Karate - General Background

Karate, or Karate-do, loosely translates emptyhand). It was not until the 20th century that t'ang
hand ("kara" means empty and "te" means hand).became known as Karate-do. The suffix do was
This art is indeed predominantly concerned withadded by Gichin Funakoshi's son Yoshitaka
fighting with bare hands and feet. The basicFunakoshi, in friendly opposition to his father's
principle is to turn the body into an effectiveOkinawa-te style. Practice and demonstrations until
weapon to defend and attack when and where itthat time had been extremely violent. Punches
is appropriate.were not pulled and full contact was an integral
History:part of the Okinawa-te style. Yoshitaka Funakoshi
Karate is one of the most widely practised of thetransformed the techniques of Okinawa-te into a
oriental martial arts. It evolved during one of thegentler system, seeking not to deliver blows fully,
Japanese occupations of the island of Okinawa,but to focus strikes at skin level. The do suffix
part of the Ryukyu chain of islands, in the 15thexpressed the move away from the aim of the
century. Its roots, however, can be traced backwarrior and towards physical and spiritual
much further than this - all the way back todevelopment.
ancient India. Many people hold the view that whatStyles:
we regard today as the oriental martial arts haveThere are numerous styles of karate practised.
their roots in India. In fact, when we look at suchWado Ryu and Shotokan are just 2 of them.
disciplines as yoga and the breathing techniquesOther popular systems include Shinto Ryu,
that originated in India, there does seem to be adeveloped in 1948, and now one of the main
great similarity between those and many of thesystems in the world. It is also important to
modern martial arts systems.realise that the various styles of Karate are the
Zen Buddhist monks took the Indian fightingresults of the personal ideas of many individuals
techniques to China from as early as the 5thabout how each basic technique should be carried
century BC. Bodhidharma, an Indian monk,out or applied. The different techniques within the
travelled at the end of the 5th century AD fromstyles of Karate also dictate whether strength,
India to China, where he became an instructor atspeed, hand or leg techniques are emphasised.
the Shaolin monastery. He taught a combinationCompetitive Karate:
of empty hand fighting systems and yoga. ThisKarate has been a self defense system and a
became the well-known Shaolin Kong Fu - theform of physical exercise. The competitive and
system on which many Chinese martial artssporting elements have a further part to play in
systems are based.the individual's enjoyment of this activity. It is
In 1470, the Japanese had occupied the island ofbecause of the possibility of participation in
Okinawa. The law of the land dictated thatcompetition that many people take up this art.
anybody found carrying weapons would be put toCompetition is not the only reason for engaging in
death. In order to protect themselves from localthis art. It is possible to learn Karate without
bandits, who largely ignored the prohibition onparticipating in competitions, however for some
weapons, Zen Buddhist monks developed thepeople, competition provides motivation and
empty hand system known as "te", importingstimulation for training. The sense of achievement
new techniques from China. Eventually the newthat comes from just taking part can be carried
art was translated as "t'ang" (China hand), butover into everyday life.
was familiarly known as "Okinawa-te" (Okinawa