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Karate:This article is about the martial art. For the band, see Karate (band).
Karate (band)
Karate or karate-dō is a martial art of Okinawan origin. Karate is a synthesis of indigenous Okinawan fighting methods and Southern Chinese martial arts, possibly a version of Shaolin-style temple boxing or kung fu (chuan fa, kenpo). It is a striking art, featuring punching, kicking, knee/elbow strikes and open hand techniques; however, grappling, joint manipulations, locks, restraints, throwing, and vital point striking are inherent in the finer points of the forms. Karate is characterized by the particular use of the hips and stances to generate striking power, and by the distinctive use of breathing (sharp, explosive exhalations) to focus power, and by the use of forms (kata/hyung/poomse) training. One who practices karate is sometimes referred to as a karate-ka (Japanese, "karate practitioner"). A common Karate demonstration is breaking, where the practitioner will stack material such as wooden boards or cinder slabs, and smash them with a strike, thus showing power and focus.
The word "karate" initially comes from the Okinawan pronunciation of the Chinese characters "kara", referring to China itself or the T'ang dynasty, and "te" meaning hand:
- 唐手 “karate”
Thus "Chinese hand" or "Tang hand" or “Chinese fist” or "Chinese techniques": "Tang hand" in the sense of "Tang boxing" from the Chinese Tang dynasty or by extension, "Chinese hand" reflecting the Chinese influence on the style. In 1933, following Japan's annexation of much of China in the period 1931-3, Gichin Funakoshi in Japan (known as the father of modern karate) changed the "kara" character in "karate" to a homonym denoting "emptiness".
- 空手 “karate”
By 1936 Funakoshi's second book had appeared, using the kara=emptiness character, and a meeting of Okinawan masters adopted the same meaning. Since then, the word "karate" (same pronunciation, different characters) has meant "empty hand".
The term empty hand carries with it Japanese Zen connotations: not just that the karate practitioner is carrying no weapon, but also the Zen process of perfecting oneself and one's art, by emptying the heart and mind of earthly desire and vanity. The "emptiness" suggested by the new ideogram refers to rendering oneself empty or egoless, to further development of spiritual insight. Funakoshi stated that the actual meaning of his writings are as follows: "As a mirror's polished surface reflects whatever stands before it and a quiet valley carries even small sounds, so must the student of Karate-Dō render of their mind empty of selfishness and wickedness in an effort to react appropriately toward anything they might encounter. This is the meaning of the kara or 'empty' of Karate-Dō."
- 空手道 “karate-dō”
The "do" suffix is used for various arts and implies that they are not just techniques but have spiritual elements. In this circumstance it is usually translated as "the way of", as in Aikido, Judo and Kendo. Thus, "karate-do" is "the way of the empty hand".
Funakoshi's philosophy has been inspirational to many generations of karate students; yet historically it's worth noting that in the climate of Japan in the 1930s, removing an explicit reference to China in the art's name may well have been a politically expedient move.
In general, karate training is divided into three major areas: basic motion (“kihon” in Japanese), forms ("kata" 型 in Japanese, "hyung" or "poomse" in Korean), and sparring ("kumite" 組手 in Japanese, "dae ryun" in Korean). Basic motion (Kihon) (基本) is the study of the fundamental moves, the basic components, required to perform the art. Kata/Hyung/Poomse means 'form' or 'pattern'. They are a series of movements and techniques linked together by the physical/combatative principles that the kata expresses, represented as a fixed sequence of moves against imagined opponents. Sparring develops from well-defined forms to free sparring.
It is important to note that the basic-motion/forms/sparring division of curriculum is not a complete representation of the sum of the art, nor is it necessarily the most 'traditional' approach. There are many different expressions of karate techniques found in different styles and from different teachers and cultures, and none may be regarded as inferior or superior without a thorough experiential knowledge of the art.
Many styles of karate also include specialized conditioning equipment, known in Japanese collectively as 'hojo undo.' Some of the more common devices are the makiwara, the chi-ishi (a kind of off center free weight), and nigiri game (large jars used for grip strength).
Some styles also include instruction in kobudo, or traditonal Okinawan weaponry. The two arts are not strictly linked, but they have followed a synergistic course of development.
History
Karate is a multi-cultural development, absorbing the contributions of many gifted practitioners over time and crossing many borders. Compiling a reasonably accurate history of Karate represents some challenges.
First, there are natural problems inherent in drawing clean lines around anything as organic as the transmission of a martial art, which is done teacher-to-student in a hands-on manner. A student will learn from his instructor, become a "master" in his own right, and move to another location; often he will found a school or style with a new name in the new location, yet will actually be teaching pretty much what he learned from his instructor. For the historian, it can be difficult to determine if that represents two distinct styles or one referred to by multiple names. The question of lineage can be very important to Karate schools; yet from a distance many different schools or "styles" of karate can look very similar.
Another difficulty is, the development of Karate occured chiefly in Okinawa and China in the 19th century, and Japan and Korea in the early 20th century. This was an especially turbulent period in history for that area of the world, corresponding with Japan's official annexation of the Okinawan island group in 1874, the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), and the rise of Japanese expansionism (1905-1945). The wars caused disruptions and upheavel, and incentives for concealment. The Karate styles within Japan have fairly clean lineages; but any assessment of how Karate crossed borders in this period is complicated by issues of nationalism, the historic Japanese racism faced by non-Japanese Asians, and the typical resentment of occupied peoples toward a conquerer. Many recognizeable offshoots of Karate, particularly in Korea, deny the name because of nationalistic ideals and the word's association with Japan; likewise some obvious offshoots of Karate are disowned by Japanese practitioners, perhaps because of a Japanese preoccupation with primacy or purity.
