The late Gichin Funakoshi wrote the following text from his book ‘To-Te Jitsu’ It offers a true insight into the perception of what Karate is and means according to one of the founding fathers of modern Karate.

In Okinawa, a miraculous and mysterious martial art has come down to us from the past. It is said that one who masters its techniques can defend himself readily without resort to weapons and can perform remarkable feats: the breaking of several thick boards with his fist or ceiling panels of a room with a kick. With his shuto (”sword hand”) he can kill a bull with a single stroke; he can pierce the flank of a horse with his open hand; he can cross a room grasping the beams of the ceiling with his fingers, crush a green bamboo stalk with his bare hand, shear a hemp rope with a twist, or gouge soft rock with his hands.

Some consider these aspects of this miraculous and mysterious martial art to be the essence of Karate-do. But such feats are a small part of karate, playing a role analogous to the straw-cutting test of kendo (Japanese fencing], and it is erroneous to think that there is no more to Karate-do than this. In fact, true Karate-do places weight upon spiritual rather than physical matters, as we shall discuss. True Karate-do is this: that in daily life, one’s mind and body be trained and developed in a spirit of humility; and that in critical times, one be devoted utterly to the cause of justice.

KARA

Karate-do is a martial art peculiar to Okinawa in its origins. Although it has in the past tended to be confused with Chinese boxing because of the use of the Chinese “kara” character in its earlier name, in fact for the past thousand years, the study and practice of masters and experts, through which it was nurtured and perfected and formed into the unified martial art that it is today, took place in Okinawa. It is, therefore, not a distortion to represent it as an Okinawan martial art.

One may ask why the Chinese “kara” character has been retained for so long. As I discuss in the section “The Development of Karate-do,” I believe that at the time the influence of Chinese culture was at its peak in Japan, many experts in the martial arts traveled to China to practice Chinese boxing. With their new knowledge, they altered the existing martial art, called Okinawa-te, weeding out its bad points and adding good points to it, thus working it into an elegant art. It may be speculated that they considered “kara” (with the Chinese character) an appropriate new name. Since, even in contemporary Japan, there are many people who are impressed by anything that is foreign, it is not difficult to imagine the high regard for anything Chinese that prevailed during that period in Okinawa. Even at the time of the present writer’s youth, lack of a full set of Chinese furniture and furnishings in one’s home was a serious impediment to the social influence of any leading family. With this background, the reason for the choice of the Chinese “kara” character, meaning “Chinese,” as a simple case of exoticism is apparent.

Following tradition, the writer has in the past continued to use the Chinese character. However, because of the frequent confusion with Chinese boxing, and the fact that the Okinawan martial art may now be considered a Japanese martial art, it is inappropriate, and in a sense degrading, to continue use of the old “kara” in the name. For this reason, in spite of many protests, we have abandoned the use of it to replace it with the new character KARA.

THE MEANING OF KARA

The first connotation of kara indicates that karate is a technique that permits one to defend himself with his bare hands and fists without weapons. Second, just as it is the clear mirror that reflects without distortion, or the quiet valley that echoes a sound, so must one who would study Karate-do purge himself of selfish and evil thoughts, for only with a clear mind and conscience can he understand that which he receives. This is another meaning of the element kara in Karate-do. Next, he who would study Karate-do must always strive to be inwardly humble and outwardly gentle. However, once he has decided to stand up for the cause of justice, then he must have the courage expressed in the saying, “Even if it must be ten million foes, I go!” Thus, he is like the green bamboo stalk: hollow (kara) inside, straight, and with knots, that is, unselfish, gentle, and moderate. This meaning is also contained in the element kara of Karate-do.

Finally, in a fundamental way, the form of the universe is emptiness (kara), and, thus, emptiness is form itself. There are many kinds of martial arts, judo, kendo, sojitsu (”spear techniques”), bojitsu (”stick techniques”), and others, but at a fundamental level all these arts rest on the same basis as Karate-do. It is no exaggeration to say that the original sense of Karate-do is at one with the basis of all martial arts. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form itself. The kara of Karate-do has this meaning.

About the author:

This article was submitted by P. Sundbye who has been training in various martialarts for the last 11 years including Wing Chun Kung Fu, Aikido, Tong Long and the Lee Total Control system.

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People often send me emails asking me why I’m so hard on traditional martial arts — like karate, kung fu, aikido, etc.

Only problem is, I’m not hard on them.

In fact, I have nothing but respect for them — as did Bruce Lee and all the other street-fighting masters who have emerged in the past 30 years.

The street-fighting philosophy I teach literally has elements from some 30 different kinds of traditional martial arts. If I didn’t like or respect them, I wouldn’t be teaching them.

But at the same time…Bruce Lee had this saying: “absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”

In other words, take a good look at what’s out there, extract what you can actually use in a street-fight — where there are no rules, regulations or referees — and leave all the fancy stuff out.

Like, for example, the much revered spinning high kick you see performed on TV and in the dojos all the time.

Totally useless in a real fight.

Don’t believe me?

Then go ahead and try it for yourself in a real fight.

Chances are you will either severely injure yourself, or leave yourself wide open to an attack.

Why?

