Meeker1

MichaelMeeker
GraduationProject
Ms.Hefner
23March2015
KarateD
Haveyouwonderedhowfightingstylesstarted?Karateiseasilyestimatedtobe600
yearsoldeasily.Karatehaschangedthroughoutthelengthoftimethatithasbeenstudied.
Karatehaswentthroughcountlesschangessinceitsorigin,toitsnamethroughoutitspractice,
itsteachinghaschangedovertime,andtheprinciplesthathavebeendisplayedsinceits
beginning.Karatehasevolvedinitsstructureofinstructionandhowitisseeninthepubliceye
buthasmaintaineditsoriginalprinciples.
Karatedhasalessknownhistorywithlittlerecordedhistory.Karateisbelievedtohave
madeitsfirstappearanceintheearly1300s.Inasmuchasthereisvirtuallynowrittenmaterial
ontheearlyhistoryofkarate,wedonotknowwhoinventedanddevelopedit,noreven,forthat
matter,whereitoriginatedandevolved(karated29).Evenwithsuchlittlewrittenrecords,
therearestilltheoriesofhowkaratewasbroughttoOkinawa.Onetheoryisthatitoriginated
fromIndia,anditisbelievedtobeastyleoftempleboxing.HeisknownasDarumainJapan
andasoftenasnot,thisIndianBuddhistmonkiscitedastheprimesourceforallmartialarts
stylesorattheveryleast,foranystylewhichtracesitsrootsbacktothefabledShaolinTemple
(Karate).Anothertheoryonkaratesoriginisthat36mentrainedinchineseboxingcameto
Okinawaandendeduptrainingafewpeoplebeforedeparting.Thenovertheyearsofpractice,
theOkinawanpeoplechangedthestylesandmethods,untilitwasacompletelynewart.Thereis

Meeker2

alsoanothertheorythatkarateactuallydevelopednaturallyinorderforpeopletoprotect
themselvesfromthedangersinlife,withouttheaccessofweapons.Seeingasthoughwritten
documentsareusedtokeeprecordofhistoryandthereisverylittlerecordbecauseofthe
banningofmartialarts,writtendocumentswerejustevidence.Throughoutkarateshistorythe
namehaschangedtofittheartsstyle.
KarateDisnottheoriginalnameforthismartialart.Theoriginalnamewasawholelot
simpler.Initsearlieststages,themartialartknownaskaratewasanindigenousformof
closedfistfightingwhichwasdevelopedinOkinawaandwascalledTe,orhand(Karate).
Overtimeexpertsinthisartchangedthenametokarate.ThefullnameofkaratewasKarate
jutsu,chinesehandart,whichwaschangedbyOkinawanmasters.Eventuallytheychangedthe
namefromkaratejutsutokarated.Itthenchangedtokarated,afteranOkinawanmaster
alteredthemeaningofthewordkara(alsopronouncedtode)tomeanemptyratherthan
chineseopenhand(History).Thefightingstylebecamemorethanitsoriginalclosedfist
fightingstyleandusedmoreflexibleopenhandedtacticsaswellasclosedfist.Karated
translatesintothewayoftheopenhand(History).Karatebecamethewayoftheopenhand
becauseitgivesmorediversityandgrantseasyaccesstotheuseofweapons.Okinawankarate
mastersseemtohavegainedalotofrespectandprestigeallowingthemtobeabletoalterthe
meaningofawordorcharacterandtochangethenameofKarate.Karateisamartialartthat
evolvedfromastyleofChineseboxingtoanopenhandednewartinitself.Karatesnames
historyiswellknownbyitsfollowersbuttheoriginofkarateisstillsurroundedinmystery.
KarateDwasnotalwaysalargelypracticedmartialart.Whenkaratedfirststartedout
asteitwasbannedandhadtobepracticedandtaughtinsecret.Atthattimethepracticeof