An additional difficulty for the Westerner is the variant English spellings of words written in Chinese characters, and translated variously into Okinawan or Japanese or Korean, and from there into English. Words for a martial art can be related (have a similar root) in a way that would be instantly obvious to a Kanji-fluent reader seeing the original characters; but the translated form of those words can completely lack any apparent relationship, to Western eyes. Or on the other hand, proper names which a native speaker would have no touble telling apart, could seem bewilderingly similar to Western eyes. Omissions, over-simplifications, redundancies are likely to occur.
Briefly: Karate as Karate existed in Okinawa by the end of the 19th century as some kind of assimilation of Chinese practices with native arts. From there Karate moved to Japan in the early 20th century.
Karate in Okinawa
Japan annexed the Okinawan island group island group in 1874. One might suggest that something of "Okinawan" origin (such as karate) could be equally desribed as being of "Japanese" origin. The relationship between the Okinawa and Japan is complicated and thorny. For purposes of discussing Karate, it is convenient to speak of Okinawa and Japan as separate entities.
History
Karate is a mixture of indigenous Okinawan fighting arts and empty handed Chinese fighting arts, the latter having been brought to Okinawa by political envoys, merchants, and sailors from Fujian Province.
In 1722, Sakugawa, who had studied Kempo and bo fighting in China, started teaching a fighting art in the city of Shuri that he called "Karate-no-sakugawa." This was the first known recorded reference to the art of Karate (唐手) in a modern form. The word "Kara" (唐) referred to China itself, and "Te" (手) meant hand; so Karate meant "the Chinese techniques" or "T'ang Hand".
To this day Karate still bears a striking resemblance to Fujian martial arts such as Fujian White Crane, Five Ancestors, and Goroquan (Hard Soft Fist, pronounced "Gōjūken" in Japanese). The Okinawans called the discipline "te", or hand, or Chinese hand. There were no particular styles, but a network of practitioners with their own individual methods and eclectic traditions. By locality, early styles of karate can be generalized as Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te, named after the three cities in which they were formed. Each city (and teachers who lived in them) had particular kata, techniques, and principles that distinguished its local version of karate from the others. Over time, this art came to be called karate-jutsu (Chinese-hand fighting art).
Around the 1820's, Sokon Matsumura taught a synthesis of te (Shuri-te and Tomari-te) and "Shaolin" (Chinese 少林) style kung fu. It became the style "Shorin-Ryu" ("Little Pine Forest"). It is important to note that styles per se did not really exist before the 20th century, rather, karate was known by the local practitioners' particular flavor. Matsumura taught his karate to Anko Itosu, among others.
Itosu adapted two forms he learned from Matsumara, kusanku (Korean: kong sang koon) and chiang nan (Korean: jae nam), creating and introducing the Pinan forms ("Heian" in Japanese, "Pyung Ahn" in Korean) as learning steps for students. In 1901 he was instrumental in getting karate introduced into Okinawa's public schools. These forms were taught to children at the elementary-school level. Itosu is also credited with taking the large Naihanchi form (tekki in Japan) and breaking it into the three well-known modern forms Naihanchi Shodan, Naihanchi Nidan and Naihanchi Sandan.
Itosu's influence in Karate is very broad. The forms he created for underbelt instruction are common across nearly all forms of Karate. His students included some of the most well-known Karate names, including Gichin Funakoshi, Kenwa Mabuni, and Motobu Choki. He is sometimes known as the "Grandfather of Modern Karate."
Characteristics
Okinawan Karate shows the distinctive emphasis on forms training that characterizes Karate as a whole; also the method of twisting the hips to generate power and tensing the body at the moment of impact to focus power. The stances in Okinawan styles are often higher than seen in Japanese styles of Karate, and somewhat looser. The Okinawan practitioner will often rise while stepping, and then settle into stance; the knees retain some flex or bounce when in stance.
Karate in Japan
History
Gichin Funakoshi was a student of Anko Itosu and Yasutsune Azato. Funakoshi is generally credited with having introduced and popularized karate on the main islands of Japan. He brought Itosu's Pinan kata to Japan (as did other of Itosu's students, such as Mabuni Kenwa, founder of shito-ryu karate). In some circles, Funakoshi is referred to as the "Father of Modern Karate." This is accurate from the perspective that he worked specifically to introduce modernizations into karate. However, there were many other Okinawan karate men living and teaching in Japan during this time period. Funakoshi's peers included such notable figures as Kenwa Mabuni, Miyagi Chojun, Choshin Chibana, Motobu Choki, Kyan Chotoku, Kentsu Yabu and several others.
Funakoshi was responsible for changing the kanji used for writing the name of the art around 1933, following Japan's annexation of much of China in the period 1931-3.
- from: 唐手, pronounced “karate”, “Chinese hand” or “Tang fist”
- to: 空手, also pronounced “karate”, “Empty hand”
He did this to get karate accepted by the Japanese budo organisation Dai Nippon Butokukai. Like most martial arts practiced in Japan, karate made its transition from -jutsu to -do around the beginning of the 20th century. The "do" in "karate-do", sets it apart from karate "jutsu", much as aikido is distinguished from aikijutsu, judo from jujutsu and so on. The name change also served to familiarize a foreign tradition during a time of fervent Japanese nationalism. Japan was occupying China at the time, and Funakoshi knew that the art of Tang/China hand would not be accepted; thus the change to 'way of the empty hand.' The "do" suffix implies that karatedo is a path to self knowledge, not just a study of the technical aspects of fighting. The significance of "emptiness" within the "kara" portion of the name is also a probable reference to the concept of void, as it is found in Taoism and Zen practices. For example, mushin (literally, "no mind") is a concept referenced by many karate exponents of this time period. There is a very famous piece of philosophy that was devised by Funakoshi: "Hatsuun Jindo" meaning "parting the clouds as I seek the way". This decision was confirmed at the so-called "Meeting of the Masters" in October of 1936, which included Chojun Miyagi, Chomo Hanashiro, Kentsu Yabu, Chotoku Kyan, Genwa Nakasone, Choshin Chibana, Choryo Maeshiro and Shinpan Shiroma. After this 1933-1936 period, the word pronounced “karate” is almost universally translated as “empty hand” rather than “Chinese hand” (except see the discussion of Tang Soo Do below).
