A Brief History of Karate in the World and in Russia

Karate is not just art of fighting, it is a way of life, it is a whole philosophy that helps a person to see the interconnectedness of everything in the world, helps to achieve harmony with nature, find it within oneself, and also in relationships with other people.

In Japan they say that karate is the way that strong people choose and go through it sometimes all their life. These daredevils every day push the boundaries of the possible, following the chosen direction, strengthening and tempering the body and spirit, endlessly discovering new abilities in oneself.

History of the origin of martial art

The earliest information about the history of karate dates back to 1761. This date is mentioned by Sesin Nagamine in her book, entitled "The Basics of Okinawan Karate-Do." Then this martial art was known as "tode", which means "Chinese boxing" in Japanese.

Next, you will find a brief history of karate, such as the legends preserved it.

In a long time there lived such a Chinese fighter named Kusanku, who once demonstrated his high skill and ability in Chinese boxing, admiring the audience with its novelty and special technique of capture. This significant event for the history of karate occurred on Okinawa - the largest island that is located on the Ryukyu archipelago in Japan. The location of this island was just at the intersection of trade routes, and it was about the same distance from Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China. All these states constantly fought each other for the possession of the Ryukyu archipelago, therefore every man on the island was a warrior, often in several generations. Since the XV century on this territory there was a ban on carrying weapons, so the soldiers of Okinawa from generation to generation improved their fighting skills without it.

At the end of the XVIII century, as the history of karate, the master of Sokugava in the town of Shuri was opened the first school of Te, the occupations of which were conspired. Matsamura Shokun, being on Okinawa the Supreme Mentor of Martial Arts, also organized a school with the name "Shorin-Ryu Karate" (shorin - a young forest), where strict discipline and moral upbringing of Szegö dominated. A distinctive feature of the school were deceptive movements and a delicate maneuver. Matsamura's disciple was Asato Anko, famous for the whole island and beyond, who, in turn, became the coach of Funakoshi Gichin.

But Funakoshi Gichin is considered to be the creator of karate. Of course, he did not invent this kind of martial arts himself, but this person combined, filtered and systematized various techniques of the Chinese hand-to-hand fighting and created a new kind of karate-jujutsu battle, which in Japanese means "art of the Chinese hand".

For the first time Funakoshi showed the world karate-jujutsu at a time when a martial arts festival was held in Tokyo in 1921. Less than one decade passed, as the newly created form of the struggle won great popularity in Japan, which led to the discovery of countless different schools.

Karate: the history of the origin of the name

In 1931 a congress of the "big family of Okinawan karate" was held, at which it was decided that each style that had appeared by that time had the right to be. Also at this congress decided to give a different name to this kind of martial arts, because at that time there was another war with China. The hieroglyph of "kara," which denoted "China," was replaced with a hieroglyph that read the same, but it meant emptiness. Also replaced "jutsu" - "art" to "before" - "way". It turned out the name used to this day. It sounds like "karate-do" and is translated as "the path of an empty hand".

The history of distribution and development of karate-do in the world

In 1945, when Japan lost the war, the US occupation authorities banned all kinds of Japanese martial arts on the island. But karate-do was considered just Chinese gymnastics and avoided the ban. This contributed to a new round of development of this martial art, which led to the creation in 1948 of the Japan Karate Association, which was headed by Funakoshi. In 1953, the most famous masters were invited to train elite units of the US Army in the USA.

After the Olympics in Tokyo in 1964, karate-do won incredible popularity around the world. This, in turn, led to the creation of the World Union of Karate-Do Organizations.

The Purpose of Karate

Initially, according to the history of karate, this kind of hand-to-hand combat was created as a martial art and was intended exclusively for self-defense without the use of weapons. The purpose of karate is to help and protect, but not to maim and not cause pain.

Distinctive features of karate

Unlike other martial arts, here contacts to fighters are minimized. And to defeat the enemy, they use powerful and accurate blows both hands and feet at the vital points of the human body. There are several other distinguishing features of this type of martial arts, which consist in stable low stands and in rigid blocks, as well as in instantaneous transition to a counterattack with simultaneous accurate and strong impact. At the same time, it takes place at lightning speed, along the shortest trajectory with a huge concentration of energy at the point of impact, which is called kime.

Since karate is primarily a defense, then all actions here begin with protection. But after it, and this is the essence of karate, there is a lightning-fast response attack.

Principles of using techniques

For correct use of various techniques in karate a number of principles are provided. Among them: kime, mentioned above; Dacha - the optimal choice of position; Hara - the combination of muscle strength with internal energy; Dzesin - an unshakable spirit. All this is comprehended through long training in formal exercises "kata" and in duels "kumite". Between kata and kumite in different styles and schools, a balance can be observed, or preference may be given to either exercises or duels.

Karate-do styles

In our time, several hundred different styles are already known in the world. In karate, the fragmentation of the foundations began even from the time of its inception. A lot of different people were engaged in this martial art, and everyone who reached a high level, brought in something of his own. However, it should be noted that any style that has survived to the present, in one way or another comes into contact with one of the following directions:

1. Kempo - Sino-Okinawa martial art.

2. Karate-jutsu - Japanese combat version in the spirit of Motobu.

3. Karate-do is a Japanese philosophical and pedagogical version in the spirit of Funakoshi.

4. Sports Karate - either contact, or semi-contact.

There are several styles that need to be noted.

1. One of them is Shotokan (Setokan). Its founder is Gichin Funakoshi, but his son Giko contributed the most to the development of style. It is characterized by dynamic and energetic movements, as well as stable stands.
2. The history of karate Kyokushinkai begins in 1956. The founder is a Korean by origin Masutatsu Oyama (studied at Gichin Funakoshi). The title is translated as "extremely truthful style." The history of karate Kyokushinkai testifies that the main thing here is combat effectiveness, but not healing and not the development of moral qualities.
3. Wado-ryu, or "the path of harmony." It was founded by Hironori Otzuka, one of Funakoshi's older students. This style uses painful grips for the hand, the technique of avoiding blows, throws. The focus here is on mobility in travel. Aimed at sparring.
4. Shito-ryu. The founder of the style is Kenwa Mabuni. It differs by studying the greatest among all styles of kata (about fifty).
5. Goju-ryu (the translation is "hard-soft"). The founder of the style is Gichin Miyagi. Attack movements are solid, conducted in a straight line, and the movements of protection are soft, carried out along the circumference. The most of all styles is far from the sports-competitive orientation in its pure form.

Karate in Russia

The history of the development of karate in Russia begins with the emergence of amateur sections and clubs. Their founders were people who were fortunate enough to go abroad and go there to teach this martial art. The rabid popularity of this type of martial arts and the spontaneity of their spread led to the fact that in November 1978 a special commission for the development of karate was established in the USSR. By results of its work in December, 1978 the Federation of karate of the USSR was formed. Since the rules of teaching this kind of martial arts were constantly and roughly violated, an addition was added to the Criminal Code on "responsibility for illegal karate training." From 1984 to 1989, this martial art in the Soviet Union was prohibited, which was established by Order No. 404, issued by the Sports Committee. But the sections that taught this kind of martial arts continued to exist underground. In 1989, on December 18, the USSR State Committee for Sports adopted Decree No. 9/3, by which order No. 404 was declared null and void. Currently in Russia there is a huge number of federations and styles that actively cooperate with international organizations of karate.

Philosophy of Karate-Do

If we talk about the philosophy of karate, then it must be noted that it is based on the principle of non-violence. In the oath that pupils of karate clubs give before the beginning of classes, they undertake not to apply the received skills and knowledge to the detriment of people and not use them for selfish purposes.