The history of Karate is a long and meandering path of development,
across seas from Japan and Okinawa, through the heart of long-ago China
and over the mountains into ancient India.
For many karateka training in a traditional, style, there is a certain
satisfaction in making a connection to the past through training as
their predecessors trained (or close to it) and, by observing
tradition, carrying on values and practices still considered useful and
important. But what is traditional? Through the ages, martial arrs
undergo many changes: they adapt to new circumstances, they branch-off
and are altered, they are lead by new people. Others die with their
inheritors. In the end, what we have may be likened to the message in a
game of Chinese whispers; altered from its origins by so many people
that any obvious links to its beginnings may be hard to find.
The many stories that make up karate's history have not escaped the
Chinese-whisper syndrome. Modern karate's origins have been the subject
of research and debate for so long that the history of karare now has
its own history! This is partly because unearthing karate's earliest
predecessors requires mapping the entire history of the martial arts in
the East.
Many know Okinawa, an island 550 kilometres south of the Japanese
mainland, as the birthplace of karate. But let's look first to Japan,
considered home to most karate systems existing today. Karate is now
practised in an estimated 120 countries and takes many forms. Of these,
some of the most famous were founded in Japan after World War II,
prominent examples being Mas Oyama's Kyokushin and Choiro Tani's
Shukokai. At the same time in Okinawa, the dominant schools (Ryu) were
Shorin-Ryu, Goju-Ryu, Uechi-Ryu and Matsubayashi-Ryu. Although there
had been karate demonstrations outside Japan in the late 1920s and
'30s, it was in the post-war years that karate arrived in European and
Western countries like Australia. The Japan Karate Association, formed
in 1948, assisted in spreading karate world-wide.
The many styles that developed inside Japan all grew from various
Okinawan karate systems introduced to Japan early in the 20th century.
Around 1902, karate was added to Okinawan schools' physical education
programs and the secrecy that had surrounded the art lessened. However,
some changes were made to kata for the purpose of teaching children and
giving public demonstrations, and it is said this contributed to the
loss of some knowledge concerning kata bunkai (applications) and thus
the hiding of some of karate's deadliest defences.
Shuri-te karate master Anko Itosu (1830-1915) pioneered this
development and, though not alone, his student Funakoshi Gichin is the
Okinawan most often credited with the establishment of karate in Japan.
In the early '20s, Funakoshi impressed Japan's Crown Prince with a
karate demonstration and his art was later given support by Judo's
famous founder, Jigaro Kano, securing karate's acceptance by the
Japanese.
Many Japanese held racist attitudes toward things Chinese or Okinawan,
so these events were vital for Karate's growth. The Okinawan's
originally called Kara�te tou-di, meaning China-hand. 'Hand' is a
literal translation of te or di, which was used to describe Okinawa's
fighting arts just as the Chinese used the word for fist. To help
karate blend into Japanese culture, the character tou was changed to a
Japanese one meaning empty, hence we now have kara-te-do, 'the way of
the empty hand'.
From there, Kenwa Mabuni founded Shito-Ryu (1928), and Chojun Miyagi
established Goju-Ryu (1930). Funakoshi founded Shotokan in 1938 and
Hironori Otsuka blended jiu-jitsu with karate (learned from Funakoshi)
to form Wado-Ryu in 1939. Universities in Tokyo and Osaka formed karate
clubs and the art of Okinawan China-hand soon became Japanese. The
Butokukai, Japan's top combat-arts organisation, also helped Japanise
karate, creating standards for teaching and developing ways to
competitively test the arts. These were the beginnings of sport-karate.
The various Okinawan karate schools had always been scattered and
disorganised, divided into closely guarded regional and family groups
(much like the arts of China). Many styles existed but the primary
three schools were all concentrated in a small area of southern Okinawa
and named after their towns of origin: Naha, a town of merchants,
Shuri, home to royalty, and Tomari, inhabited by farmers and fishermen.
Variation between the styles is partly attributed to the distinct
influences of these different classes of society.