In addition to changing the way the name of the art was written, Funakoshi also changed the names of many of the forms (kata). The 5 Itosu Pinan forms became known as Heian; the 3 Naihanchi forms became known as Tekki; Seisan as Hangetsu; Chinto as Gankaku; Wanshu as Empi; etc. These were mostly just name changes, rather than changes to the content of the forms; the changes may have been designed to make the art sound more Japanese, less "foreign". Funakoshi had trained in both of the popular styles of Okinawan karate of the time, Shorin-ryu (“Shorin” from “Shaolin”) and Shorei-ryu. In Japan he was influenced by kendo, incorporating some ideas about distancing and timing into his style. He always referred to what he taught as simply "karate"; however, in 1936 he built the Shotokan dojo in Tokyo, and the school or style he left behind is usually called Shotokan.
The modernization and systemization of karate in Japan also included the adoption of the ubiquitous white uniform which consisted of the kimono and the dogi or keikogi - mostly called just gi (pronounced 'gey' like 'key') - and colored belt ranks. Both of these innovations were originated and popularized by Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo, one of the men Funakoshi consulted in his efforts to 'modernize' karate. Ranking systems and their values differ greatly from organization to organization, which sometimes leads to confusion when trying to determine a relative standard for karate training and credibility. Photos of early Okinawan practitioners show the masters in the street clothes of the day, or sometimes in briefs. A student trained under a teacher for years, without any sort of tangible advancement.
As it was adopted into modern Japanese culture, karate was imbued with some elements of the native gendai budo traditions. Classes often begin and end with brief periods of sitting in seiza and practising mokuso (meditation). Also, the repetition of precise, dynamic movements, coupled with synchronized breathing as in forms (kata), is considered by some to be consistent with Zen meditation in its aims to maximize a student's composure, awareness, and physical presence (speed and power), while under stress. It is often referred to as a form of "moving Zen." Karate teachers vary widely in the way they acknowledge - if at all - the Zen influence in karate-do. However, Zen does offer an avenue for self reflection, which is useful for keeping learners balanced as they learn an art which is, at its core, concerned with the study of violence.
Karate was introduced into Japanese high schools before World War II, as it had been to Okinawan schools at the beginning of the century. It was seen as an asset for building strong, able young men who would be serving their country soon. Many universities initiated karate club programs, which bred a notoriously violent and competitive setting. In such clubs, seniors brutalized the junior students, in some cases inflicted vicious beatings as a final 'rite' for those who chose to leave. Many of the distinguishing traits of "traditional" karate thought by Westerners to be "traditional" originate from these clubs. The much misused catch-phrase of "Osu!" used in many dojos came directly from the club at Takushoku University as a product of Japanese military and youth culture. The word has no meaning or significance within the Japanese language itself, but in Western dojo it has the meaning of a respectful greeting or reply. It has no significance within karate in general
Within Japanese karate there are presently a multitude of different styles or schools. These include:Shobayashi, Koei-Kan, Kobayashi-ryu, Matsubayashi-ryu, Matsumura Seito, Matsumura Motobu, Chito-ryu, Shindo Jinen Ryu, Shorinjiryu, Shorei-ryu, Shotokan, Shotokai, Shukokai ("Way for all"), Goju-ryu ("hard-soft way"), Kyokushin ("ultimate truth") and Kansuiryu. Other mainstream styles include Seido, Wado-ryu ("way of harmony"), Uechi Ryu, Shito-ryu, Shudokan, Bushido Goju-Ryu, Genseiryu and Isshin-ryu (there are at least 3 different styles of isshinryu). Some organizations offer hybrids of karate styles such as the JIKC.
Styles like Shotokan, Goju-ryu, Wado-ryu, Shito-ryu, Kushin-ryu, and Shindo Jinen Ryu are labelled as 'traditional' because they were founded during the early part of the 20th century. Full contact karate includes Kyokushin-kaikan which was founded by Masutatsu Oyama and other offshoots of Kyokushin, so-called because emphasis in matches is placed on the amount of damage done rather than the quality of technique displayed (although this is also important). Most full contact karate styles or organizations have developed from Kyokushin karate. Kansuiryu is a full contact karate style which has developed independently of Kyokushin, while having a number of similarities.
Karate Style-lines with Okinawa extraction (1372):
Image:Karate Style-lines with Okinawa extraction.jpg
New Karate-Styles with Japanese extraction:
Gosoku-Ryu Koeikan-Ryu Nihon Kempo-Ryu
Mushindo-Ryu Kushin-Ryu Shorinji-Kempo-Ryu(485) Shudukan-Ryu Kan-Zen-Ryu Washi-Shin-Ryu
Kosho-Kempo-Ryu Kinto-Ryu Yamane-Ryu
Kan-Ryu(1903)
Shorinji Tetsu Kempo Kanda-ha Kamishin Ryu
New Karate-Styles with European extraction:
Fudokan-Ryu
Shurei-Ryu(1989)
Characteristics
There is great variance in the outer forms and principles among styles. For example, Shotokan karate is characterised by deep, long stances and rigid, powerful movements. The Shotokan stylist typically is far more rigid in his stance than the Okinawan stylist. At the other end of the spectrum, Wado Ryu prefers quick and subtle body movements (known as 'tai sabaki', or “body positioning”, a concept common to Japanese fencing and Jujutsu) to evade attacks and provide swift counter attacks. Karate is meant to be a a physical representation of certain principles or techniques found to be useful in fighting. Although the representations can differ from style to style, the concepts themselves are intended to remain universal. Though execution of technique can vary widely among the different Japanese “ryu’s”, and the Japanese schools as a group differ in execution from the Okinawan styles, still they are all considered to fall under the Karate banner.