Because unless you’re a phenomenal athlete, with an almost supernatural sense of balance, timing and power…and unless you perform your “super kick” at just the right angle and distance…you’ll fall flat on your face.

Happens all the time.

Reason why is because that particular kick — which is enormously popular in some of the traditional martial arts — was invented hundreds of years ago to kick people off their horses.

Not take out a thug in the back alley high on meth, with a knife in his hand.

You see, the violent criminals stalking our streets today are meaner, nastier and tougher than ever before in history. They have no sense of honor, fair play or morality whatsoever.

And to make matters worse, many of them also abuse mind-altering drugs and even steroids — making them almost immune to pain and pumped with an almost freakish kind of brute strength.

And so, to really defend yourself against these violent criminals you need fighting tactics that are “monkey simple” to learn, work almost automatically when you need them, and that can quickly do a lot of damage — whether you’re in shape, out of shape, or have any natural athletic ability whatsoever.

Bottom line:

When you’re in a violent altercation on the street, leave the fancy “Jackie Chan” moves and Van Dam roundhouse kicks for Hollywood where they belong.

Sifu Matt Numrich is one of only a few instructors with Full Certification in Bruce Lee s Jeet Kune Do, and also the Filipino Martial Arts. His students include everyone from Federal Air Marshals and military elites to small children and 65-year old ladies. Matt also offers free weekly street-fighting lessons by email at http://jkdondvd.com

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Karate-do, in all its various forms, finds its origins in one place - the Ryukyu islands off the coast of Japan. What we know as one of the most widely practiced systems of self defense and discipline in the world is the result of centuries of development. While Karate-do was introduced as a code of ethics to a peacetime America only a few decades ago, it began through the need of Ryukyu natives for better methods of fighting.

There are a few theories about the origins of the fighting arts that later became collectively known as Karate-do. However, it is certain that many notable Chinese kung fu practitioners settled in Okinawa, the capital of the Ryukyu kingdom.

The origins of the Chinese arts themselves are also shrouded in the mists of time. A widely accepted theory is that Bodhidharma, the founder of Ch an (Zen) Buddhism created what would later evolve into Shaolin kung-fu. The original exercises were used to strengthen his monks bodies, minds, and spirits, to help them better fulfill their duties. This level of personal cultivation carried across to many Chinese martial arts. By way of transmission to other countries, this carried across to other martial arts, Karate-do being one of them.

Details are rather sketchy at best as to the actual origins of Karate-do, however. It is most widely accepted that in the year 1507, the weapons ban passed by King Sho Shin led to the rapid development of native unarmed fighting arts. These arts were primarily influenced by various forms of Chinese kung fu, which Okinawans began learning in the 14th century.

Okinawans learned forms of Shaolin kung fu from Shaolin masters who fled China as a result of the oppressive Qing dynasty. Okinawans also learned various forms of kung fu from Chinese merchants, Chinese officials on diplomatic missions, and young members of wealthy Okinawan families who went to China to learn Quan Fa / kung fu to further their education and martial arts studies. The general name given to the fighting arts learned and further refined by the Okinawan martial artists was tode-jutsu (alternately spelled tou-di), the Okinawan name given to Chinese martial arts.

In February 1609, invasion of Okinawa by the Satsuma clan (of Kyushu, Japan) triggered another period of rapid development of native Okinawan fighting arts. Satsuma control lasted until 1879, when the King of Ryukyu finally abdicated and the country became part of Japan.

During this period, kobudo (often translated old fighting method ; commonly used to represent Okinawan weapon fighting) evolved. Farm implements were used as weapons, as traditional weapons were not allowed. However, some of the native Ryukyu warrior class traveled up to the Satsuma clan in the later part of the 19th century and learned their samurai fighting art Jigen-ryu kenjutsu. It was not long after this that Sokon Matsumura, Toudi Sakugawa, and Tsuken Koura, among the many who had made the trip, introduced their contributions to kobudo.

Matsumura is commonly considered the great grandfather of the karate movement in and around Shuri. He learned native Okinawan fighting from Sakugawa (who in turn learned from Kusankun and other masters). He later studied in Fujian and Satsuma. He learned Shaolin Boxing (Shorin-ryu) under the tutelage of master Iwah. As a result of the efforts of Matsumura, the fighting arts that surfaced around the noble / castle district of Shuri came to be known as Shuri-te (Shuri hand).

The Chinese master Ason taught Zhao Ling Liu (Shorei-ryu) to Sakiyama, Gushi, Nagahama, and Tomoyori of Naha, leading to the development of Naha-te. Xie Zhongxiang (nicknamed Ryuru Ko) of Fuzhou founded Whooping Crane kung fu (hakutsuru) and taught it to a number of notable karate masters in the Fuzhou province. Wai Xinxian, it is said, was a Qing dynasty officer, and taught Xingyi kung fu as well as Monk Fist Boxing. It is also said he assisted Master Iwah s instruction in Fuzhou province.

The author lives in Lake City, South Carolina, where he also teaches at his Wado ryu Karate school. For more information about Karate and the martial arts, please visit Johnston Wado ryu Karate - School, Supplies, Downloads or the Johnston Karate Online Community.

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