims to have started "Dojo no Hebi?" (which doesn't mean "Snake Dojo," or "Dojo of the Snake," but rather "Dojo Snake" or better yet "Snake of the Dojo" - that's what happens when you don't speak the language and try to use it anyway...)

Whatever... Another gaijin trying to "out-Asian" the Asians.

You are correct. Kaufmann is the person who made a VERY liberal translation of the Book of Five Rings and gave his own system that goofy name. I believe he also refers to himself as Hanshi and claims a 10th dan.

Cthulhu

 

[George Kohler]

Before E-Budo had the big crash, where everything was lost after the server crashed in March 2000, Mr. Kaufman was the first person that we had on as a spotlight (basically, anyone could ask him a question about his 5 rings book). This was in back in 1999. He tried to make everyone call him "Hanshi", but no one complied. After several days he got mad at everyone and he asked John Lindsey to delete his membership. People were asking legitimate questions. For example: Asking him how he translated the book, which he admitted that he never did a translation of the original. Someone even asked him about the name of his school, or why he wants everyone to call him "Hanshi." Over all, no one liked his attitude nor were they impressed with him.

Too bad we no longer have those archives for everyone to view.

 

[Chrono]

George, I didn't know you were on here, dude.

Anyway, I was probably one of the few who got his translation of the Book of Five Rings. I still read it, though. And, well, it didn't move me as much as I thought it would. I plan on getting William Scott Wilson's translation later on.

 

[Hanzo04]

oh i see!

 

[George Kohler]

George, I didn't know you were on here, dude.

Yes, I come here. Where do you link I went when E-Budo was down? Actually, I went to other places as well (Budoseek, Martialartsplanet, and here).

 

[Chrono]

Yes, I come here. Where do you link I went when E-Budo was down? Actually, I went to other places as well (Budoseek, Martialartsplanet, and here).

Yeah, I knew you were on Budoseek, but I didn't realize you were here, as well. Good to know I can get in touch with you. You may think of it as bothering you, however.

 

[JoshVogel]

Hi,


So the jist of what you guys are saying about his book of five rings translation is that it's pretty far from an accurate translation of Musashi's origional?

Can anyone recommend a more accurate copy that I could check out? I was reading Mr. Kaufman's translation for the last couple of days and found it interesting, but would like to see something that's more similar to the origional.

Regards,
Josh

 

[Chrono]

That's the same thing I did, Josh. Of course, I didn't realize he was a fake before I bought it.

I think Thomas Cleary's version will much more precise. He did translate Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa which I really enjoyed.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I've got the Thomas Cleary translation. Not sure how it rates for accuracy.


As to founder of american karate, thats not Ed Parker. EP was the founder of American Kenpo Karate, which has it's roots in the Chinese arts I believe.

 

[JoshVogel]

Hi,


Thanks! I'll check out Cleary's version this week. I just printed out a translation by someone named Victor something or other. I think "Something or other" might be Swedish, but I'm not sure... Anyway, I don't remember his last name, but I was just going to check it out to see how different it is from Mr. Kaufmann's version.
Regards,

Josh