Karate in Korea
History
Japan annexed Korea in 1910, and occupied Korea until 1945. This was a brutal period, which included slave labor for the Korean population, and complete suppression of Korean culture, including indigenous Korean martial arts like Taekyon and Soo Bahk. Some Koreans were able to travel to Japan for their education.
In 1926, a 19-year-old Korean named Lee Won Kuk moved to Japan where he attended high school and Chuo University law school. He joined Japan's Karate-do headquarters, Song Do Kwan (Shotokan) where he studied with the father of modern karate, Gichin Funakoshi. One of his fellow students was Byung Jick Ro. Lee returned to Korea in 1944, and opened a school called “Chung Do Kwan”, a variation on “Shotokan”. He called the style he taught “Tang Soo Do”. Tang Soo is the Korean pronunciation of the original Okinawan Karate characters:
- 唐手, pronounced “karate” in Okinawan, “tang soo” in Korean.
- 唐手道, Tang Soo Do
It has the exact same translation as the original Okinawan for Karate, "Chinese Hand" or "Chinese Fist" or "T'ang Fist". Thus Tang Soo Do was "the way of the Chinese hand” or “the way of the Tang fist". Lee was certainly teaching the Karate he had learned in Japan from Gichin Funakoshi, Shotokan Karate. However, the Japanese name would certainly not be welcome in post-occupation Korea. The more neutral, older name was more palatable. After Korean independence in 1945, Lee was suspected of being a Japanese sympathizer, and had to shut down his school. He reopened the Chung Do Kwan in April of 1946.
Another Korean with a Shotokan background was Hwang Kee. Kee was born in 1914. He graduated school in 1935, and went to Manchuria where he worked on the railroad. He is thought to have trained with a Chinese martial arts master while there, perhaps studying Tae Geuk Kwon. By 1939 Kee was back in Seoul, working at the Cho Sun Railway Bureau. This job was evidently not demanding; the building where he worked had a library, and Kee reports that he spent much of his time reading. Among the books in that library, there was something on Okinawan Karate, probably Gichin Funakoshi's first book "Ryukyu kempo karate", which had been published in 1922. Kee opened his school, the Moo-duk-kwan, in 1945 after the end of the Japanese occupation.
He was not at first a success; his first two groups of students all eventually quit. In 1946 he met Lee Won Kuk of the Chung Do Kwan, and spent some time at that school. Whether Kee was a student there or a guest martial artist in residence, this would have been an opportunity to cement his knowledge of the Shotokan forms, previously obtained only from books. In 1947 Hwang Kee opened his school, the Moo Duk Kwan. The style he taught was called Tang Soo Do (唐手道), the same name as that taught in Lee Won Kuk's Chung Do Kwan school. The forms in Kee's style were the recognizeable Itosu Okinawan forms of Shorin-ryu / Shorei-ryu: the 5 PyongAhns (Pinans, now known in Japan as Heian), the 3 Naihanchis (now known in Japan as Tekki), the Kee Cho's (or kijo; known in Okinawa as Kihon or taikyokyu), Bassai, Lohi (Rohai) etc. Kee was certainly teaching Shotokan Karate; or at the least a style with a very strong Shotokan component. His advanced forms were not all Shotokan; they included some recognizeably Chinese material in T'aigukkwon (Tae Geuk Kwon? Taijiquan?) and Jangkwon.
In addition to Lee Won Kuk's Chung Do Kwan and Hwang Kee's Moo Duk Kwan, there were 3 other important "kwans" founded in Korea immediately after the end of the Japanese occupation. They were:
- Song Moo Kwan, founded in 1946 by Byung Jick Ro, who'd studied Shotokan karate with Lee Won Kuk at Gichin Funakoshi's school in Japan. He called his art Tang Soo Do.
- Yun Moo Kwan - founded in 1946 by Sang Sup Chun, who had studied judo and karate in Japan. The art was called Tang Soo Do.
- Chang Moo Kwan, founded in 1947 by Byung In Yoon who had studied Chinese kung fu (chu'an-fa, or 'fist law') in Manchuria and Shudokan karate with Kanken Toyama in Japan. Tang Soo Do.
There were several other later kwans. The important point is, the instructors all had backgrounds in Japanese Karate. At least nine Korean masters trained in Japan: Yong-Shul Choi, Geka Yung, Hyung-Ju Cho, Won-Kuk Lee, Pyong-Chik Ro, Hong-Hi Choi, Yong-i Choi, Ki-Whang Kim, and Pyung-In Yun. Yong-Shul Choi's trainging was in Daito-ryu Aikijutsu; the other eight Koreans trained in Karate-do in Japan. Additionally, Hwang Kee studied a Japanese book on Karate, and then spent time in Lee Won Kuk's school. Some of the Korean masters had studied other things as well (kung fu, Tae Geuk Kwon, judo); but what they had in common was Okinawan Karate, received from the Japanese.
