A Brief History of Karate

 

Karate is a Japanese word which consists of two Kanji (characters of Chinese origin).

Since one of the numerous meanings of the first letter is “empty”, and that of the second one being “hand”, the word is generally translated “empty hand” which does explain the fact that its practitioners bear no weapons.

 However, the first letter carries much deeper, spiritual meanings than just “physically empty”.

 

Long before it was named Karate, its original form practiced in the Ryukyu Kingdom (present Okinawa) was simply called “Ti”, which meant “hand” in Ryukyuan language. There have been various theories about the development of the art. However, almost any experts and scholars would agree that it has had some influences from Chinese martial arts teachings thought to be brought into Ryukyu by Chinese merchants. Sometime between mid 18th century and early 19th century, a word “ Tou-Di” (China Hand) was born to describe the fused form of Ryukyuan and Chinese martial arts.

Interestingly, there were different schools for people with different physiques and constitutions. Shuri-te (or Shorin-ryu) for smaller people with more speed, Naha-te (or Shorei-ryu) for Stockier people with more power, and so on.

 

Teachings of Tou-Di had always been secretly passed on to and practiced only by the descendants of samurai class until the Ryukyu Kingdom was integrated into Japan and became Okinawa prefecture in 1897. The fall of the Ryukyu Kingdom meant the fall of the samurai class. Tou-di was now on the verge of extinction.

Anko Itosu (1831-1915), a Ryukyuan samurai descendant proficient in many styles including Shuri-te and Naha-te, was determined to pass the teachings on to the future generation. He created many kata (specifically coordinated techniques and movements simulating possible defenses in response to virtualized attacks) and modified the teachings to suite younger students, and then successfully slotted Tou-Di lessons into local school curriculums as part of physical education.

Under the new government scheme Ryukyuan word Tou-Di was now to be pronounced “Karate” in Japanese way. That was when the word “Karate” was phonetically created. Yes, only “phonetically” yet. Remember, “Tou-Di” translated as “China hand”.

 

In 1905, another Ryukyuan Karateka (Karate practitioner), Choumo Hanagusugu first used the characters which meant “empty hand” in his writings. Probably because the use of the new character did not spread widely at that time, the fact that he was the creator of this famous “notation” is not very well known.

 

Modern Karate cannot be explained without mentioning Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957), an elementary school teacher who extensively studied and practiced Tou-di since his early 20’s. Throughout his life he worked diligently in order to integrate and systematise the techniques of Tou-Di with elements from other Japanese martial arts.

In May 1922, He demonstrated kata at an exhibition held in Tokyo by the Ministry of Education. This was the very first time that Karate had officially been presented in the Mainland Japan. Within a month he was invited back to Tokyo by Jigorou Kanou, the founder of Judo, for another demonstration. This time he remained in Tokyo to teach, and later that year published the first text about Karate.

 

Unlike other martial arts, Funakoshi’s teachings were solely based on kata and yakusoku-kumite (prearranged fighting) as he was strongly against the ideas of jiyu-kumite (free fighting) and competitions. Funakoshi’s teachings were deeply spiritual and one of them states “There is no first strike in Karate”. Competition or jiyu-kumite would clearly contradict this teaching. 

 

In 1929, Funakoshi announced the official change of characters in the word “Karate”. He referred to “The Heart Sutra”, a Buddhist scripture as inspiration. Although Karate itself has never directly involved any specific religious elements, the sutra’s teaching of selflessness, nothingness and fundamental emptiness inspired the concept behind the choice of this character. Karate had finally become “Karate” as known today!

 

In 1936 through his third book, Funakoshi renamed the martial art as “Karate-Do” (“Do” means “way”) following other traditional Japanese martial arts.

By this time several other master Karateka had established their own styles some of which pursued free kumite and competitions. While traditional Karate valued the technique called “sun-dome” (inch-stop); accurate control of strike to stop an inch before it actually hits the opponent, some schools employed full-contact fighting styles.

 

There are so many different styles and schools of Karate in the world today. However, the spirits behind any styles should always remain true to those of Master Gichin Funakoshi, who emphasized almost exclusively, if not entirely, on the spiritual side of practice. After all, there is no first strike in Karate.