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Karate or karate-do is a budo art, a martial art introduced to the Japanese main islands from Okinawa in 1922. Karate emphasizes striking techniques (i.e. punching and kicking) over grappling. Karate training can be divided into three major parts, kihon, kumite and kata. Kihon is the study of basic moves. Kumite means 'sparring' and develops from well defined forms to the free form. Kata means 'forms' and is a fight against imaginary enemies, expressed as a fixed sequence of moves
History
Originally, karate was written as ("Tang hand" from the Chinese Tang dynasty or by extension, "Chinese hand") reflecting the Chinese influence on the style. The current way of writing means "empty hand" and karate-do thus means "the way of the empty hand", or more specifically, "the way of the unarmed hand (without a weapon)". Karate is most likely a mix of a Chinese fighting art brought to Okinawa by merchants and sailors from Fujian Province, with Okinawan martial art. The Okinawans called the style "te", hand. Early Okinawan styles of karate were Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te, named after the three cities in which they were formed.
In 1820, Sokon Matsumura blended the three styles of te into "Shaolin" (Chinese ) or "Shorin-Ryu" (in Japanese) or "Forest Style" (English). However Matsumura's own students broke the style back down again into more branches and their students continued this break down adding or subtracting whatever suited them. Gichin Funakoshi, a student of one of Matsumura's students Anko Itosu, is said by some to have introduced and popularized karate on the main islands. However, there were many others.
Funakoshi's karate came from Itosu's version of Matsumura Shorin-ryu, which is commonly called Shorei-ryu. Funakoshi's style of karate was later named Shotokan by others. He was responsible for changing the way of writing the name of the art; he did this to get karate accepted by the budo organisation Dai Nippon Butokukai. In a time of rising Japanese nationalism, it was important not to make karate look foreign as the old way of writing it implied.
Funakoshi's main adversary was Choki Motobu.
Karate was popularized in Japan and introduced into high schools before World War II.
Like most martial arts active in Japan, karate made its transition to karate-do at the beginning of the 20th century. The "do" in "karate-do" means "way," which is analogous to the familiar Chinese concept of tao. As it was adopted into modern Japanese culture, karate was imbued with some elements of zen buddhism, and the practice of karate is sometimes called a form of "moving zen." Classes often begin and end with brief periods of meditation. Also, the repetition of movements, as in kata, is consistent with zen meditation in that it is intended to maximize a student's composure, awareness, and physical presence (speed and power), even while under stress. Karate teachers differ greatly in the way they acknowledge - if at all - the zen influence in karate-do.
The modernization (and systemization) of karate in Japan also included the adoption of the ubiquitous white uniform (dogi or keikogi) mostly called just gi. Pronounced 'ghee. And colored belt ranks, both of which were originated and popularized by Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo. Photos of early Okinawan practitioners show the masters in the street clothes of the day, or sometimes in briefs.
Styles
Within karate there are a multitude of different styles or schools. The most renowned are Shaolin, Shobayashi, Kobayashi-ryu, Matsubayashi-ryu, Matsumura Seito and Matsumura Motobu. From these came the more popular styles we have today such as Chito-ryu, Shorinji-ryu (Kempo) and Shorei-ryu as well as Shotokan, Shotokai, Goju-ryu ("hard-soft way") and Kyokushin ("ultimate truth"). Other mainstream styles include Shorinjiryu, Seido, Wado-ryu ("way of peace"), Uechi Ryu, Shito-ryu, Shudokan, Bushido Goju-Ryu and Isshin-ryu(there are at least 3 different styles of isshinryu). Some styles of karate have teachers that have created hybrids of karate styles such as the JIKC style, which uses a combination of karate styles.
The Shotokan style of karate is characterised by deep, long stances said to provide stability and powerful movements. At the other end of the spectrum, Wado Ryu prefers quick and subtle body movements (known as 'tai sabaki') to evade attacks and provide swift counter attacks. The Wado Ryu style was introduced to the West by Tatsuo Suzuki.
In modern Japan, two main branches of Karate dominate. Traditional karate styles like Shotokan, Goju-ryu, Wado-ryu and Shito-ryu are so-called because they were founded at or before the turn of the 20th century. Full contact karate includes Kyokushin-kaikan which was founded by Masutatsu Oyama and other offshoots of Kyokushin, so-called because emphasis in matches is placed on the amount of damage done rather than the quality of technique displayed (although this is also important). Most full contact karate styles or organizations have developed from Kyokushin karate.
Traditional Dress
In traditional Karate, students will wear a special uniform called a gi. The gi is usually a plain white uniform with a belt to hold it on. The belt is also known as the obi. As a student moves up in their training, they will get a different color belt. Each style of Karate has it's own colors in their own orders. The color of your belt lets the teachers know what you need to learn and what you already know. These uniforms are worn during training and tournaments. They are also worn during a belt test, in which the students that are prepared and ready to move up to the next level will receive a new color belt.
