Study Guide on the History of Karate

This study guide that I have compiled includes page references from Hanshi Patrick McCarthy’s translation of the Bubishi: The Manual of Classical Combat.

Martial Arts definition & etymological study – Martial represents militaristic combat, military science, military strategy, warfare tactics or anything dealing with war. Martial comes from the word Mars. In Greco-Roman mythology, Mars is the Roman god of war. Martial Art is deifying the Roman God of war. Therefore, it is a European terminology.

 Establishment of Okinawa and its fighting arts (references from the Bubishi)

-          place of origin for the fighting system was the Ryukyu Kingdom (Okinawan Prefecture)

-          outside influences of the fighting arts of Okinawa are Southern China, Kyushu (province of Japan), Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines due to open trade routes and military invasions

Hanshi Patrick McCarthy’s theories of how Karate developed in Okinawa

There are four common theories explaining the development of Karate (p. 78)

-          The unarmed fighting traditions were developed by peasants

-          The second claims the Okinawan fighting arts were primarily influenced by Chinese arts that were taught by the 36 families

-          The third theory concerns the 1507 weapons ban by King Sho-Shin, which led to an increased need by wealthy landowners for an effective means of defending themselves and their property

-          The fourth theory claims that the arts were developed primarily by domestic security and law enforcement personnel who were not allowed to carry weapons after the 1609 invasion of Okinawa by the Satsuma Clan

-          In 1368CE Hong Wu liberated the Ryukyu kingdom from Mongol occupation, that brought the collapse of the Mongol Empire being the Yuan Dynasty, its last  Mongolian Dynasty

-          Emperor Hong Wu founded the Ming Dynasty in 1372CE and opened trading relationships with the Ryukyu Kingdom

-          In 1393CE the 36 families migrated from Southern China to Kuninda, Naha (Kume Village, Naha, Okinawa)

-          Important to note: Ryukyu Kingdom was split into three rival kingdoms Hokuzan (northern Kingdom), Chuzan (central Kingdom), Nanzan (southern Kingdom), until 1429CE King Sho-Hashi united the three kingdoms into one called at that time Ryukyu Kingdom

-          King Sho-shin came to power in 1477CE, in 1507CE King Sho-shin banned private ownership of weapons

-          In 1609 the Satsuma invasion (83-84)

-          The ban of weapons resumed and the art of Kobujutsu/kobudo further developed

-          Ryukyu Kingdom was oppressed by the Satsuma and constantly attacked

-          The invasion has caused the ban of Toudi (Karate) however the Okinawan combative system was practiced in secrecy

Evolution of Karate (89-95)

-          Karate was formally called Te trans. Hand Okinawan (Hogen dialect) spelling: Ti

-          Other names over the periods of time was called To-de Okinawan spelling Toudi trans. China Hand

-          In the 1800’s and 1900’s Toudi was split into three distinct systems named after the three Okinawan cities Shuri, Tomari and Naha they were called Naha-Te, Shuri-Te and Tomari-Te

-          During the turn of the century, Toudi-jutsu was being modernized

-          In 1868 Japan was westernized, abandoning feudalism and embracing democracy

-          Japan was growing into an imperial power right into the 20^th century

-          The Ryukyu Kingdom was renamed the Okinawan Prefecture or Okinawa and that kingdom is now a regional province of Japan

-          At the turn of the century Toudi-jutsu was going to be put into the school system, this marked the modernization of Okinawa’s fighting art

-          Anko Itosu, a school teacher introduced Karate to the school children in the early 1900’s

-          However, seeing the art was too deadly and hazardous for school children, Itosu did away with the HAPV-theory (Habitual Acts of Physical Violence) and practical analysis to use as self-defense (bunkai) for only school children and made the art more of an activity to develop confidence, health, self-esteem etc.

-          He (Itosu) invented the first basic kata series designed to teach children called Pinan series there are 5 Pinan katas

-          The techniques are based off of various advanced templates such as Passai, Kushanku, Wanshu, Chinto to name a few Shorin discipline katas

-          In October of 1908, Itosu written the 10 Precepts (94-95) *also sited in Okinawan Karate by Mark Bishop and Comprehensive Karate by Michael Rosenbaum

-          Itosu’s student Gichin Funakoshi was the most fundamental for the modernization of Karate

-          It was Funakoshi who made the changes

-          Funakoshi introduced the dan/kyu ranking system along with a training uniform (Gi) influenced by Judo founder Jigoro Kano (88-89)

-          Note: belt ranking system did not exist in Okinawa when Karate was developing; the natives trained in loin cloth, T-shirt and pants or shorts.