In later years, especially after the end of the Korean War in 1953, it would become important to the Korean masters that they locate themselves within a distinctly Korean heritage. Most histories of Korean martial arts written by these masters (or their students) begin with a discussion of how the story of fighting arts goes back thousands of years, to the dawn of time; and perhaps continue with references to the "Soo Bahk" practiced by Silla noblemen around 500 AD. The histories get a little vague around the beginning of the 20th century, with a note about how the practitioners of traditional Korean martial arts took to the hills; and maybe a brief suggestion that a particular person was able to train in secret with an unknown (often unnamed) master of one of the old Korean arts. And then with the end of World War II. the histories kick into gear, with names and dates and places. For the modern historiographer, this is eye-catching. It sounds quite different from the short punchy narrative the Japanese Karate practitioners can belt out: Sokon Matsumura taught Anko Itosu who taught Gichin Funakoshi who taught Takeshi Shimoda. Really, the disruption to Korean culture caused by the Japanese occupation of 1910-1945 was profound. It seems quite likely that none of the founders of the new kwans had managed to train in secret with some hidden master of a traditional Korean art. It seems likely that for the most part the only martial arts training the kwan founders had prior to 1945 was in styles as taught in Japan. Hwang Kee and Byung In Yoon seem like exceptions, with their exposure to classical Chinese arts; just about everyone else's martial arts background came from Japan. From the internal evidence of the styles themselves (the forms they taught are recognizably from the Shorin-Ryu / Shorei-Ryu / Shotokan heritage), and from the circumstantial evidence of the Japanese occupation and the documented backgrounds of most of these founders, the conclusion seems inescapable: the Korean kwans established right after World War II were teaching Okinawan Karate, imported from Japan. And that is what they called it: 唐手道, Tang Soo Do.
The Korean War started in 1950, after the withdrawal of US forces. The cease-fire was signed on July 27, 1953. After the war, most martial arts schools in Korea were using the name karate (Tang Soo Do), were using Japanese terminology to describe techniques, and teaching Japanese/Okinawan forms. There was some political and popular pressure to oraganize, and adopt a recognizeably Korean name. In 1955, South Korea's President Syngman Rhee ordered the schools to unify. Under the auspices of a General Choi, the masters of the various schools met and agreed on new name for their style: Tae Kwon Do. This name was appealing for a few reasons, not least because it had no associations with Japan and instead served as a reminder of the indigenous Korean art Taekkyon. The notable holdout was Hwang Kee, and his Moo Duk Kwan. In 1959, the Korean Taekwondo Association (KTA) was formed, with General Choi as president. That year also marked the first international tour of Tae Kwon Do, by General Choi and 19 black belts.
Despite the new name, Tae kwon do was basically Japanese karate into the 1960s. This changed profoundly, staring in the 1960s, when the Korean masters took several deliberate steps to move Tae Kwon Do in the direction of being pure sport. This was partly an effort to remove the Korean national martial art from its Japanese karate connections. It also represented a reclaiming of the old Taekkyn athletic kicking style, and incorporating that into the Korean martial art. Emphasis shifted away from forms training, and very heavily towards sparring. The rules of sparring were changed, to remove punching from the game and reward high kicks and athleticism. As a sport, Tae Kwon Do was fast-paced and exciting to watch: it exploded in popularity and name recognition, and eventually was recognized an Olympic sport, which conveys great status and ensures participation from all over the world. It's easy to see the positive impact this could have on a war-torn country.
By the end of the 20th century, Tae Kwon Do had moved far from its roots and become something profoundly different from classical Okinawan Karate. Practitioners of each find legitimate grounds for criticizoing the other. A traditional Karate practitioner might say that Tae Kwon Do practitioners:
- don't have real power in their techniques, just fancy-looking kicks
- emphasize speed and scoring, rather than practicality
- don't teach themselves to use or defend against hand attacks to the head
- execute forms with little depth or understanding
- lose contact with the spiritual value of the martial arts.
A Tae Kwon Do stylist might say that classical Karate practitioners:
- use old-fashion kicks that are not useful in sparring: too slow, require too much movement
- are not accustomed to contact
- use clunky blocks, have no skill at avoidance
- use low, wide stances which lead to slow techniques and telegraphed attacks
- use few if any high kicks and little imagination.
They would both be right: probably each style has something it could learn from the other. Tae Kwon Do has moved pretty far from where it began; its organizers and practitioners would say emphatically that Tae Kwon Do is not Karate, and classical stylists would likely agree. On the other hand, Tae Kwon Do is closer to Karate than it is to any other art. The layman who just looks and compares it to Judo, Aikido, Thai Kickboxing etc, would have to say (from a distance) that Tae Kwon Do is more similar to Karate than it is different.
Hwang Kee remained a holdout from Tae Kwon Do. His Tang Soo Do survives as a separate style, very close to its roots in Okinawan Shorin-Ryu / Shurei-Ryu and Japanese Shotokan. In 1995, Hwang Kee's organization officially adopted the name Soo Bahk Do to reflect the Korean heritage, and became the Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation. Along with the name change came some stylistic changes, to the extent that today Tang Soo Do and Soo Bahk Do are no longer quite the same art, but are instead cousins.
Characteristics
The art practiced by Korean Tang Soo Do stylists is almost indistinguishable from Japanese Shotokan Karate, except for technical points apparent to advanced practioners. The stances are long and deep and rigid, like those of Shotokan and unlike those of Okinawa. The names for stances and techniques are Korean translations of the Japanese/Okinawan terms (front stance, high block, etc). The forms are mostly the same, though the Tang Soo Do practitioners will usually use either a Korean or Okinawan name for them, rather than the Japanese: thus “pinan” or “pyung-ahn” rather than “heian”. There seem to be slight differences in positioning between the two stules; for example the Shotokan stylist might have his lead shoulder and hip a little further forward in zenjutsu-dachi than a Tang Soo Do stylist would in chongul-jasse. The Tang Soo Do practitioner might be more likely to kick to the head. However, these things can vary by the body shape of the individual practitioner, so they are difficult to identify precisely. In any event, Japanese Shotokan and Korean Tang Soo Do clearly resemble each other far more closely than (say) Shotokan and Wado Ryu.
