Karate History
Karate history begins in China not Japan like many people believe. There were many styles of martial arts in China and the now famous Shaolin monks ran temples that also acted as training centers for those who wanted to train and learn about martial arts. They were great places for ideas to be exchanged between spiritual individual, nobles, warriors, and commoners. These ideas about hand to hand combat with and without weapons would gradually come to Okinawa and other islands of the Ryuku Islands chain which spans from Japan to Taiwan.
Okinawan nobles would regularly travel to China to study Kung Fu and other martial arts, and there was also regular trade between the two groups. Soon karate began to develop based of Chinese ideas and a very practical need for self defense. In the beginning it was all about self defense and your goal was to kill or disable an opponent as quickly as possible, and that became very necessary when the samurai of Japan invaded the island chain. The island was eventually conquered, but karate continued underground because the Japanese restricted weapons ownership several times during throughout the islands history.
The Japanese would eventually assimilate the martial art, and it would become the next in important chapter in karate history. Today there are four official styles of karate, and Korean Tae Kwon Do was also derived karate. The Russian martial art Sambo was also influenced by Japanese martial arts. Wado-ryu is a mixture of Karate and Japanese Jujutsu, and uses body movement to avoid attacks. Goju-ryu uses a variety of techniques and uses many other exercises to strengthen a student’s mind and body. Shito-Ryu uses square-on stances and linear strikes as well as teaches weapons training. Shotokan-ryu Karate is probably the most popular of the four, and uses deep stances and linear movements, and is often seen in martial arts films.
Since World War II though most of the lethal ferocity has been eliminated from karate so that it can become a competitive combat sport martial art, but karate history is very rich and has many important lessons. A modern martial artist we have to work to return to the old way when martial arts were for self defense and competition was secondary. It shouldn’t be about trophies and medals; it should be about honor and survival. Don’t let you martial art be a joke any longer.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