Shuri-te featured long, low stances and an offensive approach,
considered derivative of Shaolin Temple kung fu, while Naha-te is
considered the most Chinese, incorporating hard and soft methods,
breathing techniques and ki, (Chi or vital energy) control. Tomari-te
(which focused on using the arms) developed from these two and together
they were the basis for the Japanese styles; Naha-te became Goju-Ryu
and Shorin-Ryu is a product of both Naha-te and Shuri-te. From the Goju
and Shorin schools emerged Shito-Ryu, and so on.
The facts concerning Okinawa's sources of martial arts influence are
often vague and unverifiable, some say because WWII bombs have
destroyed much of the evidence. Still, aside from the continual
development of self-defence methods among Okinawans, it is accepted
that Chinese martial arts have most greatly influenced present-day
karate. In fact, Chojun Miyagi said a style of kung fu that arrived in
1828 was "the source" of Goju-Ryu.
This passage of combat knowledge from China is closely linked to a book
of Chinese origin called the Bubishi, the subject of Kyoshi Patrick
McCarthy's book, The Bible of Karate. Published sometime during China's
Qing dynasty (1644-1911), it details Chinese kung fu history, technique
and philosophy. It's believed the Bubishi was written by a White Crane
boxer, Fang Qiniang, the daughter of an Eighteen Monk Fist kung fu
stylist who escaped the destruction of the Shaolin Temple by government
forces (Shaolin was known to house and train revolutionaries) and
settled in Fujian, China. Both feature in the Bubishi, as do their
systems. This book was kept secret and hand-copied by generations of
Okinawan masters; Funakoshi's books even contain chapters taken
directly from the Bubishi.
McCarthy's extensive research exposed 10 more-or-less plausible
theories as to who brought the Bubishi to Okinawa. Featured among them
are some Okinawan masters who trained in China, including Uechi-Ryu
founder Uechi Kanbun, who studied Shaolin Tiger kung fu in Fuzhou
around 1897. Yet, while the Bubishi is of great importance to Okinawan
karate, it did not arrive in Okinawa until sometime in the 1800s and
was preceded by many more influential exchanges.
Common folklore tells of karate's development by downtrodden peasants,
their weapons confiscated by Japanese invaders, who developed secret
fighting traditions while their rulers slept. Legend has it that this
is why karate gis look like pyjamas: because they once were, and the
tradition has carried on. However, these romantic origins are
considered unrealistic by most historians, as Okinawan combative
traditions go back much further.
In the 800 years between 600 and 1400 A.D., Okinawa experienced
territorial fighting under the rule of warrior-chieftans and in the
10th century military power struggles in Japan saw some warrior clans
move to Okinawa. From 794 to 1185, Japan's methods of war were
introduced, including grappling, swordsmanship and other weapon-arts.
Okinawa's regional warring continued until 1429, when the rival groups
came under one rule as the Ryukyu Kingdom. In 1507, feudalism (a system
whereby peasants farmed for a wealthy lord and fought in his army) was
abolished and private ownership of weapons was outlawed. This, says
Kyoshi McCarthy, "explains why the Uchinanchu [Okinawans] began
intensively cultivating an unarmed means of self-defence".
So, long before karate was exported from Okinawa to Japan, the Japanese
were bringing their own combative arts to Okinawa. However, Chinese
kung fu's influence was more recent and is more evident in the Okinawan
karate that exists today. Again, there are many theories explaining how
it got there.
Okinawa established trade with China during the Ming Dynasty and by
1393, a group of Chinese referred to as the 36 Families was settled in
Naha, Okinawa. There, Okinawans were taught Chinese language, culture
and, it is assumed, martial arts. During this period, Okinawan students
also travelled to China to study and possibly learn martial arts.