Meeker3

karatewasbannedbythegovernment,sosessionshadtotakeplaceinsecret,andpupilswere
strictlyforbiddenbytheirteacherstodiscusswithanyonethefactthattheywerelearningtheart
(Karated4).Karatewasbannedbecauseallformsoffighting,especiallyweapons,were
bannedinOkinawa.KarateprovedthatweaponswerenottheonlywaythattheOkinawancould
protectthemselves,sothesmallgroupofindividualsthatweretrainingintheartofkaratewere
takingasteptogivethemselvessomesortofsecurity.Beginningintheearlynineteenthcentury,
becauseofthehighnumbersofOkinawankaratemasters,thebanonkaratewaslifted.Karate
didnotchangeasmuchasexpected,theprinciplesstayedthesamebutthenumberofpupils
increased.Tobesure,thebestwaytounderstandkaratedisnotonlytopracticethekatabutto
alsogainanappreciationofthemeaninginherentineachofthevariouskata(karated105).
Karatedwastaughtthroughtheunderstandingandrespectfortheart,whileincorporatingits
manydifferenttechniques.Karatebegantoriseupintheeyeofthepublicallowingthefirst
groupinstructioninanOkinawaelementaryschoolin1904.Eventuallykaratebecamepopular
enoughtobetaughtintheOkinawaPoliceAcademyin1922.Within18years,Karatewentfrom
asecretpassingfromteachertostudenttoanacceptedandimportantarttaughttoarangeof
people,fromchildrentopoliceofficers.Foramartialartforgedinsecret,itsurehasmadea
largeimpactondaytodaylifeinmanycountriesaroundtheworld.Theoriginofkarateisnot
certainbutitsprincipleshaveremainedimportantandrespectedbyallofitsfollowers.
KaratehasfollowedthesameprincipleseversincetheartwasbroughttotheJapanand
itspeople."Gettingablackbeltisn'ttheendofthejourneyitisonlythebeginning,becauseyou
onlytrulybegintolearntheartafteryouearnyourblackbelt"(Setzer).Onemajorprincipleof
karateishonor.Honorisveryimportantinkarateandisamotivatorformanyactionsand

Meeker4

decision.Nokarateadeptwouldbesocowardlyastoattackfromtherear(Karated18).It
showsnohonorforapersontoattackapersonfrombehindevenifyouaredefeated.Respectis
anotherimportantprincipleofkarateanditbeginsandendswithrei(respect).Inkarate,you
mustrespectyourteacher,andyoumustrespectthatyouropponentmaybeabetterfighterthan
youare.Anotherimportantprincipleinkarateisthatthereisnofirstattack,meaningthatkarate
isameansfordefenseandshouldneverbeusedasameansofbeingtheaggressor.Humansare
conditionedbytheirtheirenvironmentanddonthavedisciplineunlesstheyareconditioned.It
isimportantforWesternerstounderstandthathumanbehaviorisconditionedinan
overwhelmingfashionbyculture(Martial12).Injapan,respectisalotmorestressedand
expected,butinwesterncountriesrespecthasbecomefarmoreuncommon.Karateinstructors
alsostressthatbeforebeingabletotrulyunderstandyouropponent,youneedtounderstand
yourselffirst.Ifyouknowwhatyouarecapableofyou,karatewillcomeeasily.Karateisaartof
makingyourselffluid,andrequiresyoutobeabletoadapttoanysituation.Ifyouropponent
advances,youreactbyslidingawayandgetreadytodefendyourself.InKarate,itisimportantto
beabletotransformyourselfbasedontheopponentifyouropponentislargerandmore
sluggish,yourstrikesmustbefasterandyourbodyahardertargettohit.AccordingtoStanley
Setzer,memberoftheHeishinryukaratefederation,"martialartsisnotsomethingyoudofora
littlewhileandthenquit.Itisalonglifejourneythatrequirespatienceandconstanttraining"
(Setzer).Karateisheavilyreliantonitsprinciplesanditsteachingsarebasedontheprinciplesit
wasfoundedon.

Meeker5

Karateisanoldmartialart,butitsprincipleshavenotchangedinthecenturiesthatit's
beenpracticedandarestillusedtohelptrainaperson'smindandbody.Theoriginofkarateis
notcertain,butit'snowadefiniteaspectofhistory.Itsnamehasevolvedoverthetimeofits
practice,thewayitsbeentaughthaschanged,andtheprinciplesinvolvedhavebeenrespected
sinceitwasrecordedandisbelievedtohavebeenthesame.Howeverkaratehasevolvedinits
structureofinstructionandhowitisseeninthepubliceyebuthasmaintaineditsoriginal
principles.Karateisareallyeffectivemartialarttopractice,todisciplineyourselfandtogainthe
skillstodefendyourself.

Meeker6

WorksCited
Funakoshi,Gichin.
Karated:MyWayofLife.
Tokyo:KodanshaInternational,1981.Print.
HistoryofKarate.
AthleticScholarships.
N.p.n.d.Web.9March2015.
<http://www.athleticscholarships.net/historyofkarate.htm>
"History&PrinciplesofShotokanKarate."
IMA
Karate.N.p.,n.d.Web.07Apr.2015.
Jones,DavidE.
MartialArtsTraininginJapan:AguideforWesterners
.Rutland:Charles
ETuttle,2001.Print.
KarateHistory.
KarateHistory.
N.p.n.d.Web.06March2015.
<http://www.karateinternational.net/history.html>
Morgan,ForrestE.
LivingtheMartialWay:AManualfortheWayaModernWarriorShould
Think.
FortLee:Barricade,1992.Print.
PersonalInterview.Setzer,Stanley,2015.