Karate
Karate is a popular martial art which emphasizes using striking in unarmed mêlée combat.
Many of the details of karate’s origins have been lost to time. Illiteracy was once a cultural norm, so martial arts were transmitted through apprenticeships. While a few of the old masters were aristocrats who could afford basic educations (or scribes), few of these masters were also good authors. These problems are compounded because most of the records from that period were destroyed during the Battle of Okinawa, and the surviving information is obfuscated by several Asian cultural nuances:
- The Chinese and Japanese have historically had a strained relationship. As such, the Chinese influences on karate have been downplayed for marketing purposes.
- Events which occurred between 10 and 10,000 years ago are all mukashi (“once upon a time…”).
- Confucianism prohibits any derogatory remarks about social superiors or the dead.
- It is consider rude not to answer a question. So rather than honestly saying “I don't know,” cromulent-sounding speculations are provided instead.
- Martial artists tend to over-focus on their own particular system, and ignore the other systems around them. As such, there are few cross-references to work with or from.
No one person founded karate; it has been a continuous evolutionary process which apparently started c.800 CE. Chinese traders and diplomats introduced kung-fu (in particular, Fujian White Crane) to Okinawa, which the Okinawans blended into their own indigenous fighting techniques. Someone with these skills was said to have “to-te” (figuratively: “Chinese hands”); “to” is the kanji for China's Tang dynasty (618-906 CE), but this character can also be pronounced “kara.”
The Okinawans were forbidden to own weapons following a 1497 CE edict from their king, Shō Shin, in order to consolidate his power. Lacking other options, the Okinawans were forced to rely on unarmed fighting skills to protect themselves and their property from bandits, thieves, and their ruler's overreach. The Shimazu Clan, which oversaw Japan's Satsuma province, forbade martial arts altogether after they conquered Okinawa in 1609 CE. Karate then persisted as series of personal fighting styles, which were taught in secret to handfuls of trusted students.
Karate was brought to mainstream popularity by Gichin Funakoshi, who traveled to Tokyo in 1922 to promote karate by adding it into Japanese schools and colleges as a means of [physical culture] and spiritual self-cultivation. However, the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai ("Great Japan Martial Virtue Association"), the central governing body for all martial arts in that era, rejected karate because it:
- Had no ranking system.
- Had no uniforms. Karateka previously trained and fought in their underpants to avoid gi-grabs.
- Had no standard curriculum.
- Emphasized fighting techniques over spiritual development; it promoted "-jutsu", instead of "-dō".
Funkakoshi quickly rectified the first two items by copying the jūdōka, who were extremely popular at the time. Funakoshi was able to design curricula because he was a public school literature teacher. Funakoshi took the liberty of renaming all of the forms to downplay Chinese influences, which catered to the then-imperialistic Japanese. Funakoshi went as far as to re-brand the art itself through a clever use of homophones; in Japanese the kanji character for “empty” is also pronounced “kara.” Karate then became “empty hands,” which highlighted its emphasis on unarmed striking. Finally, Funakoshi imposed a spiritual component onto karate by linking it to existing Buddhist teachings.
Karate was gradually brought to America after World War II by returning servicemen who learned the art while stationed in Japan or Okinawa. Prior to World War II, martial arts were thought to be a combination of gymnastics and black magick; these false perceptions made karate extremely popular in the 1960’s. While this fabricated aura of mystery has worn thin from increased familiarity, a few misconceptions sadly persist:
- In the 1950’s, “judo” was used as a generic blanket-term for all Asian fighting arts, since it was easy to pronounce and remember. Because of this, most Americans believe that all fighting arts are more-or-less the same.
- The low number of American black belts in that era skewed the public's perception into thinking that earning a black belt was a near-impossible feat, which was reserved only for the world's most elite fighters. In reality, a black belt denotes minimum competence, like a high school diploma. Anyone willing to invest 5 ± 2 years in a dōjō can earn one.
While karate’s popularity was eclipsed by other martial arts fads (e.g., Bruceploitation, the 80’s Ninja Craze), it continues to thrive because the classics are classics for a reason.
Within karate, there exist many schools of thought. Karate has no central governing or oversight body because these organizations are extremely prone to factionalism and tumultuous internal politics. This is mostly due to disagreements over curriculum design or technique minutia, and from karate's tendency to attract rugged individualists who respond poorly to central governing committees. The differences between karate styles requires some familiarity to notice, much like how the Italian and French schools of fencing appear the same to non-swordsmen; or how West Coast Swing dancing differs from East Coast Swing dancing. Goshin-Jutsu is admittedly one of the less-popular karate styles, mostly due to a failure to advertise and promote ourselves. This website aims to correct this error.
