(; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; tī in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts. While modern karate is primarily a striking art that uses punches and kicks, traditional karate training also employs throwing and joint locking techniques. Chapter 9 covers Motobu-ryu and Bugeikan, two 'ti' styles with grappling and vital point striking techniques. Page 165, Seitoku Higa: "Use pressure on vital points, wrist locks, grappling, strikes and kicks in a gentle manner to neutralize an attack." A karate practitioner is called a .
Beginning in the 1300s, early Chinese martial artists brought their techniques to Okinawa. Despite the Ryukyu Kingdom being turned into a puppet state by Japanese samurai in 1609, after the Invasion of Ryukyu, its cultural ties to China remained strong. Since Ryukyuans were banned from carrying swords under samurai rule, groups of young aristocrats created unarmed combat methods as a form of resistance, combining Chinese and local styles of martial arts. Training emphasized self-discipline. This blend of martial arts became known as kara-te , which translates to "Chinese hand." Initially, there were no uniforms, colored belts, ranking systems, or standardized styles. Many elements essential to modern karate were actually incorporated a century ago.
The Ryukyu Kingdom had been conquered by the Japanese Satsuma Domain and had become its vassal state in 1609, but was formally annexed to the Empire of Japan in 1879 as Okinawa Prefecture. The Ryukyuan samurai (Okinawan: samurē) who had been the bearers of karate lost their privileged position, and with it, karate was in danger of losing transmission. However, karate gradually regained popularity after 1905, when it began to be taught in schools in Okinawa. During the Taishō era (1912–1926), karate was initially introduced to mainland Japan by Ankō Itosu and then by his students Gichin Funakoshi and Motobu Chōki. The ultranationalistic sentiment of the 1930s affected every aspect of Japanese culture. To make the imported martial art more relatable, Funakoshi incorporated elements from judo, such as the training uniforms, colored belts, and ranking systems. Karate's popularity was initially sluggish with little exposition but when a magazine reported a story about Motobu defeating a foreign boxer in Kyoto, karate rapidly became well known throughout Japan.
In this era of escalating Japanese militarism, the name was changed from ("Chinese hand" or "Tang hand")The name of the Tang dynasty was a synonym for "China" in Okinawa. to ("empty hand") – both of which are pronounced karate in Japanese – to indicate that the Japanese wished to develop the combat form in Japanese style. After World War II, Okinawa became (1945) an important United States military site and karate became popular among servicemen stationed there. The martial arts movies of the 1960s and 1970s served to greatly increase the popularity of martial arts around the world, and English-speakers began to use the word karate in a generic way to refer to all striking-based Asian martial arts. Karate schools (dōjōs) began appearing around the world, catering to those with casual interest as well as those seeking a deeper study of the art.
Karate-do, like most Japanese martial arts, is considered to be not only about fighting techniques, but also about spiritual cultivation. Many karate schools and dōjōs have established rules called dōjō kun, which emphasize the perfection of character, the importance of effort, and respect for courtesy. Karate featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics after its inclusion at the Games was supported by the International Olympic Committee. Web Japan (sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs) claims that karate has 50 million practitioners worldwide, while the World Karate Federation claims there are 100 million practitioners around the world.
Etymology
Originally in Okinawa during the Ryukyu Kingdom period, there existed an indigenous Ryukyuan martial art called te (Okinawan:tī, ). Furthermore, in the 19th century, a Chinese-derived martial art called tōde (Okinawan: tōdī, ) emerged. According to Gichin Funakoshi, a distinction between Okinawa-te and tōde existed in the late 19th century. With the emergence of tōde, it is thought that te also came to be called Okinawa-te (Okinawan: Uchinādī, ). However, this distinction gradually became blurred with the decline of Okinawa-te.
Around 1905, when karate began to be taught in public schools in Okinawa, was read kun'yomi and called (, ) in the Japanese style. Both and are written in the same kanji meaning "Tang/China hand," but the former is on'yomi (Chinese reading) and the latter is kun'yomi (Japanese reading). Since the distinction between and was already blurred at that time, was used to encompass both. is a kun'yomi for the character , read as in on'yomi. Read aloud in kun'yomi, also refers to the Korean state and later included things deriving from China (specifically from the Tang dynasty). Therefore, and (Tang hand) differ in the scope of meaning of the words.
Japan sent envoys to the Tang dynasty and introduced much Chinese culture. Gichin Funakoshi proposed that tōde/karate may have been used instead of te, as Tang became a synonym for luxury imported goods.
According to Gichin Funakoshi, the word pronounced existed in the Ryukyu Kingdom period, but it is unclear whether it meant or .
The Chinese origins of karate were increasingly viewed with suspicion due to rising tensions between China and Japan and as well as the looming threat of a full-scale war between the two countries. In 1933, the Japanese character for karate was altered to a homophone— a word pronounced identically but with a different meaning. Thus, "Chinese hand" was replaced with "empty hand."