Another likely source are the sapposhi (representatives of the Chinese
Emperor) who, in the 1400s, came to Okinawa for months at a time with
many multi-skilled people in tow, including security experts. The
Chinese kung fu that arrived in Okinawa, possibly by one or all of
these means, was then used to police the island. After 1509, with even
government officials barred from carrying weapons, these civil-defence
methods went underground, but were secretly practised and developed by
the middle-level samurai class known as pechin, whose responsibilities
included law-enforcement. In 1609 Japan's Satsuma clan captured the
Ryukyu Kingdom and until Okinawa became part of Japan in 1879, eclectic
fighting traditions grew. Due to the weapon bans, kobudo evolved
through Okinawans making use of domestic and farming implements
instead, of which the sai is an example (it is said to have once been a
hay-fork).
Some pechin also visited Satsuma and learned the Jigen-Ryu ken-jitsu of
the Satsuma samurai; it is thought that the six-foot staff techniques
of Okinawan kobudo originated there. One example is Matsumura Sokon, an
important figure in Shuri-te who was a security agent for various
Ryukyuan kings and studied martial arts in Satsuma and Fujian, China.
But to fully explore the origins of China-hand, one must look to China.
Most brief histories of karate begin with the legend of the Indian monk
Daruma (in Japanese) or Bodhidharma, generally described as a skilled
martial artist born into a warrior caste. He travelled to China around
the Sixth Century AD to spread Zen Buddhism, settling at the Shaolin
monastery to teach Buddhist meditation and philosophy, and physical
movements that included striking - the alleged beginnings of the kung
fu systems mentioned so far.
However, there is evidence of strong warrior traditions existing in
China long before the arrival of Daruma (the first emperor to unify
China, Qin Shi Huang, for example, left terracotta replicas of his
entire army in Xi'an in 210 BC). It could also be logically concluded
that fighting methods and traditions existed to an extent in all human
societies, just as surely as quarrels and aggression existed. Texts
discovered in China, reportedly 4,000 years old, detail systematic
physical training, while 2,800 year-old writings describing unarmed
combat have also been found in Europe. That aside, the previously
mentioned systems of Monk Fist and White Crane kung fu can be traced to
Shaolin.
While it is uncertain how much of Daruma's story is true, the legend is
strong and there is little doubt that the texts and exercises
introduced to Shaolin have been influential there. However, there have
since been many other developments in the kung fu of Shaolin, with
various influences flowing into and out from the Temples, leading to
the creation of many different styles.
Keeping in mind that traditions are ever-changing, the predecessors of
Shaolin martial arts are not necessarily the true origin of karate,
just as one person in a game of Chinese whispers has only a small
influence on what is whispered at the end of the line. Due to Okinawa's
location (just 740 kilometres east of China and 550 north of Taiwan) it
attracted the attention of pilgrims, traders and pirates of many races
and has therefore had centuries of cultural exchange with Korea, Laos,
Cambodia and numerous other Asian cultures with martial traditions.
Some karate historians even say that the need for Okinawa's sailors to
protect themselves against pirates played a part in the development of
Okinawan te, which has existed in various forms for at least 1,000
years.
Despite the focus of Japanese martial traditions on weaponry and
grappling during the periods that Okinawa was most exposed to them,
their influence on Okinawan karate and kobudo should not be discounted
either. So, to provide a complete history of today's karate, it would
be wise to also include the history of all Japanese martial arts. That,
however, would be another story entirely!
A good analogy for the history of karate might be that no child is
born of only one parent; they will therefore have four grandparents,
eight great-grandparents, and so on. It can be said that all karate
systems in existence today are the descendants of many different
parents, each with unique genes but also similarities, evidence of
shared ancestors somewhere in their lineage.
That said, it is well worth digging around for the many great
individual stories that make up the history of karate. Some of us might
also benefit from researching a history that is more personal,
immediate and accessible: what of your teacher, his life and his art?
Who has he trained with, in what systems? How has karate affected him,
and he it? And what of his teacher?
Although the past is often more wondrous than any prediction of
the future, historians uncover it not only out of curiosity; their
common aim, it is often said, is to learn about the present from the
events of history. So, by uncovering your instructors' karate history,
you should learn much that will help you on your own journey. You may
also choose to learn from the history presented in this article and
write it down carefully for future generations. K