Karatai - Tao

Training

Origins of karate:

India to China:
Looking back in time history tells us that the roots of the martial arts tree that grew with a branch from it being karate-do, are embedded in India.
It is widely believed that the India Buddhist monk Bodhidharma made a pilgrimage to Shaolin in China and found Zen Buddhist monks sickly, mal-nourished and un-fit which meant they had a poor quality of life with a short life-span.

Warming the culdren

Bodhidharma (founder of Zen Buddism):
The Bodhidharma may have had some knowledge and experience in Indian martial arts techniques this fact is unknown, however it is known that the Bodhidharma sat facing a wall in meditation for nine years in a cave set in the mountains above Shaolin searching for enlightenment.
At the end of his meditation the Bodhidharma emerged with an holistic answer of mind/body, mental/physical, sets/forms about developing a way of life that was healthy physically for the mind, body and spirit, his system became known as Shaolin kung fu.
The physical side of kung fu particularly became popular all over China and many systems or styles of kung fu sprouted from the original Shaolin style.

Tai chi chuan - Shadow boxing

China to Japan:
Japanese soldiers, diplomats and Zen Buddhist monks traveled between China and Japan and that a type of kung fu (possibly white crane style) was slowly introduced to Japan and developed into karate over a 450 year period after the 6th or 7th century. In 1372 Okinawan - Chinese kung fu had developed into a form of fist fighting locally known as tode (T'ang hand, from T'ang dynasty 618 - 907 A.D.) or China hand. By the 14th century a definite style/form of Okinawan karate had started to develop into its own style. A major contribution to the introduction of kung fu which developed into karate was during the Ming dynasty (1368-1664) when a group of families (known as the 36 families) migrated to Okinawa from the Fukien province, China, to Kume-mura, a suburb of Naha, Okinawa, where Chinese martial arts masters taught their kung fu systems to Okinawans.
In 1429 Okinawa was conquered by a feudal lord. The new Okinawan master banned all weapons on the islands. This weapons ban stimulate further developments of empty hand combat techniques (including acu-point striking) basically for self-protection.

First karate styles:
Some of the first styles of empty hand combat were called Naha-te, Shuri-te and Toamari-te. In the 18th century modern day Okinawan karate styles began to emerge into definite original systems;
Shorin-ryu (Shuri-te this style focuses on speed) which is more is suited for a small framed body that naturally has less strength, and Shorei-ryu (Naha-te this style focuses on flexibility) which was more suited for a larger framed person, Gichin Funakoshi tells us that Shorei-ryu was a more effective form of self-defense, but lacked the mobility of Shorin-ryu (style = ryu) . Naha-te divided into two definite styles: Goju-ryu and Uechi-ryu. Shuri-te divided into three karate styles: Shobayashi-ru Shorin-ryu, Kobayashi-ryu Shorin-ryu and Matsubayashi-ryu Shorin-ryu.
By 1880 the name karate (T'ang hand which eludes to Chinese martial arts out of respect for Chinese instruction) was used freely amongst Japanese martial artists. The term for karate changed around 1905 to te hand which angered some of martial art purist because it moved away from the Chinese connection. Gichin Funakoshi (Shuri-te master) the father of modern day karate writes that the Te in the word karate means "hand (s)". But there are two quite different characters that are both pronounced kara; which means "empty," and that the other is the Chinese character referring to the T'ang dynasty and may be translated "Chinese".

Kara-empty Te-hand

Gichin Funakoshi writes:
So should our martial art be written with the characters that mean "empty hand (s)"? or those that mean "Chinese hand (s)"? In the early 1920s, it was customary to use the character for "Chinese" rather than that for "empty" to write karate, but this is certainly does not mean that the use of "Chinese" kara was necessarily correct.
True, in Okinawa we used the word karate, but more often we called the art merely te or bushi no te, "warrior's hand (s)." Thus, we might speak of a man as having studied te or as having had experience in bushi no te. As to when te first became karate in Okinawan usage, I must refrain from offering even in conjecture, since there is no written material in existence that would provide us with the vaguest hint, much less tell us whether the character used was that for "Chinese" kara rather than the "empty" kara, but that is, as I say, can only be the merest guesswork. I found it difficult to believe that "Chinese hands (s)" was the correct term to describe Okinawan karate as it has evolved over the centuries. I was to rename the art as Dai Nippon Kempo Karate-Do ("Great Japan fist-Method Empty-Hands Way"), making use of the character for "empty" rather than that for "Chinese." My suggestion initially elicited violent outbursts of criticism in both Tokyo and Okinawa, but I had confidence in the change and have adhered to it over the years. Since then, it has in fact gained such wide acceptance that the word karate would look strange to all of us now if it were written with the "Chinese" kara character.

Why call Gichin Funakoshi Okinawan karate "Shotokan"?
When Gichin Funakoshi lived in Okinawa he would enjoy walking in, and amongst the pine forest (especially after a karate lesson) to be at one with nature by enjoying the night sky, looking up at the stars and listening to the wind blowing through the pine forests, for this reason, the love of the sound of the forests moving in nature, Ginchin Funakoshi used the name shoto (which means pine waves) to sign his poetry, calligraphy and letters, shoto was literally Gichin Funakoshi's pen name. When the first purpose built karate hall was built in Tokyo it was dedicated with the name shotokan above the dojo entrance which, when translated means "pine waves hall" out of love and respect for Master Funakoshi.

20th century and karate:
The seclusion of karate in Okinawa was maintained until the early 20th century until around the 1940's, after world war II, this time in karate history is when Japan was occupied by the allies. All martial arts including karate was banned by the allies. In 1946 Masatoshi Nakayama (1913 - 1987), who was one of Gichin Funakoshi's original pupils returned to Japan from China were he had been learning Chinese language and philosophy and tried to re-establish contact with past karateka only to discover that a majority of them had died during the war, even Gichin Funakoshi's son Yoshitaka Funakoshi had died from tuberculosis in 1945. Nakayama had friends in high places, and with Nakayana's influence it was suggested to the allies that karate was really only a form of Chinese shadow boxing similar to Tai chi chuan; because of this the allies allowed karate to be practiced. This meant that karate was practiced in Japan two years before any other martial art because the ban on martial arts was not completely lifted until 1948. In 1949 Master Funakoshi gathered together karate instructors from all over Japan to develop the idea of the Japan Karate Association (J.K.A.). Sensei Nakayama had been able to study and develop karate whilst he was in China all through the war and was made the head of the J.K.A around 1958 shortly after the death of Gichin Funakoshi in 1957. Karate had moved on since the old days and karate started to be taught to the occupying forces, as the armed forces started to leave Japan, allies that had become karate proficient went home and taught the karate they had learned in Japan in their own countries. Karate became so popular after world war II that Japanese karate masters were either invited or sent from Japan to open up instructional dojo's around the world.

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