Posted on Sunday, 9th November 2008 by Captain Chris
Traditional Karate or Karatedo is one of the best known styles of martial arts and is considered to be and competition sport. It first became popular in the west in the 1960’s, but Karate was originally developed for self-defense. Created with Chinese help on the island of Okinawa traditional Karate is brutal form of combat that employs vicious strikes with the hands and feet as and depending on the style throws, grappling, and joint manipulations are also part of the training. Though known as the “empty hand” in Japan weapons training is apart of traditional Karate training. Prior to World War II Karate was all about full contact and self defense, but now it is about points and kids birthday parties.
While films have given martial arts an almost mythical status Karate was created out of a practical need for self defense. Okinawan nobles would regularly travel to China to study Kung Fu and other martial arts, and then returned home to share what they learned. The basic goal of traditional Karate was to kill or disable an opponent as quickly as possible, and considering the samurai who guarded Okinawa were armed to the teeth it was necessary. Over time schools developed katas that allowed a student to train without a partner, and they harnessed their energy through their kiai.
There are four officials styles of Karate recognized by the Japanese Karate Federation, and they’re Shotokan-ryu, Shito-ryu, Goju-ryu, and Wado-ryu. Though there are many other styles these four were all designed with combat in mind. Wado-ryu is a mixture of Karate and Japanese Jujutsu, and uses body movement to avoid attacks. Goju-ryu uses a variety of techniques and uses many other exercises to strengthen a student’s mind and body. Shito-Ryu uses square-on stances and linear strikes as well as teaches weapons training. Shotokan-ryu Karate is probably the most popular of the four, and uses deep stances and linear movements.
Today many martial arts schools are concerned with combat sport Karate while others focus on the self defense aspect with others trying to do both. Traditional Karate at its heart is a system meant for self defense, but much of its lethal techniques have been stripped away. Though there are some instructors out there teaching real combat karate they are few so do your research and know that just because you’re learning Karate doesn’t mean you can protect yourself.
Tags: Traditional Karate
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