The History of Karate

According to legend, the evolution of Karate began over a thousand years ago, possibly as early as the 5th century B.C. when Bodhidharma, a Buddhist Monk arrived in Shaolin-si, China from India and taught Zen Buddhism. He also introduced a set of exercises designed to strengthen the mind and body. Bodhidharma's teachings later became the basis for the majority of Chinese martial arts. In truth, the origins of Karate appear to be somewhat obscure and little is known about the early development of Karate until it appeared in Okinawa. Sometime between the years 1784 and 1903, the term karate replaced that of Te. This new name reflected the synthesis of the native Okinawan martial arts of Te with the influence of the Chinese Martial Arts the Okinawans had been exposed to.

Karate-do

Karate-do was modified and transformed into a way of life by Master Gichin Funakoshi in 1905. Before this, it was just a group of techniques that permitted self-defense without weapons. Weapons bans, imposed on the Okinawans at various points thoughout their history, encouraged the refinement of empty-hand techniques and, for this reason, was trained in secret until modern times. Further refinement came with the influence of other martial arts brought by nobles and trade merchants to the island. Born in 1868, Funakoshi began to study karate at the age of 11, and was a student of the two greatest masters of the time, Yasutsune Itosu and Yasutsune Azato.

The first public demonstration of karate in Japan was in 1917 by Funakoshi, at the Butoku-den in Kyoto. This, and subsequent demonstrations, greatly impressed many Japanese, including the Crown-Prince Hirohito, who was very enthusiastic about the Okinawan art. In 1922, having mastered two major styles of Karate, Funakoshi, then President of the Okinawa association of the Spirit of Martial Arts, was chosen to demonstrate Karate at the first National Athletic Exhibition in Tokyo. This led to the introduction of the ancient martial art to the rest of Japan.

Other masters then helped spread Karate throughout the country and the rest of the world. A general Federation of Karate Organizations was established in 1964 after Karate achieved a following abroad. This federation's main concern has been to establish unified forms, rankings, and rules of competition, and to keep contact with overseas Karate associations. Over the years, numerous schools and styles have emerged, some emphasizing the strengthening of the body, while others focused on quick movement.

Kihon: The Basics

What are the fundamental training areas of Karate? The fundamental training areas of Karate are stances, hip rotation, advancing and retreating, changing direction, and the techniques used in all of these situations.

What are the primary skills of Karate? The primary skills of Shotokan Karate are the step in punch, the reverse punch, and the front snap kick [oizuki, gyaku-zuki, maegeri]. These are the most basic techniques and the most heavily used by Karate experts.

How are the stances trained? Stances are usually trained by demonstrating the proper proportions and joint positions in the lower body. Following this the instructor usually forces the students to stand in stances for a length of time in order to strengthen their leg muscles. The stances are practiced while utilizing the rotation of the hips, and they are practiced while stepping forward and backward up and down the floor. Finally, the student learns to move about in various directions and to combine different stances in different situations.

How are the hips used? The hips are used to add body weight and force to techniques by increasing the mass that is being accelerated toward the target. These motions also increase the amount of distance the technique will cover, increasing the striking force. There are several methods that are taught in order to accomplish this. They are hip rotation, advancing, and thrusting the hips in various directions to aid kicking. Some instructors teach that the hips should be vibrated or wiggled in order to add force to techniques. This action has not been shown to have any affect on technique other than to weaken stances by moving the knees. Perhaps these instructors and students misunderstand the concept of setting up extremely subtle body momentum to launch any technique - however, it is ever so delicate and internal, not an external wiggling action.

How are the hips trained? The student practices rotation by standing in place and rotating the hips from the half front facing to the front facing position over and over again. The hips are trained in the other methods while performing techniques or stepping about without making any techniques.

How are the techniques trained? Techniques are usually first practiced in a stagnant position that isolates the arms and legs from the torso. Then, the techniques are applied during stepping and hip rotation exercises. Finally, the student begins to combine techniques with each other, combine stances, and change techniques rapidly in combinations of movement and techniques that are very difficult and complex. When taken to a particular level, this type of training becomes kata.

What are some common Japanese terms for Karate techniques? Every instructor should hand out a text book or a list with the names of the common techniques on it to their new students to help them learn to recognize the names. There is a complete cataloging of the techniques with pictures and techniques using the Japanese names in Dynamic Karate by M. Nakayama, 1966 Kodansha International. See the last section of this document for a list of good books on Shotokan Karate.