Karate in the West
Karate, like jujutsu and judo, most likely came to America and then to the rest of the world through two primary paths: Japanese immigrants to Hawaii and the mainland, where it stayed largely inside the Japanese American community, although to a lesser degree in Hawaii, and by specialized study by members of the police and the military. It would be accurate to say that the biggest boost to the popularization of karate in America came with the American military occupation of Japan after World War II; once American soldiers had assimilated the discipline, they returned with it to the States and began to disseminate it. Many masters went to the United States to popularize their art. These included Tsutomu Ohshima, a student of Gichin Funakoshi, who founded Shotokan Karate of America (SKA).
Karate as a sport
Karate may also be practiced as a competitive sport, although unlike other martial arts such as taekwondo or judo it does not possess Olympic status, because there is no head organisation for Karate as whole and no uniform rules among all styles. Competition can be in either kumite or kata; competitors may enter either as individuals or as part of a team.
In kata, points are awarded by five seated judges, according to the quality of the performance, in a manner analogous to gymnastics or ice skating tournaments. A good kata performance must perform all the movements correctly but also show a personal interpretation of the movements through one's variation in speed. When kata is performed as a team (usually of three), it is also important to match the timing of techniques as closely as possible.
In kumite there are two fighters paired in a timed fight, usually ranging from two to five minutes. Scores are awarded either by technique or location. Allowed techniques and hitting locations vary from style to style. Further, kumite can be either half-contact (as in Shotokan) or full contact (as in Kyokushinkai).
In the United States, karate tournaments are a popular part of the sport, ranging in size from small local gatherings to national events. They are typically divided into classes by skill, age and event type (kata, kumite and weapons-kata), and have rules depending on location and the chief style(s) involved.
Great masters (shihans) with world fame
- Pechin Takahara (?-1762)
- Satunshi Sakugawa (1733-1815)
- Sokon Matsumura (Bushi or warrior) (1792-1886)
- Itosu Ankoh (1832-1916)
- Miyagi Chijun (1888-1953)
- Funakoshi Gichin (Shuri, Okinawa 1869 - Tokyo 1957)
- Choshin Chibana (1885-1969)
- Egami Shigeru (1912-1981)
- Yuchoku Higa (1910–1994)
- Kenwa Mabuni
- Edmond Parker
- Masutatsu Oyama (1923-1994)
- Taiji Kase(1927 - Paris 2004)
EXTERNAL LINKS
Karate Associations
JKA PAKISTAN (http://www.jkapak.netfirms.com) [1] (http://www.mushindo-kempo.org.uk) Shito-ryu Shukokai Karate Union (http://www.shukokaiunion.com)
Shito-ryu Shukokai Karate Union Europe (http://www.shukokai-europe.org)
Shito-ryu Shukokai Karate Union Greece (http://www.shukokai-greece.org)
KDS Karate-Do Shotokai (http://www.karatedoshotokai.com)
SKV (http://www.karate.ch/core/index.htm)
SKR (http://www.jka-karate.ch/index.htm)
SKO (http://www.ifk-schweiz.ch/ifk/index.html)
DKV (http://www.karate-dkv.de) Kempo (http://www.hatamoto.de)
DJKB (http://www.deutscher-jka-karate-bund.de/)
DTKV (http://www.dtkv.de)
DKO (http://www.kyokushin.de/)
ÖKB (http://www.karate-austria.at/)
SKI (http://www.karate.at/skioe/kanazawa_hirokazu.html)
Norway JKA (http://www.norwayjka.no/) South Africa (http://www.karate.co.za/)
IKO Iran (http://www.kyokushincanada.com/iko3/IranKyokushin_IKO3.htm)
Uechi-Ryu Patagonien (http://cablemodem.fibertel.com.ar/diegokarate/)
Karate4arab (http://www.karate4arab.com/)
Israel Shotokan (http://www.karate.org.il/eng/eng_index.html)
KWF South Africa (http://www.karatenomichi.co.za/index.php)
Pacific Shotokan (http://www.psk-iskf-jka.org/)
Nepal Kwanmukan (http://www.nkkda.org.np/)
Russian ryu (http://karate.tomsk.ru/English/prez_1.html)
Seido Juku (http://www.seidojuku.com/)
wado TW (http://www.wado.idv.tw/)
ISKF TW (http://www.skif.org.tw/hotnews.htm)
Goju-ryu HK (http://www.geocities.com/Pipeline/9776/home_eng.htm)
FBSKUI British Shotokan (http://www.fbskui-karate.org/)
Shotokan Karate Union of Great Britain (http://www.kugb.org/)
ABSP Portugal Budokai Shotokai Association (http://absp.homeip.net/)
SanShin-Kan\Israel (http://www.sanshin-kan.com/)
Go-Kan-Ryu Karate (http://www.gkrkarate.com/)
United States Karate-Do Kai (http://www.uskk.org/)
United States Karate-Do Kai (Europe) (http://www.uskke.org/)
Ohtsuka Amateur Karate Foundation (http://www.akfkarate.com/)
Federations
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Karate" |
