This non-fiction book, with a Copyright date of 1975, takes place over the life of the author from 1868 to 1957 and is an autobiographical sketch of his life. Gichin Funakoshi is a karate master and scholar of the Chinese classics. He is born in Shuri, Okinawa and dies in Tokyo, Japan at the age of ninety years. Gichin devotes his whole life to the practice, development and promotion of Karate-do. He lives a life of moderation and physical discipline to maintain and develop his career, personality and skills. He is not a rich man and lives simply without extravagance. However, he is wealthy in wisdom and personal spirituality. He has a strong and well-developed physical presence even as a ninety-year old man. He is married but lives apart from his wife for much of their life from a mutual understanding and devotion to their individual pursuits. She is a devout Buddhist who follows the tradition to venerate her ancestors in Okinawa when Gichin moves to Tokyo. They have children and he is at her side through her illness and death.

The author teaches for more than thirty years and is in the shizoku class. Gichin learns karate as a young man while it is illegal and must be taught in secret. He learns from Master Azato and Master Itosu, as well as other masters. This book is one of many he writes to research, explore, explain and promote Karate-do. Gichin opens the first school of karate in Japan in 1936. He writes KARATE-DO: MY WAY OF LIFE as the simple story of a life devoted to karate. His writing is straightforward without hyperbole. Funakoshi is a dedicated, simple, honest man who presents the principles of his life in story form. The lessons Gichin learns are illustrated as parables with little philosophical overtone.

"Karate-do: My Way of Life" is a 127 page non-fiction sketch of the life and times of Gichin Funakoshi as a karate master. The author learns, develops and promotes karate from its days of Meiji illegality in 1870 to world-wide popularity today. The book is well-written and easy to understand. Message of the parables presented are paradoxical and require thought and meditation over time to appreciate. The path through the book and his life are clearly marked by chapter and subchapter section names like "Entering the Way" and "One Life." Subtle humor and colorful description is illustrated by phrases like "Losing a Topknot" and "Recognizing Nonsense." A disciple, Genshin Hironishi, President of Japan Karate-do Shoto-kai writes the Foreword that introduces the author. Gichin Funakoshi writes the Preface and is pictured after page 64, one year before his death in 1956. Funakoshi's writing is wise in simplicity as shown in his comment about a waiting snake, "That habu understands very well the spirit of karate."