The History of Karate

Karate is made up of the chinese characters Kara and te (empty hand)Historians believe that early forms of Karate which differ greatly to what we practise today, Were first practised in China and an  indian buddhist monk named bodhidharama is believed to have travelled from Asia to china in the 6th century,Where he established the zen school of buddhism.Forms of karate were practised. in secret on the Ryukyu islands (Okinawa).an island mostly full of farmers. When the Japanese invaded Okinawa and outlawed the use of weapons in 1942, the people of Okinawa resorted to ancient forms of karate they called Okinawa-te to protect themselves and their property from invaders.

Along with the use of karate the okinawa used the kobu-do(karate weapons)Such as the nunchaku(flail) Bo (staff)kai (paddle) and hanboor jo (short staff abount 4 inches long).Most of the kobu-do were farming implements that could be used as weapons ie the nunchaku were used as a horse bridle, the bo was used to carry water buckets of water on each end over the shoulder. The weapons could be practised in secret and did not arouse suspicion. These weapons are still practised in conjuction with karate today.

ShotokanKarate is a style of karate that was developed by the great master and visionary Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957)Known today as the father of modern day karate.

Apart from karate master Gichin Funakoshi was involved in calilgraphy and poetry.He would sign his work using his pen name shotokan (shoto meaning waving pines - these grew near his home and inspired his writing and kan meaning house of school.) During his life Master Funakoshi was invited to japan to give  talks on the system of karate . He gave many talks about karate including talks abount the  athletic benefits of the system.Master Funakoshi and a group of students toured japan giving demonstrations and promoting karate. In 1955 the japan karate associatiion was formed with Fuinakoshi as it cheif instructor

Master Funakoshi  died in 1957 at the age of 88 years. the legacy of shotokan karate still practised today and more and more people are practising martial arts. with the plan to put karate in the olympic games we can only hope that karate continues to go from strength to srength