Japan B Martial Arts

Welcome to Japan B Martial Arts, a home for the untold history of Japanese and Okinawan martial arts — the people, politics, and primary sources behind the styles millions of people practice today but rarely get to study.

On our YouTube channel and the Budo Chronicles podcast, we dig through old documents, forgotten interviews, and rare Japanese-language texts to tell the real stories and political histories behind figures like Funakoshi Gichin, Miyagi Chojun, Kano Jigoro, and Motobu Choki — stories that usually get flattened into a single paragraph in a dojo handbook.

Honorifics have been omitted for all individuals mentioned in our videos.

The narration in our videos is generated using AI. Our priority is that the meaning is conveyed clearly through the context and can be easily understood by Japanese speakers. Therefore, perfect pronunciation is not a priority for this channel.