What should I know about Karate?

by rec-martial-arts on July 15th, 2003

(Contributors: Howard S. High - GODZILLA@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu, Avron Boretz - aab2@cornell.edu, Izar Tarandach - izar@cs.huji.ac.il, Richard Parry - parry_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz)

Intro:

Somewhat generic term used for Japanese and Okinawan fighting arts.

Origin: Okinawa

History:

Karate is a term that either means "Chinese hand" or "Empty hand" depending on which Japanese or Chinese characters you use to write it.
The Okinawan Karates could be said to have started in the 1600s when Chinese practitioners of various Gongfu styles mixed and trained with local adherents of an art called "te" (meaning "hand") which was a very rough, very simple fighting style similar to Western boxing.
These arts generally developed into close- range, hard, external styles.

In the late 19th century Gichin Funakoshi trained under several of the great Okinawan Karate masters (Itosu, Azato) as well as working with Jigoro Kano (see Judo) and Japanese Kendo masters (see Kendo).
Influenced by these elements, he created a new style of Karate. This he introduced into Japan in the first decade of the 20th century and thus to the world. The Japanese Karates (or what most people refer to when they say "karate") are of this branch.

Description:
Okinawan Karate styles tend to be hard and external. In defense they tend to be circular, and in offense linear. Okinawan karate styles tend to place more emphasis on rigorous physical conditioning than the Japanese styles. Japanese styles tend to have longer, more stylistic movements and to be higher commitment. They also tend to be linear in movement, offense, and defense.

Both tend to be high commitment, and tend to emphasize kicks and punches, and a strong offense as a good defense.

Training:
This differs widely but most of the Karate styles emphasize a fairly equal measure of basic technique training (repitition of a particular technique), sparring, and forms. Forms, or kata, as they are called, are stylized patterns of attacks and defenses done in sequence for training purposes.

Sub-Styles: (Okinawan): Uechi-Ryu, Goju-Ryu, Shorin-Ryu, Isshin-Ryu (Japanese): Shotokan, Shito-Ryu, Wado-Ryu
Here is a more complete list (complements of Howard High) in which Okinawan and Japanese styles are mixed:
Ashihara, Chinto-Ryu, Chito-Ryu, Doshinkan, Gohaku-Kai, Goju-Ryu (Kanzen), Goju-Ryu (Okinawan), Goju-Ryu (Meibukan), Gosoku-Ryu, Isshin-Ryu, Kenseido, Koei-Kan, Kosho-Ryu Kenpo, Kyokushinkai, Kyu Shin Ryu, Motobu-Ryu, Okinawan Kempo, Okinawa Te, Ryokukai, Ryuken, Ryukyu Kempo, Sanzyu-Ryu , Seido, Seidokan, Seishin-Ryu, Shindo Jinen-Ryu, Shinjimasu, Shinko-Ryu, Shito-Ryu (Itosu-Kai), Shito-Ryu (Seishinkai), Shito-Ryu (Kofukan), Shito-Ryu (Kuniba Ha) , Shito-Ryu (Motobu Ha), Shorin-Ryu (Kobayashi), Shorin-Ryu (Matsubayashi), Shorin-Ryu (Shobayashi), Shorin-Ryu (Matsumura), Shorinji Kempo, Shorinji-Ryu, Shoshin-Ryu, Shotokai, Shotokan, Shotoshinkai, Shudokai, Shuri-Ryu, Shuri-Te, Uechi-Ryu , Wado-Kai, Wado-Ryu, Washin-Ryu, Yoseikan, Yoshukai, Yuishinkan.

Sub-Style Descriptions:
Wado-Ryu was founded by Hironori Ohtsuka around the 1920s. Ohtsuka studied Jujutsu for many years before becoming a student of Gichin Funakoshi. Considered by some to be Funakoshi's most brilliant student, Ohtsuka combined the movements of Jujutsu with the striking techniques of Okinawan Karate. After the death of Ohtsuka in the early 1980s, the style split into two factions: Wado Kai, headed by Ohtsuka's senior students; and Wado Ryu, headed by Ohtsuka's son, Jiro. Both factions continue to preserve most of the basic elements of the style.

Uechi-ryu Karate, although it has become one of the main Okinawan martial arts and absorbed many of the traditional Okinawan karate training methods and approaches, is historically, and to some extent technically quite separate. The "Uechi" of Uechi-ryu commemorates Uechi Kanbun, an Okinawan who went to Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian province in China in 1897 to avoid being drafted into the Japanese army. There he studied under master Zhou Zihe for ten years, finally opening his own school, one of the few non-Chinese who ventured to do so at the time. The man responisble for bringing Uechi-ryu to the US is George Mattson.

Uechi-ryu, unlike the other forms of Okinawan and Japanese karate mentioned in the FAQ, is only a few decades removed from its Chinese origins. Although it has absorbed quite a bit of Okinawan influence and evolved closer to such styles as Okinawan Goju-ryu over those decades, it still retains its original Chinese flavor, both in its technique and in the culture of the dojo. It is a "half-hard, half-soft" style very similar to such southern Chinese styles as Fukienese Crane (as still practiced in the Chinese communities of Malaysia), Taiwanese Golden Eagle, and even Wing Chun. Conditioning the body for both attack and defense is a common characteristic of both Okinawan karate and southern Shaolin "street" styles, and as such is an important part of Uechi training. There is a strong internal component to the practice, including focused breathing and tensioning exercises similar to Chinese Qigong. Uechi, following its Chinese Crane heritage, emphasizes circular blocks, low snap kicks, infighting (coordinating footwork with grabs, locks, throws, and sweeps), and short, rapid hand traps and attacks (not unlike Wing Chun).