A Brief History of Karate

Present day Karate is categorized into three parts -- physicaly conditioning, self-defense and sport.

Very few records have ever been made and it is rather difficult to prove any historical data about the actual creators of Okinawan Karate. It has been recorded though that there was commercial contact with China in the late 1300's by the Okinawans and this brought about a great amount of Chinese influence to Okinawa.

Legends and history say that during the 1400's through the early 1600's, both the Chinese and Okinawan arts of self-defense were unified, and developed. Most of the instruction was performed in secrecy as it was handed from father to son and very close friends only. Most of the openhand techniques are considered of Chinese background and the closed handed one's of Okinawan origin. Historically, or almost since the beginning of recorded history, Okinawa has been governed by a feudal lord or military occupation force by one nation or the other. The Chinese took over Okinawa in the 17th century and the Japanese in the 19th century. During most of the time that Okinawa was occupied by China and Japan, the natives were forbidden to have weapons, thus giving rise to the development of "empty-hand" fighting techniques.

About the beginning of the twentieth century Karate began to appear in schools. Prior to this time forms of Karate were identified with the names of the cities that they were practiced in. The cities of Naha and Shuri are two of such cities. The Okinawan people distinguished the arts of Okinawa by applying the different names to the various practices and they referred to the Okinawan art of self-defense as "te", meaning hand, as it consisted mostly of hand movements. As this method of self-defense had been influenced by the Chinese they called it "to te", meaning "Chinese hand."

In 1916 an Okinawan school teacher by the name of Gichin Funagoshi, who had studied Karate in Shuri, Okinawa gave a series of Karate demonstrations at the Butoku-Den in Kyoto, Japan.

These demonstrations could well be the most historic event in the history of Karate. These demonstrations so impressed the people that in 1922 he came to Tokyo and worked as a school teacher and taught Karate at the various universities until he was able to establish the Shotokan in 1936.

Earlier in 1923 the Okinawans changed the Chinese characters to Japanese Characters, to mean literally "empty hand."

History tells us of many great people in the 13 centuries of Karate, names such as Soshu Matsumura ** Kanryo Higanuma ** Yasutsume Yasuzato ** Y. Itosu, Chojun Miyagi ** Kenwa Mabuni ** Gogen Yamaguchi ** Tatsuo Shimabuku ** Kenjo Kinsoko ** Meitoku Yagi ** Seikicki Toguchi ** Seko Higa ** Kanei Uechi ** Yaby Ku Mo Den ** Wakado Nagatoma ** Gajoko Chioyu ** Kyan Chiotoku ** Chioki Motobu ** Hirara Shinken. These are some of the great names of the past and present in the Orient.

Here in the United States, new chapters of history are being written by such men as Mr. Ed Parker, Chuck Norris, Mike Stone, Allen Steen, Harold Mitchum, Jim Advincula, Don Nagle, Joe Lewis, Pat Burleson, Ralph Castro, Gary Alexander, Lou Angel, Harold Long, Peter Urban, Richard Kim, Bob Ozman, Jim Harrison, Chuzo Kotaka, Richard Lee, Mills Crenshaw, Tigi Mataalli, Rod Martin, Steve Armstrong, Skipper Mullins, Thomas LaPuppet, Gerald Taylor, Tonny Tulleners, Arnold Uriquidez, Steve Sanders, Bob Hill, Fumio Demura, Ed McGrath, Joe Buckholtz and many of the contestants you see here at the Northwest Open Karate Championships.