Karate, like other Japanese martial arts, is considered to be not only about fighting techniques, but also about spiritual cultivation.[11][12] Many karate schools and dōjōs have established rules called dōjō kun, which emphasize the perfection of character, the importance of effort, and respect for courtesy. Karate featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics after its inclusion at the Games was supported by the International Olympic Committee. Web Japan (sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs) claims that karate has 50 million practitioners worldwide,[13] while the World Karate Federation claims there are 100 million practitioners around the world.[14]
Japan sent envoys to the Tang dynasty and introduced much Chinese culture. Gichin Funakoshi proposed that tōde/karate may have been used instead of te, as Tang became a synonym for luxury imported goods.[18]
However, this name change did not immediately spread among Okinawan karate practitioners. There were many karate practitioners, such as Chōjun Miyagi, who still used te in everyday conversation until World War II.[20]
In 1929, the Karate Study Group of Keio University (Instructor Gichin Funakoshi) used this term in reference to the concept of emptiness in the Heart Sutra, and this terminology was later popularized, especially in Tokyo. There is also a theory that the background for this name change was the worsening of Japan-China relations at the time.[27]
Since the 1980s, the term karate (カラテ) has been written in katakana instead of Chinese characters, mainly by Kyokushin Karate (founder: Masutatsu Oyama).[33] In Japan, katakana is mainly used for foreign words, giving Kyokushin Karate a modern and new impression.
It is said that in 1392, a group of professional people known as the "Thirty-six families from Min" migrated to Kume Village (now Kume, Naha City) in Naha from Fujian Province in the Ming Dynasty at that time. They brought with them advanced learning and skills to Ryukyu, and there is a theory that Chinese kenpō, the origin of karate, was also brought to Ryukyu at this time.
There is also the "Keichō import theory," which states that karate was brought to Ryukyu after the invasion of Ryukyu by the Satsuma Domain (Keichō 14, 1609), as well as the theory that it was introduced by Kōshōkun (Okinawan: Kūsankū) based on the description in Ōshima Writing.[35]
However, in recent years, many researchers have questioned the causal relationship between the policy of banning weapons and the development of karate.[38] For example, as the basis for King Shō Shin's policy of banning weapons, an inscription on the parapet of the main hall of Shuri Castle (百浦添欄干之銘, 1509), which states that "swords, bows and arrows are to be piled up exclusively as weapons of national defense,"[39] has been conventionally interpreted as meaning "weapons were collected and sealed in a warehouse." However, in recent years, researchers of Okinawan studies have pointed out that the correct interpretation is that "swords, bows and arrows were collected and used as weapons of the state."[40]
It is also known that the policy of banning weapons (a 1613 notice to the Ryukyu royal government), which is said to have been implemented by the Satsuma Domain, only prohibited the carrying of swords and other weapons, but not their possession, and was a relatively lax regulation. This notice stated, "(1) The possession of guns is prohibited. (2) The possession of weapons owned privately by princes, three magistrates, and samurai is permitted. (3) Weapons must be repaired in Satsuma through the magistrate's office of Satsuma. (4) Swords must be reported to the magistrate's office of Satsuma for approval."[41] It did not prohibit the possession of weapons (except guns) or even their practice. In fact, even after subjugation to the Satsuma Domain, a number of Ryukyuan masters of swordsmanship, spearmanship, archery, and other arts are known. Therefore, some researchers criticize the theory that karate developed due to the policy of banning weapons as "a rumor on the street with no basis at all."[42]
It is known that in "Ōshima Writing" (1762), written by Yoshihiro Tobe, a Confucian scholar of the Tosa Domain, who interviewed Ryukyuan samurai who had drifted to Tosa (present-day Kōchi Prefecture), there is a description of a martial art called kumiai-jutsu (組合術) performed by Kōshōkun (Okinawan:Kūsankū). It is believed that Kōshōkun may have been a military officer on a mission from Qing that visited Ryukyu in 1756, and some believe that karate originated with Kōshōkun.
In 1609, the Japanese Satsuma Domain invaded Ryukyu and Ryukyu became its vassal state, but it continued to pay tribute to the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China. At the time, China had implemented a policy of sea ban and only traded with tributary countries, so the Satsuma Domain wanted Ryukyu to continue its tribute in order to benefit from it.