The Tae Kwon Do stylists have made a concerted effort to create a new style, differing from inherited Karate. They have created new forms, so as not to be attached to forms from Japanese Karate. Their stances are usually higher than those of their Tang Soo Do cousins and those from Japanese Karate; in this they hearken back to Japanese Karate. They do not show the same rigidity in stance that Tang Soo Do and Shotokan stylists do. But what really characterizes Tae Kwon Do is the kicking. The high, fast head-hunting kicks are a Tae Kwon Do staple; Japanese Karate had restricted kicks to waist level or below. The Tae Kwon Do practitioner also jumps around much more than other stylists do, throwing multiple kicks and jump kicks and spin kicks. This is perhaps emblematic of Tae Kwon Do’s assimilation of ancient Taekkyon. The emphasis on sparring over forms, and the constant jumping and spinning and kicking (usually with hands held low) make Tae Kwon Do look very different from Tang Soo Do and Japanese Karate and Okinawan Karate.
Karate in the United States
History
Choki Motobu studied karate with Anko Itosu, the influential creator of the Karate underbelt forms. He later studied with Tomari-te's Kosaku Matsumora; also Bushi Matsumura, Tokumini Pechin, Motobu Choyu and Sakuma Usumei - a fairly stunning list of some of the foremost Okinawan Karate masters. In 1921 at the age of 51, he moved from Okinawa to Osaka on the Japanese mainland. He stayed for 25 years: raised a family, developed his karate, published at least one book on karate, established the Daidokan dojo, and became "the most controversial karate teacher of his generation."
In 1921, at the age of five, James Masayoshi Mitose was sent from his birthplace in Hawaii to live with his family in Japan and go to school. Part of his edication was in karate: Mitose's uncle was Choki Motobu. Mitose returned to Hawaii in 1937, and in 1942 he set up a martial arts school. The style he taught was called Kosho-Ryu Kempo. The word "Kempo" (or "kenpo") is a Japanese form of "Ch'uan Fa", Chinese "kung fu". That word "kempo" is a word that Funakoshi himself used in the title of his first book, to name his art: "Ryukyu kempo karate" (1922). Supposedly Mitose's family in Japan lived near Mt. Akenkai Kosho-Shorei temple: thus Kosho-Ryu Kempo.
Every style of Kempo/Kenpo that exists in North America today can trace its lineage to this one man.
Which is perhaps unfortunate, because all this is actually more tenuous than described above. James Mitose remains a pretty mysterious and controversial figure. It seems clear from the evidence that he trained with either Motobu, or Mutsu Mizuho, or Higaonna Kamesuke, or Thomas Miyashiro; which means that he trained in Okinawan Karate: Shorin-Ryu or Shorei-Ryo or Shotokon. He certainly knew the Naihanchi form, which he taught in his school; he likely was also familiar with the Shotokan versions of Passai-sho, Kushanku-sho, Niseishi, Chinte and Gojushiho along and the 15 forms (kata) which Funakoshi introduced in his books. Wherever he learned it, in 1942 he was teaching a version of Okinawan/Japanese Karate. So why "Kosho-Ryu Kempo"? Why a name that played up the Chinese side of his martial arts heritage, emphsizing the Shaolin Temple etc? Why not "Japanese Karate" or "Shotokan" or "Shorei-ryu" or "Shorin-ryu" or some other name that we've seen? It's worth pointing out that Mitose was a Japanese-American emigrating to Hawaii in 1937. It may have been prudent to emphasize his art's Chinese roots, and downplay the Japanese roots.
During the next fifteen years of teaching, Mitose awarded black belts to six students: Giro Nakamura, Thomas Young, Paul Yamaguchi, Arthur Keawe, Edward Lowe and William K.S. Chow.
William Chow was born in 1914. His father Hoon Chow emmigrated from Shanghai, China just prior to the Chinese Boxer Rebellion. Hoon taught his son a Shaolin Ch'uan Fa (kung fu) of Southeastern China. William started studying with Mitose in 1940, at age 26. He is credited with modifying the Ch'uan Fa he learned, to make it more street-effective: shortening some of the circular motions, incorporating the linear movements and takedowns from karate, and placing emphasis on the availablity of vulberable targets on one's opponent. Much of this seems to presage the kinds of work Bruce Lee would do 20 years later, in developing his Jeet Kune Do. Chow might be considered one of the first eclectic American martial artists.
In 1949, Chow opened a school of his own at a local YMCA. He referred to his art as Kenpo Karate: the Hawaiian Kenpo system, Kara-Ho Kenpo. Was it still recognizably "Karate"? Probably. If Okinawan Karate was originally a mixture of indigenous Okinawan arts with Southern Chinese Ch'uan Fa, and Chow mixed in some more Chinese Ch'uan Fa, the result would likely be pretty similar to Okinawan Karate. One would want to know what forms Chow added to the art. Chow's most famous student was Ed Parker.
Parker had earned a black belt in judo at age 15 ; he began his training with Chow's brother Frank in 1947 at age 16, then with William. Parker trained with Chow, while squeezing in college at BYU and a stint in the Coast Guard. By 1954 Parker was teaching his kenpo karate in the wrestling room at BYU; by the following year he was teaching it for college credit to law enforcement officers there. His work with local police seems to have been somewhat collaborative: they would report back when something worked well (or didn't) in a real situation, and Parker would incorporate the feedback. In 1956 Parker opened his own school in Pasadena, California: American Kenpo Karate. As late as 1962, Parker's Book “Kenpo Karate” illustrates a style that is recognizable as Okinawan/Japanese Karate, with its hard linear strikes. Yet that art Parker taught evolved from there, incorporating many concepts from Chinese arts.
