Karate (multiple styles)

History

Karate first evolved when a Japanese clan occupied Okinawa in the 15th century. The clan developed Okinawa as a trading island, allowing the secular and secluded Japan to do business with India, China and Korea without opening it's borders, and it was probably through these foreign traders that different martial arts were introduced. A strict law forbidding the carrying of weapons was in force to protect the traders, although local bandits largely ignored the prohibition. Traders and islanders alike needed to protect themselves, and the art, at this stage called different names such as tejutsu, koppo, kempo, and torite was developed on the island during the 16th century, as a form of self-defence. Although known today as an unarmed style (Karate means "way of the empty hand") during this period farming implements and other tools were used in combat, such as the long staff (rokushakubo), rice grinders (tonfa), forks (sai) and scythe (kama).

Karate spread to Japan when Okinawa became a Japanese province in 1879 with a Japanese gentleman of Okinawan birth called Gichin 'Shoto' Funakoshi. Funakoshi had studied and mastered the styles of Shorei-Ryu and Shorin-ryu. When Funakoshi left for Japan he started promoting Karate as karate-do, and a school of budo, catching on the Japanese collective nostalgia for the Samurai era, that had ended with the Meiji restoration the year of Funakoshi's birth. Funakoshi developed 'kata', pre arranged sequences of increasing difficulty that could be practiced solo or in groups, and elongated the postures to exaggerate the movement to make the nuances easier to learn. The Japanese schools loved Funakoshi's karatedo, as even young students could be lined up to safely practice in groups, and the Japanese military loved it because it combined regimented drill, exercise, aggression, competition and the 'spirit of the Samurai'. Very soon Funakoshi's students were calling his system Shoto-kan, Shoto for Funakoshis pen name, and Kan for association or training house.

Like Judo's Kano-Sensei, and Aikido's Ueshiba-O Sensei, Funakoshi never designated a successor to his system, though he did instigate the Japan Karate Association (JKA) which run his school to this day.

It is now one of the most widely practiced martial arts. After World War II ended, many U.S. servicemen learnt karate and brought the art back home. Colleges, karate clubs, military and police training schools, and even feminist groups teach karate.

Style

There are many schools of karatedo. Weapons are no longer mainline curriculum and the art is now predominantly concerned with fighting with bare hands and feet. The word is formed from the Japanese words Kara (empty) and Te (hand). The basic principle is to use the body as an effective weapon to defend and attack whenever appropriate. Today, many men and women learn karate for self-defence. Karate training takes place in a gymnasium, or martial arts hall called a dojo. Practitioners wear the gi, which a loose cotton jacket tied with a belt and trousers with a drawstring. The belt used to either be white or black (junior (kyu) or senior(dan)), but after Judo introduced a coloured belt system (denoting devisions in junior ranks for children) Karate did likewise.

Basic karate techniques include stances and methods of blocking, kicking, punching, and striking often practiced in prearranged patterns called Kata. There are numerous styles of karate practised around the world mostly developed by different Karate experts or schools. These styles vary on how karate techniques are applied, and on the emphasis on strength, speed, or hand and leg techniques.

Common styles of Karate are:

Shotokan - Funakoshi's school, and the main school from which the Japanese karatedo schools were born.

Kyokushinkai - 'The association for the search for ultimate truth', from Shotokan, a harder school encouraging more board breaking and full contact competition.

Shito Ryu - Shotokan based 'hard' style.

Wado Ryu - Shotokan based 'soft' style.

Goju Ryu - Okinawan system.

Isshin Ryu - Okinawan 'hard' system

Shorin Ryu - Okinawan system from which Shotokan developed.