The envoys of the tribute mission were chosen from among the samurai class of Ryukyu, and they went to Fuzhou in Fujian Province and stayed there for six months to a year and a half. Government-funded and privately funded foreign students were also sent to study in Beijing or Fuzhou for several years. Some of these envoys and students studied Chinese martial arts in China. The styles of Chinese martial arts they studied are not known for certain, but it is assumed that they studied Fujian White Crane and other styles from Fujian Province.
Sōryo Tsūshin (monk Tsūshin), active during the reign of King Shō Kei, was a monk who went to the Qing Dynasty to study Chinese martial arts and was reportedly one of the best martial artists of his time in Ryukyu.[48]
It is generally believed that today's karate is a result of the synthesis of te (Okinawa-te) and tōde. Funakoshi writes, "In the early modern era, when China was highly revered, many martial artists traveled to China to practice Chinese kenpo, and added it to the ancient kenpo, the so-called 'Okinawa-te'. After further study, they discarded the disadvantages of both, adopted their advantages, and added more subtlety, and karate was born."[15]
Early styles of karate are often generalized as Shuri-te, Naha-te, and Tomari-te, named after the three cities from which they emerged.[49] Each area and its teachers had particular kata, techniques, and principles that distinguished their local version of te from the others.
In 1881, Higaonna Kanryō returned from China after years of instruction with Ryu Ryu Ko and founded what would become Naha-te. One of his students was the founder of Gojū-ryū, Chōjun Miyagi. Chōjun Miyagi taught such well-known karateka as Seko Higa (who also trained with Higaonna), Meitoku Yagi, Miyazato Ei'ichi, and Seikichi Toguchi, and for a very brief time near the end of his life, An'ichi Miyagi (a teacher claimed by Morio Higaonna).
When Shō Tai, the last king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, was ordered to move to Tokyo in 1879, he was accompanied by prominent karate masters such as Ankō Asato and Chōfu Kyan (father of Chōtoku Kyan). It is unknown if they taught karate to the Japanese in Tokyo, although there are records that Kyan taught his son karate.[56]
In May 1922, Gichin Funakoshi (founder of Shotokan) presented pictures of karate on two hanging scrolls at the first Physical Education Exhibition in Tokyo.[57] The following June, Funakoshi was invited to the Kodokan to give a karate demonstration in front of Jigoro Kano and other judo experts. This was the beginning of the full-scale introduction of karate in Tokyo.
In November 1922, Motobu Chōki (founder of Motobu-ryū) participated in a judo versus boxing match in Kyoto, defeating a foreign boxer. The match was featured in Japan's largest magazine "King [ja]," which had a circulation of about one million at the time, and karate and Motobu's name became instantly known throughout Japan.[4]
In 1922, Funakoshi published the first book on karate,[58] and in 1926 Motobu published the first technical book on kumite.[59] As karate's popularity grew, karate clubs were established one after another in Japanese universities with Funakoshi and Motobu as instructors.[60][61]
In 1933, karate was officially recognized as a Japanese martial art by the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai, but initially belonged to the jujutsu division and title examinations were conducted by jujutsu masters.
In 1935, Funakoshi changed the names of many kata and karate itself. Funakoshi's motivation was that the names of many of the traditional kata were unintelligible, and that it would be inappropriate to use the Chinese style names in order to teach karate as a Japanese martial art.[64] He also said that the kata had to be simplified in order to spread karate as a form of physical education, so some of the kata were modified.[65] He always referred to what he taught as simply karate, but in 1936 he built a dōjō in Tokyo and the style he left behind is usually called Shotokan after this dōjō. Shoto, meaning "pine wave", was Funakoshi's pen name and kan meaning "hall".
On October 25, 1936, a roundtable meeting of karate masters was held in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, where it was officially decided to change the name of karate from karate (Tang hand) to karate (empty hand). In attendance were Chōmo Hanashiro, Chōki Motobu, Chōtoku Kyan, Jūhatsu Kyoda, Chōjun Miyagi, Shinpan Gusukuma, and Chōshin Chibana. In 2005, the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly passed a resolution to commemorate this decision by designating October 25 as "Karate Day."[66]
Gichin Funakoshi stated, "There are no contests in karate."[70] Shigeru Egami relates that, during his visit to Okinawa in 1940, he heard some karateka were ousted from their dōjō because they adopted sparring after having learned it in Tokyo. In the early 1930s, pre-arranged sparring was introduced and developed, and finally a few years later free sparring was permitted for Shotokan students.[71]
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