Karate History through the years
Martial arts came from ancient India by the way of Buddhist monks to China. Ancient pictures on tomb walls in Asia look like martial arts instructors. Most of martial arts history was not written down, but past down orally from instructors to student.
Okinawa, between Japan and China, was on a good trade route and martial artist from China traveled there. In 1470 people started creating Okinawa-te on the tiny island of Okinawa, which is a southern island of Japan. In 1480 weapons were outlawed on Okinawa, and because of this more people studied Okinawa-te which was a weaponless form of self defense. A man named Ginchin Funakoshi brought the styles of Okinawa-te together and called them karate in the early 1900’s. Karate means open hand and Okinawa-te means Okinawan hand in Japanese.
There are many fascinating people in the history of karate. Bodhidharma was a famous monk who brought martial arts from India to China and was an instructor at the Buddhist Shaolin Temple. Ginchin Funakoshi was the first man to bring Karate to main and Japan, and because of this Karate spread like a wild fire.
Traditionally Karate did not use weapons but over time weapons became involved in karate training. The style Aikido uses jo’s and bokuto. Jo’s are staffs and bokutos are wooden swords. In Ju-Jitsu people use small swords which are called sai and ropes. Mok-Gar uses broad swords and three section staffs which are three small staffs that are connected by two chains. Kendo is the way of the sword. They train with bamboo sticks called shirai.
Bruce Lee was a kung fu master and the most well-known Twentieth Century martial arts master. Bruce beat a man in a tournament so fast the man asks to be his student. Bruce Lee was in 26 movies and did two finger push-ups.
Karate has a long history and many awesome people that made karate and all styles of martial arts popular. Karate existents from Buddhist monks to Bodhidharma and Ginchin Funakoshi and finishing with Bruce Lee.
4 years ago • Notes