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," 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." It is also known that the policy of banning weapons (a 1613 notice to the Ryukyu royal government), which is said to have been implemented by the Satsuma Domain, only prohibited the carrying of swords and other weapons, but not their possession, and was a relatively lax regulation. This notice stated, "(1) The possession of guns is prohibited. (2) The possession of weapons owned privately by princes, three magistrates, and samurai is permitted. (3) Weapons must be repaired in Satsuma through the magistrate's office of Satsuma. (4) Swords must be reported to the magistrate's office of Satsuma for approval." It did not prohibit the possession of weapons (except guns) or even their practice. In fact, even after subjugation to the Satsuma Domain, a number of Ryukyuan masters of swordsmanship, spearmanship, archery, and other arts are known. Therefore, some researchers criticize the theory that karate developed due to the policy of banning weapons as "a rumor on the street with no basis at all." Karate began as a common fighting system known as
te (Okinawan:
tī) among the Ryukyuan samurai class. There were few formal styles of
te, but rather many practitioners with their own methods. One surviving example is
Motobu Udundī (), which has been handed down to this day in the
Motobu family, one of the branches of the former Ryukyu royal family. In the 16th century, the Ryukyuan history book "
Kyūyō" (, established around 1745) mentions that , a favored retainer of King Shō Shin, used a martial art called "karate" (, ) to smash both legs of an assassin. This karate is thought to refer to
te, not today's karate, and Ankō Asato introduces Kyō Ahagon as a "prominent martial artist." Nishinda
Uēkata and Gushikawa
Uēkata were martial artists active during the reign of King
Shō Kei (reigned 1713–1751). Nishinda
Uēkata was good at spear as well as
te, and Gushikawa
Uēkata was also good at wooden sword (swordsmanship). Chōken Makabe was a man of the late 18th century. His light stature and jumping ability gave him the nickname "Makabe
Chān-gwā" (), as he was like a
chān (fighting cock). The ceiling of his house is said to have been marked by his kicking foot. It is known that in "Ōshima Writing" (1762), written by Yoshihiro Tobe, a Confucian scholar of the
Tosa Domain, who interviewed Ryukyuan samurai who had drifted to Tosa (present-day
Kōchi Prefecture), there is a description of a martial art called
kumiai-jutsu () performed by
Kōshōkun (Okinawan:Kūsankū). It is believed that Kōshōkun may have been a military officer on a mission from Qing that visited Ryukyu in 1756, and some believe that karate originated with Kōshōkun. In addition, the will (Part I: 1778, Part II: 1783) of Ryukyuan samurai Aka Pēchin Chokushki (1721–1784) mentions the name of a martial art called
karamutō (), along with Japanese
Jigen-ryū swordsmanship and
jujutsu, indicating that Ryukyuan samurai practiced these arts in the 18th century. In 1609, the Japanese
Satsuma Domain invaded Ryukyu and Ryukyu became its vassal state, but it continued to pay tribute to the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China. At the time, China had implemented a policy of
sea ban and only traded with tributary countries, so the Satsuma Domain wanted Ryukyu to continue its tribute to benefit from it. The envoys of the tribute mission were chosen from among the samurai class of Ryukyu, and they went to
Fuzhou in Fujian and stayed there for six months to a year and a half. Government-funded and privately funded foreign students were also sent to study in Beijing or Fuzhou for several years. Some of these envoys and students studied Chinese martial arts in China. The styles of Chinese martial arts they studied are not known for certain, but it is assumed that they studied
Fujian White Crane and other styles from Fujian Province. Sōryo Tsūshin (monk Tsūshin), active during the reign of King Shō Kei, was a monk who went to the Qing Dynasty to study Chinese martial arts and was reportedly one of the best martial artists of his time in Ryukyu.
19th and early 20th century It is not known when the name
tōde (, ) first came into use in the Ryukyu Kingdom, but according to Ankō Asato, it was popularized from
Kanga Sakugawa (1786–1867), who was nicknamed "Tōde Sakugawa." Each area and its teachers had particular kata, techniques, and principles that distinguished their local version of
te from the others. in
Naha (1938) Around the 1820s,
Matsumura Sōkon (1809–1899) began teaching
Okinawa-te. Matsumura was, according to one theory, a student of Sakugawa. Matsumura's style later became the origin of many
Shuri-te schools.
Itosu Ankō (1831–1915) studied under Matsumura and Bushi Nagahama of
Naha-te. He created the ''
Pin'an forms ("Heian''" in Japanese) which are simplified kata for beginning students. In 1905, Itosu helped to get karate introduced into Okinawa's public schools. These forms were taught to children at the elementary school level. Itosu's influence in karate is broad. The forms he created are common across nearly all styles of karate. His students became some of the most well-known karate masters, including
Motobu Chōyū,
Motobu Chōki,
Yabu Kentsū,
Hanashiro Chōmo,
Gichin Funakoshi and
Kenwa Mabuni. Itosu is sometimes referred to as "the Grandfather of Modern Karate." before the war (before 1946) In 1881,
Higaonna Kanryō returned from China after years of instruction with
Ryu Ryu Ko and founded what would become
Naha-te. One of his students was the founder of
Gojū-ryū,
Chōjun Miyagi. Chōjun Miyagi taught such well-known karateka as
Seko Higa (who also trained with Higaonna),
Meitoku Yagi,
Miyazato Ei'ichi, and
Seikichi Toguchi, and for a very brief time near the end of his life, An'ichi Miyagi (a teacher claimed by
Morio Higaonna). In addition to the three early
te styles of karate a fourth Okinawan influence is that of
Uechi Kanbun (1877–1948). At the age of 20 he went to
Fuzhou in Fujian Province, China, to escape Japanese military conscription. While there he studied under Shū Shiwa (Chinese:
Zhou Zihe 周子和 1874–1926). He was a leading figure of Chinese
Nanpa Shorin-ken style at that time. He later developed his own style of
Uechi-ryū karate based on the
Sanchin,
Seisan, and Sanseiryu kata that he had studied in China.
