Karate.

Karate.


In Japan, Karate is taught in schools to the children as a subject of self-protection against
any outside force. Karate generally means,”do it with hand” or “do it with empty hand”.

Karate is an un-armed, combat science which authorises use of kicks, strikes and defensive blocking with one’s arms and legs. Mental alertness is the key to success to karate system.
The emphasis is on practised concentration and alertness and attention of all the faculties of the body as far as possible at the point of strike and opponent’s counter-strike. You have to foresee the opponent’s speed and force and measure the safest course to avert his blows. Sense of judgment is the key to success in Karate lessons.

The striking surfaces include the hands, knuckles and outer edge, the ball of the foot, heel
forearm, knee and the elbow. All these parts get toughened by practice blows.
Padded surface, or wood pine boards up to several inches of thickness, can be broken by
bare hand, or the foot of a practised karate-man.

Timing, tactics and high spirit and confidence does it. Each of these mental faculties
have to be trained and toughened like the body parts and mental alertness is considered as important as physical toughening.

In sporting karate and sparring (kumite) in training, blows and kicks are stopped short, preferably within an inch of contact. Sporting matches commonly last only three minutes, to a decision, if neither contestant has scored a clean "killing" point in the estimation of the judges. Contests of form (kata) are also held, in which single competitors perform predetermined series of movements stimulating defence and counterattack against several opponents. Performances are scored by a panel of judges, as in gymnastics.

Karate evolved in the Orient over a period of centuries, becoming systematized in Okinawa in the 17th century, probably by people forbidden to carry weapons. It was imported into Japan in the 1920s. Several schools and systems developed each favouring somewhat different techniques and training methods. Karate, like other Oriental fighting disciplines, stresses mental attitude, rituals of courtesy, costumes, and a complex ranking system by “colour of belt”. There is some overlapping of technique with other fighting styles.



We have references of Bodhidharma. He is known as "Daruma" in Japan, this Indian Buddhist monk is cited as the prime source for all martial arts styles or at the vary least, for any style which traces its roots back to the fabled Shaolin Temple. Bodhidharma was the son of a south India King. He lived in the 5th century. He travelled to China from Canton and reached Nanking.
From there he went to Shaolin monastery where he taught for nine years.

As legend has it, the evolution of karate began over a thousand years ago, possibly as early as the fifth century BC when Bodhidharma arrived in Shaolin-si (small forest temple), China from India and taught Zen Buddhism. He also introduced a systematized set of exercises designed to strengthen the mind and body, exercises which allegedly marked the beginning of the Shaolin style of temple boxing. Bodhidharma's teachings later became the basis for the majority of Chinese martial arts. In truth, the origins of karate appear to be somewhat obscure and little is known about the early development of karate until it appeared in Okinawa.






In its earliest stages, the martial art known as "karate" was an indigenous form of closed fist fighting which was developed in Okinawa and called Te, or 'hand'. Weapons bans, imposed on the Okinawa’s at various points in their history, encouraged the refinement of empty-hand techniques and, for this reason, was trained in secret until modern times. Further refinement came with the influence of other martial arts brought by nobles and trade merchants to the island.

Te continued to develop over the years, primarily in three Okinawa cities: Shuri, Naha and Tomari. Each of these towns was a centre to a different sect of society: kings and nobles, merchants and business people, and farmers and fishermen, respectively. For this reason, different forms of self-defence developed within each city and subsequently became known as Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te. Collectively they were called Okinawa-Te or Tode, 'Chinese hand'.

Gradually, karate was divided into two main groups: Shorin-ryu which developed around Shuri and Tomari and Shorei-ryu which came from the Naha area. "It is important to note, however, that the towns of Shuri, Tomari, Naha are only a few miles apart, and that the differences between their arts were essentially ones of emphasis, not of kind. Beneath these surface differences, both the methods and aims of all Okinawa karate are one in the same".

These two styles were developed based on different physical requirements, Shorin-ryu was quick and linear with natural breathing while Shorei-ryu emphasized steady, rooted movements with breathing in synchrony with each movement. Interestingly, this concept of two basic styles also exists in kung-fu with a similar division of characteristics.

Wado-ryu, 'way of harmony', founded in 1939 is a system of karate developed from jujitsu and karate. This style of karate combines basic movements of jujitsu with techniques of evasion, putting a strong emphasis on softness and the way of harmony or spiritual discipline.