Parker's Kenpo was a huge success, involving huge numbers of students and spreading around the US and even the world. He is one of the most well-known Western names in the martial arts. Parker seemed to have a great gift for breaking martial arts concepts down into their components, and presenting them in such a way that they were easily grasped. He was not afraid to regroup, recombine or recast techniques and maneuvers: his was an urge to demystify, which is perhaps a thoroughly American urge. He was bold. He renamed techniques, translated maneuvers into catchy English phrases (Americanisms), created very short forms to teach exactly what he wanted to teach at each level, created his own long forms. His priority was emphatically not sport karate, though competition has its place in the American Kenpo Karate scheme. Parker's priority was effectiveness for defense: power, reaction time, speed, practicality.
Characteristics
Since Ed Parker’s death December 15, 1990, it is perhaps misleading to speak of one unified system of American Kenpo Karate. However, informally American Kenpo Karate is much less rigid in its stances than traditional Okinawan/Japanese Karate. It is oriented less toward the “one big hit” than to multiple strikes delivered in rapid-fire succession. Where the Japanese Karate practitioner might take one single hip rotation and concentrate all the power generated by it into a single powerful strike, the American Kenpo Karate practitioner might take that same hip rotation and “divide” it, allocating the power into perhaps 5 strikes which land in quick succession; theoretically each strike would be less powerful, but the multiple strikes would be more difficult to block or evade, so the damage done to an opponent would be equivalent or greater. The American Kenpo practitioner will typically use more circular techniques than the Japanese Karate practitioner would; the Kenpo person will use more unusual stances and hand postures than the Karate person. The American art also uses more throws and grappling techniques than Okinawan/Japanese Karate. There is perhaps less emphasis on spirituality or on the development of the whole person, than in the Korean Tang Soo Do or Japanese KarateDo; and the forms done by the American Kenpo practitioners might be less rich or complex than the Okinawan forms.
Karate internationally
Since the 1950s, Karate has exploded in popularity worldwide. By the end of the 20th century, Karate was one of the most pervasive cultural exports from the Far East to the Western world. It is impossible to enumerate the various schools and styles worldwide, that are identifiably "karate". Nowadays one can learn Shotokan in the UK, Kenpo in Sweden, or Tang Soo Do in Europe. It is no longer something practiced in just some small countries: Karate is universal. There were two main avenues for the propagation of Karate to the rest of the world:
- Allied servicemen, stationed in Japan and Okinawa and Korea after 1945, who studied Karate and returned to their home countries.
- The emigration of Karate masters from Japan or Okinawa or Korea to other parts of the world, where they taught their art.
Some examples:
- During World War II American serviceman Robert A. Trias was stationed in the British Solomon Islands and in Singapore. He was a boxer in the Navy; during his service he studied Chinese Hsing-Yi and Japanese Kempo. In 1946 he opened a karate school in Phoenix, Arizona, teaching Okinawan Shuri-Ryu.
- In the 1950s Jhoon Rhee studied Karate in Korea, getting his black belt from Lee Won Kuk’s school (which taught Shotokan as Tang Soo Do, 唐手道). In 1957 Rhee emigrated to the US and enrolled in San Marcos Southwest Texas State College. He conducted demonstrations and started a club teaching Korean Karate (or “Tangsudo”), later transferring to the University of Texas at Austin. In 1960, Tae Kwon Do’s General Choi visited Jhoon Rhee's club in San Texas, and convinced Rhee and the students to adopt the name Tae Kwon Do instead of Tang Soo Do (karate, 唐手道). In 1962, Rhee moved to Washington, D.C. and founded an organization, which became very large and influential. Rhee is often called the father of Tae Kwon Do in America.
- Ki Whang Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1920. As a teenager Kim when to Japan, where he enrolled at Nihon University in Japan and also studied Judo and Shotokan Karate. After graduation travelled to China, where he studied Kenpo and Shaolin Kung Fu. In 1964 Kim emigrated to the US and opened Karate schools in Silver Spring, Maryland.
- In 1960 a young American named Richard Kern went to Seoul, Korea with his family. While there he studied Tang Soo Do with Hwang Kee and Kee’s assistants Cho Hwan and Shim Sang Kyu. On his return to the US, Kern acted as an assistant instructor with Jhoon Rhee. After Rhee’s switch to Tae Kwon Do, Kern founded a martial arts school in Bethesda, Maryland. When Ki Whang Kim arrived in Maryland in 1964, Kern turned his students over to Kim and became an assistant instructor in the school. In the late 70s / early 80s Kern founded a martial arts school in Orange County, California as a Christian ministry of instruction in Tang Soo Do, with additional training in aikido techniques and iaido.
- One of Kern’s students was a young man named Dale Tompkins. Tompkins founded the Tang Soo Do Karate Association in Maryland in 1965, later Tompkins Karate Association, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2005 and counts itself as Maryland’s largest martial arts organization. TKA’s art is still recognizably Okinawan in origin, using the Itosu Pinan (Heian) and Naihanchi (Tekki) forms, along with other forms common to Shotokan such as Chinte, Bassai Dai and Bassai Sho, Kanku Dai and Kanku Sho, Jion, Empi, Ship Su (Jitte) and others.
There are certainly countless other examples to detail the expansion of Okinawan Karate around the world. Pretty much all of the classical Karate schools have been exported around the world, so that one may find a Goju Ryu school in London or a Kenpo school in Paris. The art has shown an enduring capacity to sustain interest, due in part to the union of intense physical training with cognitive material (forms sequence and interpretation) and philosophical concerns, along with perhaps an interest in Eastern mystique and discipline.