-          Many of the Japanese Martial Arts were changing from battle effective arts to sport Martial Arts

-          ie Jujutsu, Akijutsu, Iaijutsu, Kobujutsu, Kenjutsu, Karate-jutsu the suffix jutsu trans. As art or science

-          The suffix for their fighting systems were changed to “Do” ie. Judo Aikido, Iaido, Kobudo, Kendo, Karate-do etc. the suffix Do trans. As way or path in order to make the Japanese Martial Arts a sport

-            In the 1920’s Karate was introduced to mainland Japan, the most influential person to ever propagate Karate to Japan was Gichin Funakoshi

-          In order to accept Karate into Japan he went about other changes in term of kata names

Okinawan                                 Japanese

              Pinan                                         Heian

             Niseishi                                     Nijushiho

            Kushanku                                 Kanku (Dai/Sho)

            Okinawan                               Japanese

            Passai                                     Bassai (Dai/Sho)

            Useishi                                  Gojushiho (Dai/Sho)

           Wanshu                                     Enpi

            Rohai                                       Meikyo

           Chinto                                      Gankaku

-          These changes were made because the Japanese are prejudiced against the Chinese people, anything about China, their culture and so forth

-          The katas that developed in the Okinawan Prefecture were either in the Okinawan dialect (Hogen) or the kata name was named after a Chinese person (ie, Kushanku, Wanshu, Chinto etc.) were eventually changed over in a different name in Japanese yet the versions of these templates are similar from one another to suit Japanese society

-          The saying for the Okinawan system had been changed from Toudi or Te to Karate in order to abolish any Chinese resemblance or influence to the  art that was being introduced to mainland Japan

-          Toudi trans. As China Hand, Karate trans. As empty hand

-          Etymological break down: Kara trans. Empty, nothingness and Te trans. hand

-          Another change was the 3K teaching structure

-          In order to have Karate-do become a sport like Judo and Kendo, the teaching structure was geared more to the student preparing for competition than the streets

-          The Order is: Kihon, Kata, Kumite,

-          The older ways of teaching Karate to students stood the test of time more than the Japanese and westernized format

-          Based on the research from Patrick McCarthy, Iain Abernethy and Michael Rosenbaum I have modified the teaching/training concepts of Martial Arts to make it more comprehensive for all ages and also brought those concepts to the Afrocentric level

The Jonathan Bynoe Teaching/training Structure Concept

A)    Two-Person Drills

-          Self-defense/analysis/applications, flow drills, grappling, kumite/sparring

B)    Single Person Drills (recording the self-defense techniques)

-          Kihon/Basics/exercise drills, dance rituals, kata/forms, shadow boxing, bag work

-          Four main Karate systems Goju-ryu (Hard-soft school), Wado-ryu (Way of Harmony school), Shotokan (House of Waving Pines), and Shito-ryu (Higaonna-Itosu school) have developed in Okinawa and exported into mainland Japan in between the 1920’s and 1930’s

-          Goju-ryu was founded by Chojun Miyagi

-          Gogen Yamaguchi opened a Goju-ryu school in Japan in 1930 and in 1933 it was the first Karate system registered into the Dai-Nippon Butoku-kai

-          Shotokan was founded by Gichin Funakoshi

-          Wado-ryu was founded by Hironori Ohtsuka

-          Shito-ryu was founded by Kenwa Mabuni

-          The other three Karate systems followed along being registered in DNBK

-          Karate was changed into a sport, implemented as a tournament bounded by rules

-          The embusen rule was heavily implemented, mainly in Shotokan

-          Modern Karate was influenced by Western boxing

-          Gogen Yamaguchi invented Jiyu Kumite (free sparring), it becomes to this day a popular division in Karate tournaments

-          The Gekisai/Fukyu katas were invented by Chojun Miyagi of Goju-ryu and Shoshin Nagamine of Matsubayashi-ryu in 1940 meant to teach basic katas to kids and beginners

-           The Taikyouku katas were invented by Gichin Funakoshi of Shotokan and there are different variations of Taikyouku Katas taught in various Karate systems basic katas to teach to beginner and kids in a more simplistic way

-          The Pinan/Heian, Gekisai katas, and the Taikyouku katas are non-traditional katas, they are basic katas to introduce the beginner to simplistic katas
-    After World War II, American forces who were stationed in Okinawa and mainland Japan trained in Karate, Judo and other Japanese Martial Art systems
-    Somtime in between the 1950's (during the Korean War) and the 1960's Karate and other Asian Martial Arts made it's way into the U.S. and later to Canada and Mexico.
-   This marked the golden age for Karate when tournaments were booming in the US in the 60's and 70's

Recommended Reading

The Bubishi: The Manual of Classical Combat Trans. Patrick McCarthy

Comprehensive Karate by Michael Rosenbaum (e-book)

Okinawan Karate by Mark Bishop

                                                                                                                          Jonathan Bynoe