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Records of
various fighting methods date
back thousands of years. With the development
of trade between China and the island of Okinawa some
elements of Chinese fighting systems were introduced into
those of the
native Okinawans.
From this mixture a number of slightly
differing styles emerged, known overall as Okinawa-te
(Okinawan - hand(s) or Tang-te (Chinese - hand(s).
Successive rulers banned the carrying of
weapons and as a direct result there was a
tremendous surge in the development of
Okinawan-te. |
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In 1922 Gichin
Funakoshi, an Okinawan Master, introduced his particular
style to mainland Japan. He changed the name of the fighting
system to karate (empty hand).
After many years he founded the most successful style
of Karate, which was called Shotokan by his followers.
The devastatingly powerful techniques
created and refined by the
early Karateka have
been further developed
using scientific principles.
Because of its origins, Karate practice
is heavily steeped in Japanese culture
and the accepted prime language of
Karate is Japanese. |
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