But this name change did not immediately spread among Okinawan karate practitioners. There were many karate practitioners, such as Chōjun Miyagi, who still used te in everyday conversation until World War II.
When karate was first taught in mainland Japan in the 1920s, Gichin Funakoshi and Motobu Chōki used the name karate-jutsu (, ) along with karate. The word jutsu () means art or technique, and in those days it was often used as a suffix to the name of each martial art, as in jujutsu and kenjutsu (swordsmanship).
The first documented use of a homophone of the logogram pronounced kara by replacing the Chinese character meaning "Tang dynasty" with the character meaning "empty" took place in Karate Kumite () written in August 1905 by Chōmo Hanashiro (1869–1945). In mainland Japan, karate (, empty hand) gradually began to be used from the writings of Gichin Funakoshi and Motobu Chōki in the 1920s.
In 1929 the Karate Study Group of Keio University (Instructor Gichin Funakoshi) used this term in reference to the concept of emptiness in the Heart Sutra, and this terminology was later popularized, especially in Tokyo. There is also a theory that the background for this name change was the worsening of Japan-China relations at the time.
On 25 October 1936 a roundtable meeting of karate masters was held in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, and it was officially resolved to use the name karate (empty hand) in the sense of kūshu kūken (, ). To commemorate this day, the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly passed a resolution in 2005 to decide 25 October as "Karate Day."
Another nominal development is the addition of dō (; ) to the end of the word karate. Dō is a suffix having numerous meanings including road, path, route and way. It is used in many martial arts that survived Japan's transition from feudal culture to modern times. It implies that these arts are not just fighting systems but contain spiritual elements when promoted as disciplines. In this context dō is usually translated as "the way of …". Examples include aikido, judo, kyūdō and kendo. Thus karatedō is more than just empty hand techniques. It is "the way of the empty hand".
Since the 1980s the term karate () has been written in katakana instead of Chinese characters, mainly by Kyokushin Karate (founder: Masutatsu Oyama). In Japan, katakana is mainly used for foreign words, giving Kyokushin Karate a modern and new impression.
+ Name Transition15th – 18th century19th century1900s –1920s –1980s –Te (hand)Te or Okinawa-teKarate (Tang hand)Karate(-jutsu)Karate (Empty hand) Karate (カラテ)Tōde (Tang hand)
History Origin There are several theories regarding the origins of karate, but the main ones are as follows.
Theory of development from mēkata In Okinawa there was an ancient martial dance called mēkata (). The dancers danced to the accompaniment of songs and sanshin music, similar to karate kata. In the Okinawan countryside, mēkata remained until the early 20th century. There is a theory that from this mēkata with martial elements, te (Okinawan:tī, hand) was born and developed into karate. This theory is advocated by Ankō Asato and his student Gichin Funakoshi.
Theory of introduction by thirty-six families from Min It is said that, in 1392, a group of professional people known as the "Thirty-six families from Min" migrated to Kume Village (now Kume, Naha City) in Naha from Fujian Province in the Ming Dynasty at that time. They brought with them advanced learning and skills to Ryukyu, and there is a theory that Chinese kenpō, the origin of karate, was also brought to Ryukyu at this time.
There is also the "Keichō import theory," which states that karate was brought to Ryukyu after the invasion of Ryukyu by the Satsuma Domain (Keichō 14, 1609), as well as the theory that it was introduced by Kōshōkun (Okinawan: Kūsankū) based on the description in Ōshima Writing.
Other theories There are also other theories, such as that it developed from Okinawan sumo (shima) or that it originated from jujutsu, which had been introduced from Japan.
Okinawa
15th–17th centuries
The reason for the development of unarmed combat techniques in Ryukyu has conventionally been attributed to a policy of banning weapons, which is said to have been implemented on two occasions. The first was during the reign of King Shō Shin (1476–1526; r. 1477–1527), when weapons were collected from all over the country and strictly controlled by the royal government. The second time was after the invasion of Ryukyu by the Satsuma Domain in 1609. Through the two policies, the popular belief that Ryukyuan samurai, who were deprived of their weapons, developed karate to compete with Satsuma's samurai has traditionally been referred to as if it were a historical fact.
But in recent years many researchers have questioned the causal relationship between the policy of banning weapons and the development of karate. For example, as the basis for King Shō Shin's policy of banning weapons, an inscription on the parapet of the main hall of Shuri Castle (, 1509), which states that "swords, bows and arrows are to be piled up exclusively as weapons of national defense,"The original text is in Chinese, "専積刀剣弓矢以為護国之利器." has been conventionally interpreted as meaning "weapons were collected and sealed in a warehouse." However, in recent years, researchers of Okinawan studies have pointed out that the correct interpretation is that "swords, bows and arrows were collected and used as weapons of the state."