What is a makiwara? Maki means to wrap or a roll. Wara means rice straw. A makiwara is a bundle of tightly woven rice straw that is attached to a flat post deeply rooted in the ground. The Karate enthusiast strikes this post repeatedly in order to strengthen the muscles of the body that resist the reaction force that inevitably occurs upon impact with a target. Many think that the purpose is to condition the knuckles against impact, but this is not true. The makiwara can also be used to practice applying force to a target, to practice aiming and to practice punching "through" a target.

What are important aspects of good technique? There are three large categories listed in Dynamic Karate as the important aspects: expansion and contraction of the body, concentration of power, and proper speed of technique. Others have identified as many as fifteen different variables which could be trained separately: preparatory attitude, ending attitude, fixing the eyes, proper lower body structure, proper upper body posture, raw speed, controlled speed, distancing, timing, expansion and contraction of proper muscle groups, relaxation and tension of the muscles, breathing, kiai, and other variables. One important aspect of learning techniques is the order in which actions are learned. Mechanics, dynamics, and then control are learned in that order during the process of studying any technique.

What is kime? Most Westerners use the English expression 'focus.' However, the word in Japanese means 'decision.' The idea behind the English expression is to focus all of the tension in the muscles upon impact with the target so resist any reaction force that will occur. The Japanese word suggests that one will make techniques decisive and deadly.

Are the fists tight throughout the punch? When making body tension to resist the reaction force in Karate punches, the muscles of the body are tensed to lock the body in position so that the target absorbs the damage from the collision rather than the person punching. There is a point of confusion, however, about whether or not the fist is tight throughout the punching action, or whether it is clenched only at the moment of impact. One answer is this: beginners should probably clench the fist all of the time. Intermediate students (brown belts and shodan) should begin to try to clench the fist only upon impact. Higher ranking students should have the timing and distancing necessary to easily choose the proper moment to clench the fist, so that safety is not a concern and they can benefit from the total relaxation provided by a loose hand. During kumite drills, many very high ranking Karate players like to keep their fists loose even on impact, so that they can strike actually touching the opponent without injuring them. After long years of training, the expert can easily choose to clench the fist or to keep it loose in any situation.

How do you expand and contract the body? Various parts of the body are stretched and contracted at different times during Karate performance. When punching, the muscles of the back are contracted tightly to draw back the arm, and the muscles of the chest are expanded. This is one example of expansion and contraction. Various instructors put a different spin on expansion and contraction (Tai no Shinshuku) by suggesting that it involves moving the torso and both shoulders together. It is a vague expression that does little to explain the actual activity, at any rate.

What are the two kinds of techniques? There are techniques that snap and techniques that thrust. Thrusting actions are usually taught first using the hands, but snapping techniques are usually the first kicking actions taught. As the student progresses, they are taught thrusting kicking actions and snapping hand actions. There is much debate about the efficacy of thrusting vs. Snapping punches and their resultant pressure generated, but there is no scientific evidence to back up any claims.

What is the most common technique? The most common technique is the screw motion punch.

What are the four common basic blocks? The rising block (age uke), inside block (uchi ude uke), outside block (soto ude uke), and lower block (gedan barai).

What are the four common basic kicks? The front snap kick (mae geri), the side snap kick (yoko keage), the side thrust kick (yoko kekomi), and the round snap kick (mawashi geri).

Why do we hold our arms out when kicking? An important aspect in Shotokan training is to eliminate extraneous movement and foster relaxation during the execution of movements (but not at the moment of focus). Is a training aid why we hold our arms out when kicking to discern whether we are tightening our upper body while executing the technique. During an actual confrontation we would keep our hands in a defensive position. More advanced students are easily able to keep their upper bodies removed from the kicking process, so they will usually practice keeping their hands up and unmoving during a kick. Other instruction methods include putting the hands behind the tail bone, crossing the arms in front of the chest, or holding both hands forward in a punching action. Keeping the hands isolated also enables the Karate expert to punch and kick in combination without having excess body tension prevent certain timings for the actions.

What are some other, less popular techniques? There are hundreds of techniques in Shotokan Karate delineated in various texts using photos to catalog each and every one. Most training in Shotokan Karate schools is done using the eight most basic motions, though. It is believed that using a limited number of techniques reduces the amount of time required to choose an appropriate response, therefore quickening reaction. Also, the fewer techniques that there are to learn, the more highly skilled the Karate player can become at the few that he is practicing.

The above information is provided courtesy of CS Dojo.