a basic history of karate

The martial arts leading to karate are thought to have originated centuries ago in China.
Legend has it however that in the 6th century a buddhist monk called Bodhidharma travelled from the Indian sub-continent to the Shoalin-si (Small Forest Temple) in northern China. As well as teaching buddhism within the monastery he is believed to have provided the Shoalin monks instruction in breathing and fighting skills.
He also introduced a set of exercises designed to strengthen the mind and body, exercises that are said to have marked the beginning of the Shoalin style of temple boxing. Bobhidharma`s teachings later became the basis for the majority of Chinese martial arts.

Little is known about the early development of karate until it appeared in Okinawa.

Okinawa is the main island in the chain of Ryuku Islands which are roughly half way between China and Japan

In its earliest stages, the martial art known as "karate" was a native form of closed fist fighting which was developed in Okinawa and called "Te", or "Hand". Weapons bans, imposed on the Okinawans at various points in their history, encouraged the refinement of empty-hand techniques. Further refinement came with the influences of other martial arts brought by nobles and traders to the island.

"Te" continued to develop over the years, primarily in three Okinawan towns: Shuri, Naha, and Tomari. Each of these towns was a centre to a different part of society: kings and nobles, merchants and business people, and farmers and fishermen. Because of this, different forms of self defence developed in each town and subsequently became known as "Shuri-Te", "Naha-Te", and "Tomari-Te". Collectively they were called "Okinawa-Te" or "Tode", `Chinese hand`.

Shuri, Tomari and Naha are only a few miles apart, and the differences between their arts were essentially ones of emphasis. Beneath these surface differences, both the methods and the aims are the same.

The Chinese character used to write "Tode" could also be pronounced `kara` thus the name "Te" was replaced with Karate-Jutsu or `Chinese hand art` by the Okinawan masters.

In 1901 Master Yasutsune Itosu was the first person to introduce "Tode" into the Okinawan school system. T
In 1917 at the Butoku-den in Kyoto, Gichin Funakoshi, a student of Itosu (and other masters) introduced the basic concept of Karate to Japan.

In 1922 Master Funakoshi was invited back to Japan to demonstrate karate at the first National Athletic Association in Tokyo.He was then asked to stay in Japan and began public teaching of karate.

Although Funakoshi is reguarded as the founder of modern karate, he was not the only Okinawan master to visit Japan and set up schools there.

In 1936, links to China were inappropriate in Japan so the meaning of karate was changed from 'Chinese Hand' to'Empty Hand'. Although the pronounciation stayed the same, a different japanese character was selected to represent it.