The History of Karate
Karate can trace its origins to the Buddhist Monks, particularly to an Indian Monk named Bodhidharma. In approximately 525 AD, Bodhidharma traveled from India to China, walking across the dangerous Himalayan mountains, through forests filled with wild animals, through swamps, and even over unbridled and treacherous rivers. He came to China to enlighten and teach the monarchs and monks of the Liang dynasty in the ways of a new religion called Zen Buddhism.
Bodhidharma eventually arrived at the Shaolin monastery in the Honan province. This monastery was called shaolin ("young forest") because the monastery was hidden way in the middle of the huge pine forest. Here Bohidharma began to teach the young monks his new way of Buddhism. However, he found that the monks were so weak from their inactive life in the monastery that they would fall asleep during the meditations he was trying to teach them. So Bodhidharma taught them a series of special exercises, based on self defense movements he had been taught, observed in his travels or had developed himself, to make them healthy and strong, reminding them that they could never be spiritually strong if they were physically weak.
This philosophy, as well as these special exercises, laid down the foundations of a method of fighting that came to be called Kung Fu. Soon the monks of the Shaolin Temple became famous for their physical and fighting ability.
With this disciplined training the monks developed such good concentration and such keen awareness of their surrounding that sometimes they had a sixth sense about things. If they were attacked by bandits, for example, they could almost see what the bandits were going to do before they moved. And the months of pain and struggle with Bodhidharma's exercises had made them tough enough to hold up under the pressure of actual fighting situations.
As the years passed the monks devised new and better ways of fighting. They refined the ancient hand-to-hand fighting methods that often used to require brute strength. The new approaches, developed mostly by trial and error, used faster, more effective movements aimed at getting the best results with the smallest amount of effort. These new methods were applied against vital points ("pressure points") on the body, making it possible for the very small to defeat the very big.
These training methods spread to other Shaolin orders and provinces. Their fame spread, and people from all over China hoped to get accepted into a Shaolin order. Monks traveled throughout their country, which was in the middle of a civil war and filled with bandits. They taught the people Shaolin fighting styles so they could defend themselves, and they spread Zen Buddhist teachings to bring peace to China. In this way, Shaolin fighting spread across China, where it was refined and expanded by other masters over the years.
In time, people trained in fighting ways traveled to Korea, Japan, and Okinawa, spreading their philosophy and martial arts knowledge. It is in this way that fighting arts entered the island of Okinawa, where karate was born.
Karate came to Okinawa around AD 1379, when the Chinese, trained in kung fu, began exchange programs so the two countries could learn about each other's culture. However, the art never really caught on until the powerful Satsuma clan from Japan banned weapons in 1609. Soldiers were sent out to collect knives, spears and even rusty swords from the people of the small island. The proud Okinawans, who wanted to get rid of the Satsumas and needed protection from outlaws and bandits, began to develop secret ways of fighting. Lacking swords and spears, the Okinawans began to develop methods using their hands and feet. The Okinawans searched into their own past for native fighting arts, and took more seriously the Chinese Kung-fu that had come to the island hundreds of years before. They mixed their native fighting art,called tode, with Chinese kung fu and developed an art called Okinawa-te. Te meant,"hand," and Okinawa-te meant "okinawan hand".
Sometimes the Okinawans called their combat methods kara-te. Kara was the word referring to the T'ang dynasty of China, and kara-te essentially meant "Chinese hand.? Over the years, three major schools of karate centered in three different Okinawan cities, developed: shuri-te, from the city of Shuri; naha-te, from the city of Naha; and tomari-te, from the city of Tomari. The Shuri style was related directly to the Shaolin temple in China. The Naha system developed from the Wutang school in China, named after the Chinese mountain where is was practiced. The Tomari School was a combination of both Shuri and Naha. The Okinawans are largely responsible for Karate as we know it today. They also developed the system of conditioning or hardening of the hands and feet to a point where objects such as bricks, roof tiles, boards etc., can be broken with ease.
Karate was taken from Okinawa to Japan by Gichin Funakoshi. In 1923, Funakoshiwent to Japan to demonstrate karate for judo and ju-jitsu people. The Japanese were so impressed by his skill that he was invited to stay in Japan and teach his art. Karate became a standard part of Japanese life. From there Karate has spread to all parts ofthe world including the United States.