Karate is not just the art of battle, it is a way of life, it is a whole philosophy that helps a person to discern the interconnectedness of everything in the world, helps to achieve harmony with nature, find it within oneself, as well as in relationships with other people.
In Japan, they say that karate is the path that strong people choose and sometimes follow it all their lives. These daredevils every day push the boundaries of the possible, following the chosen direction, strengthening and tempering the body and spirit, endlessly discovering new abilities in themselves.
The history of the emergence of martial art
The earliest information about the history of karate dates back to 1761. This date is mentioned by Sesin Nagamine in his book, entitled The Basics of Okinawan Karate-Do. Then everyone knew this martial art as “tode,” which means “Chinese boxing” in Japanese.
Further you will find a brief history of karate - such as the legends have preserved it.
In ancient times, there lived a Chinese fighter named Kusanku, who once demonstrated his high skill and ability in Chinese boxing, delighting the audience with its novelty and special capture technique. This event, significant for the history of karate, took place on Okinawa, the largest island located on the Ryukyu archipelago in Japan. The location of this island was just at the intersection of trade routes, and it was located at approximately the same distance from Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China. All these states constantly fought with each other for possession of the Ryukyu archipelago, so every man on the island was a warrior, often in several generations. Since the 15th century, there has been a ban on the carrying of weapons in this territory, so Okinawa warriors have improved their fighting skills without generation from generation to generation.
At the end of the 18th century, as the history of karate says, the first Te school was opened in Shuri in the town of Shuri, the classes in which were conspiracy. Matsamura Shokun, being the High Martial Arts Mentor in Okinawa, also organized a school called "Shorin-ryu karate" (Shorin - a young forest), which was dominated by strict discipline and moral education of Shyugyo. A distinctive feature of the school were deceptive movements and subtle maneuver. Matsamura's student was Asato Anko, who was famous throughout the island and beyond, who, in turn, became the mentor of Funakoshi Gichin.
And now Funakoshi Gichin is considered the creator of karate. Of course, he didn’t invent this kind of martial arts himself, but it was this man who combined, filtered and systematized the various methods of Chinese hand-to-hand fighting and created a new type of karate-jujutsu fight, which is translated from Japanese as “the art of Chinese hand”.
Funakoshi first showed karate-jujutsu to the world at the time the martial arts festival was held in Tokyo in 1921. Not even one decade passed, when the newly created type of wrestling gained immense popularity in Japan, which led to the opening of countless different schools.
Karate: the history of the name
In 1931, a congress of the "large family of Okinawan karate" was held, at which it was decided that every style that had appeared by then had the right to be. Also at this congress, they decided to give a different name to this type of martial arts, because at that time there was another war with China. The hieroglyph “punishment”, meaning “China,” was replaced by a hieroglyph that read the same way, but meant emptiness. They also replaced “jutsu” - “art” with “do” - “path”. It turned out the name used to this day. It sounds like "karate-do" and translates as "the path of an empty hand."
The history of the spread and development of karate-do in the world
In 1945, when Japan lost the war, the US occupation authorities banned all types of Japanese martial arts on the island. But karate-do was considered simply Chinese gymnastics and escaped the ban. This contributed to a new round of development of this martial art, which led to the creation in 1948 of the Japanese Karate Association, which was headed by Funakoshi. In 1953, the most famous masters were invited to train the elite units of the American army in the United States.
After the Olympics in Tokyo in 1964, karate-do gained incredible popularity around the world. This, in turn, led to the creation of the World Karate-do Organization.
The purpose of karate
Initially, according to the history of karate, this type of hand-to-hand combat was created as a martial art and was intended exclusively for self-defense without the use of weapons. The purpose of karate is to help and protect, but not cripple or hurt.
Distinctive features of karate
Unlike other martial arts, contacts between fighters are minimized here. And in order to defeat the enemy, they use powerful and accurate punches with both hands and feet at vital points of the human body.
There are several other distinctive features of this type of martial arts, which consist of stable low stances and hard blocks, as well as an instant transition to a counterattack with simultaneous accurate and strong blow. At the same time, it occurs at lightning speed, along the shortest path with a huge concentration of energy at the point of impact, which is called kime.
Since karate is primarily defense, all actions here begin with defense. But after it, and this is the essence of karate, a lightning-fast retaliatory attack follows.
Principles of Using Techniques
For the proper use of various techniques in karate, a number of principles are provided. Among them are: kime, mentioned above; cottages - the optimal choice of position; hara - the combination of muscle strength with internal energy; jesin is an unshakable spirit. All this is comprehended through lengthy training in the formal exercises of "kata" and in fights "kumite". Between kata and kumite in different styles and schools, a balance may be maintained, or preference may be given to either exercises or fights.
Karate-do styles
Nowadays, several hundred different styles are already known in the world. In karate, the fragmentation of the foundations began since its inception. Many different people were engaged in this martial art, and everyone who reached a high level contributed something of their own to it.
However, it should be noted that any style that has survived to the present, in one way or another in contact with one of the following areas:
1. Kempo - Sino-Okinawan martial art.
2. Karate-jutsu - Japanese combat version in the spirit of Motobu.
3. Karate-do - Japanese philosophical and pedagogical version in the spirit of Funakoshi.
4. Sports karate - either contact or half-contact.
There are several styles to be noted.
- One of them is Shotokan (setokan). Its founder is Gichin Funakoshi, but his son Giko made the greatest contribution to the development of the style. It features dynamic and energetic movements, as well as stable stances.
- The history of karate Kekushinkai begins in 1956. The founder is a Korean by origin Masutatsu Oyama (he studied under Gichin Funakoshi). The name translates as "extremely true style."The history of karate Kyokushinkai testifies that the main thing here is combat effectiveness, but not recovery and development of moral qualities.
- Vado-ryu, or the "path of harmony." Founded by Hironori Ozuka, one of Funakoshi's oldest students. In this style, painful grips by the hand, the technique of avoiding blows, throws are used. The emphasis here is on mobility in movement. Aiming for sparring.
- Shito-ryu. The founder of the style is Kenwa Mabuni. He is distinguished by studying the largest number of kata among all styles (about fifty).
- Goju-ryu (translation - "hard-soft"). Founder of the style of Gichin Miyagi. Attack movements are solid, carried out in a straight line, and defense movements are soft, carried out in a circle. Most of all styles are far from a sports-competitive orientation in its purest form.
Karate in Russia
The history of karate development in Russia begins with the emergence of amateur sections and clubs. Their founders were people who were lucky enough to go abroad and undergo training in this martial art there.
The frenzied popularity of practicing this type of martial arts and the spontaneity of their distribution led to the fact that in November 1978 a special commission on the development of karate was created in the USSR. According to the results of its work, in December 1978 the USSR Karate Federation was formed. Since the rules of training this type of martial arts were constantly and grossly violated, an addition was made to the Criminal Code on "responsibility for illegal training of karate." From 1984 to 1989, this martial art was banned in the Soviet Union, which was established by order No. 404, issued by the Sports Committee. But sections teaching this type of martial arts continued to exist underground. In 1989, on December 18, the USSR State Committee for Sport adopted resolution No. 9/3, by which order No. 404 was declared invalid. Currently, in Russia there are a huge number of federations and styles that actively collaborate with international karate organizations.
Karate-do philosophy
If we talk about the philosophy of karate, it should be noted that it is based on the principle of non-violence. In the oath, which students of karate clubs give before the start of classes, they undertake not to use the acquired skills and knowledge to the detriment of people and not to use them for personal gain.