Karate began in the 14th century on the island of Okinawa.[1] Karate as a word first emerged due to Gichin Funakoshi.[2]
Karate was introduced to mainland Japan in the 1920s.[3][4][5]
History
Karate (lit. "empty-hand") has its roots in ancient martial practice in India and China. There is a popular tale of an Indian monk by the name of Bodhidharma, who brought a system of exercise and fighting techniques to the Shaolin Monastery in China around 525 A.D. It is said that this was the beginning of a systematized martial practice that eventually spread to other Asian countries via traveling monks and traders.[6]
Karate itself was born in Okinawa (actually a string of islands off the coast of Japan known as the Ryukyu Islands).[7] It is said that in ancient times a style known simply as "te" (literally "hand") emerged from the influence of the aforementioned Shaolin Kung Fu.
In the 1920s a public school teacher named Gichin Funakoshi introduced what was, by then, called kara-te into mainland Japan. He developed the nomenclature of this art at the research club in Keio University, changing the meaning of its name from "Chinese hand" to "empty hand" and adding the suffix do to conform budō arts. In 1933, the art was officially recognized by the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai.[8]
There were already family styles of karate in Okinawa and soon several styles were also formed in Japan.[9] There are several differences between the two traditional approaches but that can be researched elsewhere.[10]
^Inc, Active Interest Media (1 December 1986). "Black Belt". Active Interest Media, Inc. Retrieved 26 July 2017 – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
^Inc, Active Interest Media (1 August 1967). "Black Belt". Active Interest Media, Inc. Retrieved 26 July 2017 – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
^Inc, Active Interest Media (1 November 1970). "Black Belt". Active Interest Media, Inc. Retrieved 26 July 2017 – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
^Inc, Active Interest Media (1 October 1965). "Black Belt". Active Interest Media, Inc. Retrieved 26 July 2017 – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
^Arriaza, Rafael (March 2009). "Chapter 16: Karate". In Kordi, Ramin; Maffulli, Nicola; Wroble, Randall R.; et al. (eds.). Combat Sports Medicine. p. 288. ISBN9781848003545. Retrieved 8 December 2017.