Japan When
Shō Tai, the last king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, was ordered to move to Tokyo in 1879, he was accompanied by prominent karate masters such as
Ankō Asato and Chōfu Kyan (father of
Chōtoku Kyan). It is unknown if they taught karate to the Japanese in Tokyo, although there are records that Kyan taught his son karate. In 1908, students from the Okinawa Prefectural Middle School gave a karate demonstration at
Butokuden in Kyoto, which was also witnessed by
Kanō Jigorō (founder of judo). In May 1922, Gichin Funakoshi (founder of
Shotokan) presented pictures of karate on two hanging scrolls at the first Physical Education Exhibition in Tokyo. The following June, Funakoshi was invited to the
Kodokan to give a karate demonstration in front of Jigoro Kano and other judo experts. This was the beginning of the full-scale introduction of karate in Tokyo. In November 1922,
Motobu Chōki (founder of
Motobu-ryū) participated in a judo versus boxing match in Kyoto, defeating a foreign boxer. The match was featured in Japan's largest magazine "," which had a circulation of about one million at the time, and karate and Motobu's name became instantly known throughout Japan. and in 1926 Motobu published the first technical book on kumite (sparring). As karate's popularity grew, karate clubs were established one after another in Japanese universities with Funakoshi and Motobu as instructors. In the Showa era (1926–1989), other Okinawan karate masters also came to mainland Japan to teach karate. These included
Kenwa Mabuni,
Chōjun Miyagi,
Kanken Tōyama, and
Kanbun Uechi. With the rise of
militarism in Japan, some karate masters gradually came to consider the name karate (, ) undesirable. The name karate (, ) had already been used by
Chōmo Hanashiro in Okinawa in 1905, and Funakoshi decided to use this name as well. In addition, the name
karatedō (, ), which was already used by the karate club of
Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo) in 1929 by adding the suffix
dō (, way) to karate, was also used by Funakoshi, who decided to use the name
karatedō (, ) in the same way. He also said that the kata had to be simplified to spread karate as a form of physical education, so some of the kata were modified. He always referred to what he taught as simply karate, but in 1936 he built a dōjō in Tokyo and the style he left behind is usually called
Shotokan after this dōjō.
Shoto, meaning "pine wave", was Funakoshi's pen name and
kan meaning "hall". ,
Hironori Otsuka, Takeshi Shimoda,
Gichin Funakoshi,
Chōki Motobu,
Kenwa Mabuni, Genwa Nakasone, and
Shinken Taira On 25 October 1936, a roundtable meeting of karate masters was held in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, where it was officially decided to change the name of karate from karate (Tang hand) to karate (empty hand). In attendance were Chōmo Hanashiro, Chōki Motobu, Chōtoku Kyan,
Jūhatsu Kyoda,
Chōjun Miyagi,
Shinpan Gusukuma, and
Chōshin Chibana. In 2005, the
Okinawa Prefectural Assembly passed a resolution to commemorate this decision by designating 25 October as "Karate Day." The modernization and systemization of karate in Japan also included the adoption of the white uniform that consisted of the
dogi or
keikogi—mostly called just
karategi—and coloured belt ranks. Both of these innovations were originated and popularized by
Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo and one of the men Funakoshi consulted in his efforts to modernize karate. At that time, there was almost no kumite training in karate, and kata training was the main focus. There were also no matches. However, at that time, judo and
kendo matches were already being held in mainland Japan, and practice was also being actively practiced, the young people in mainland Japan gradually became dissatisfied with kata-only practice. Despite sparring was originally an unnoticed form of practice for senior students, there were no "contests" until Western-style competitions were introduced to Japan.
Gichin Funakoshi stated, "There are no contests in karate."
Shigeru Egami relates that, during his visit to Okinawa in 1940, he heard some karateka were ousted from their
dōjō because they adopted sparring after having learned it in Tokyo. In the early 1930s, pre-arranged sparring was introduced and developed, and finally a few years later free sparring was permitted for Shotokan students. According to
Yasuhiro Konishi, kata-only training was often criticized by the leading judo practitioners of the time, such as
Shuichi Nagaoka and
Hajime Isogai, who said, "The karate you do cannot be understood from kata alone, so why don't you try a little more so that the general public can understand it?" Motobu's emphasis on kumite attracted Ōtsuka and Konishi, who later studied Okinawan kumite under him. After World War II, karate activities were temporarily stalled due to the "Notice Banning Judo, Kendo, and Other Martial Arts" issued by the Ministry of Education under the directive of the
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. However, because this notice did not include the word "karate," it was interpreted by the Ministry of Education that karate was not prohibited, and karate was able to resume its activities earlier than other martial arts. A new form of karate called
Kyokushin was formally founded in 1957 by
Masutatsu Oyama (who was born a Korean, Choi Yeong-Eui 최영의). Kyokushin is largely a synthesis of Shotokan and Gōjū-ryū. It teaches a curriculum that emphasizes
aliveness, physical toughness, and
full contact sparring. Because of its emphasis on physical, full-force
sparring, Kyokushin is now often called "
full contact karate", or "
Knockdown karate" (after the name for its competition rules). Many other karate organizations and styles are descended from the Kyokushin curriculum. ==Practice==