History

Originally, karate was written as ("Tang hand" from the Chinese Tang dynasty or by extension, "Chinese hand") reflecting the Chinese influence on the style. The current way of writing the characters means "empty hand" and karate-do thus means "the way of the empty hand." The name can be interpreted literally, or as a philosophical reference to the concept of Do (Tao or Dao in Chinese).

Karate is a mixture of indigenous Okinawan fighting arts, and empty handed Chinese fighting arts, brought to Okinawa by political envoys, merchants and sailors from Fujian Province. To this day, Karate still bears striking resemblance to Fujian martial arts such as Fujian White Crane, Five Ancestors, and Goroquan (Hard Soft Fist, pronounced "Gojuken" in Japanese). The Okinawans called the discipline "te", or hand, or Chinese hand. There were no particular styles, but a network of practitioners with their own individual methods and eclectic traditions. By locality, early styles of karate can be generalised as Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te, named after the three cities in which they were formed. Each city (and teachers who lived in them) had particular techniques and principles which distinguished its local karate from the others.

Around the 1820's, Sokon Matsumura taught a synthesis of te (Shuri-te and Tomari-te) and "Shaolin" (Chinese) or "Shorin-Ryu" (in Japanese) or "Forest Style" (English). It is important to note that styles per se did not exist before the 20th century, rather, karate was known by the local practitioners' particular flavour. Matsumura taught his karate to Anko Itosu, amongst others.

Gichin Funakoshi, a student of Anko Itosu, is generally credited with having introduced and popularised karate on the main islands of Japan. In some circles, he is referred to as the "Father of Modern Karate." This is accurate from the perspective that he worked specifically to introduce modernisations into karate, akin to those employed by Judo's Jigoro Kano and Aikido's Morihei Ueshiba. However, there were many other Okinawan karate men living and teaching in Japan during this time period. Funakoshi's peers included such notable figures as Kenwa Mabuni, Miyagi Chojun, Choshin Chibana, Motobu Choki, Kyan Chotoku, Kentsu Yabu and several others. His karate came from Anko Itosu's interpretation of Matsumura "Shorin-ryu," which is now commonly called Shorei-ryu.

Funakoshi was responsible for changing the kanji used for writing the name of the art; he did this to get karate accepted by the Japanese budo organisation Dai Nippon Butokukai. Like most martial arts practiced in Japan, karate made its transition from -jutsu to -do around the beginning of the 20th century. The "do" in "karate-do", sets it apart from karate "jutsu", much as aikido is distinguished from aikijutsu, judo from jujutsu and so on. The name change also served to familiarise a foreign tradition during a time of fervent Japanese nationalism. Japan was occupying China at the time, and Funakoshi knew that the art of Tang/China hand would not be accepted, thus, the change to 'way of the empty hand.' The "do" suffix implies that karatedo is a path to self knowledge, not just a study of the technical aspects of fighting. The significance of "emptiness" within the "kara" portion of the name is also a probable reference to the concept of void, as it is found in Taoism and Zen practices. For example, mushin (literally, "no mind") is a concept referenced by many karate exponents of this time period. This decision was confirmed at the so-called "Meeting of the Masters" in October of 1936, which included Chojun Miyagi, Chomo Hanashiro, Kentsu Yabu, Chotoku Kyan, Genwa Nakasone, Choshin Chibana, Choryo Maeshiro and Shinpan Shiroma.

The modernisation and systemisation of karate in Japan also included the adoption of the ubiquitous white uniform, the dogi or keikogi - mostly called just gi (pronounced 'ghee') - and coloured belt ranks. Both of these innovations were originated and popularised by Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo, one of the men Funakoshi consulted in his efforts to modernise karate. Ranking systems and their values differ greatly from organisation to organisation, which sometimes leads to confusion when trying to determine a relative standard for karate training and credibility. Photos of early Okinawan practitioners show the masters in the street clothes of the day, or sometimes in briefs. A student trained under a teacher for years, without any sort of tangible advancement.

As it was adopted into modern Japanese culture, karate was imbued with some elements of the native gendai budo traditions. Classes often begin and end with brief periods of sitting in seiza and practising mokuso (meditation). Also, the repetition of precise, dynamic movements, coupled with synchronised breathing as in kata, is considered by some to be consistent with Zen meditation in its aims to maximise a student's composure, awareness, and physical presence (speed and power), while under stress. It is often referred to as a form of "moving Zen." Karate teachers differ greatly in the way they acknowledge - if at all - the Zen influence in karate-do. However, Zen does offer an avenue for self reflection, which is necessary to keep learners balanced as they learn an art which is, at its core, concerned with the study of violence.

Following its introduction and popularisation in Japan, karate was introduced into high schools before World War II. It was seen as an asset for building strong, able young men who would be serving their country soon. Many universities initiated karate club programs, which bred a notoriously violent and competitive setting. In such clubs, seniors brutalised the junior students, in some cases inflicting vicious beatings as a final 'rite' for those who chose to leave. Many of the distinguishing traits of "traditional" karate thought by Westerners to be "traditional" originate from these clubs. The much misused catch-phrase of "Osu!" used in many dojos came directly from the club at Takushoku University as a product of Japanese military and youth culture. The word has no meaning or significance within the Japanese language itself, but in Western dojo it has the meaning of a respectful greeting or reply. It has no significance within karate in general.