Another factor in the enduring appeal of Karate is film; kung fu movies have the propelled karate and other Asian martial arts into mass popularity. Some well-known stars who were Karate stylists are:
- Chuck Norris (Tang Soo Do)
- Cynthia Rothrock (Tang Soo Do)
- Jean Claude van Damme (a student of Claude Goetz, who was a student of Tsutomu Oshima, who was a student of Gichin Funakoshi)
- Jeff Speakman (American Kenpo)
An additional factor in the interest in Karate is the availability of international competitions. Tae Kwon Do is an Olympic sport (as is judo), with federations in each country to determine competition in the Olympics. This guarantees a worldwide level of interest and intensity of training. There are other bodies which sponsor competitions, including the U.S. Karate Association and Professional Karate Association
Japanese Karate does not have Olympic status, although it received more than 50% of the votes to become an official Olympic Sport; 75% of the votes are required. The World Karate Federation (WKF) is the recognized International Sport Federation by International Olympic Committee (IOC) for Karate and represents the major uniform rules among all styles. All the countries are organized through only one national karate federation, recognized by each official national sports governing body and National Olympic Committee. Each continent had one federation for continental karate activities. WKF is for world karate activities. There are many organizations on national and international Karate organization, regarding competitive activities and styles activities but only WKF is recognized by International Olympic Committee and only one in each country is linked with that official structure and for that, official recognition of the country sports governing body is required. Each country organizes their own karate championships following WKF rules.
Japanese Karate competition can be in three disciplines: sparring (kumite), forms (kata), or kobudo (weapons); competitors may enter either as individuals or as part of a team. In Forms, there are two contestants on each bout (Aka – red belt – and Ao – Blue belt), and final evaluation for the best performance between two contestants is done by a panel of Kata judges. In team Kata (3 members each team), and only at the final contest, they must perform also a bunkai (application) demonstration. Criteria for evaluation should be consulted on the official World Karate Federation website (www.wkf.net). In weapons, competitors generally compete individually. Like kata, final evaluation among contestants is done by a panel of judges. Traditional karate weapons, (e.g., bo, sai, tonfa, kama, nunchaku) are manipulated in a prearranged pattern similar to empty-hand kata. In traditional tournaments, the weapons kata is more functional and less flashy than at open tournaments. Traditional weapons kata are sometimes close to a hundred years old. The competitor must maintain control of his weapon. Dropping the weapon results in a major point deduction at minimum; disqualification is usually the result. In sparring there are two fighters paired in a timed fight, three minutes for men 18 years and older, two minutes for all other categories. Scores (Ippon, Nihon and Sanbon – 1, 2 and 3 points) are awarded by evaluation of the punch or kicking technique depending from target location and tactical situation (a simple punch to chest or face is ippon – 1 point – but if delivered after an allowed throwing technique is sanbon – 3 points – for instance). Download the rules of competition from the WKF web site, cited below. Speed, timing and tremendous accuracy are highly required for kumite competitors to score. Each punch or kick must be delivered with absolute control of the final contact regarding the target area. Matches are overseen by a panel of five officials: one arbitrator (kansa), one referee, and three judges. They award all points and penalties during the course of a bout.
Ethical behavior is very important in karate competitions and the required initial and final traditional bow in the forms and sparring disciplines is a living symbol that links the foundation of the past to the modernity of actual competition. Some traditionalists are concerned that the emphasis on competition is antithetical to the deeper values of the art. They feel that sport competition promotes a highly compromised interpretation of the art, including point fighting and demonstration of forms for entertainment value. Martial practicality is eschewed in favor of gymnastics. They feel this should not be regarded as emblematic of karate.
What Isn’t Karate?
The above discussion on history included arts as disparate as Tae Kwon Do and American Kenpo. If those can be lumped in as Karate, then where is the line drawn? What do we leave out? What is Karate -- and what isn’t? As the above history discussion should make clear, this is can be a difficult and sometimes inflammatory question, complicated by attitudes toward philosophy and competition, by questions of lineage and primacy, and perhaps above all by questions of nationalism and identity. There are at least three or four ways to look at the question:
- Etymologically, Karate is 空手, “empty hand”, and is thus Japanese.
- Etymologically, Karate is 唐手, “Chinese hand” or “Tang fist”, and is thus any art which can trace its descent from the Okinawan Karate styles.
- As with religion, the same way one might refrain from arguing whether any particular denomination “really” is or isn’t Christianity, Karate is any striking art which calls itself Karate.
- Using some sort of taxonomy of martial arts, Karate is a striking art that features punching, kicking and open hand strikes, that teaches the use of hips and stances to generate striking power, and the use explosive exhalations to focus power, and that emphasizes training in traditional Okinawan forms.
Karate is Japanese
Many people think this is so obvious it need not be said. Of course Karate is Japanese! How else? The modern word for Karate even comes from the Japanese! Sure, Karate has its roots in older Chinese martial arts by way of Okinawa; but do we say then that Karate is Chinese? Of course not. Think of language. “French” is a French language. French has its roots in Italy (Latin), but it is not an Italian language. So why doubt that karate is Japanese? Especially as the emphasis on the spiritual aspect of Karate is distinctive to Japanese culture. This view enjoys wide currency, particularly among Japanese Karateka. The post-WWII Korean martial arts masters endorsed this view, at least implicitly: after all, they avoided using the name “Karate” because of its associations with Japan, preferring instead terms like “Tang Soo Do” and “Hapkido”, and later “Tae Kwon Do”.
The problems with this view are, first, that it smacks of Japanese nationalism in a way that can be uncomfortable for practitioners of other styles which trace their roots to Okinawan Karate; and also that, in a certain fundamental way, it doesn’t make sense. The style of Sokon Matsumura (Shorin-Ryu), Anko Itosu, Kenwa Mabuni, and Motobu Choki was certainly Karate: it was what Gichin Funakoshi learned. Funakoshi was himself Okinawan! The style was certainly not Japanese -- unless one wants to take the position that Okinawa in the late 19th century was Japan, so anything Okinawan was Japanese. That position is contentious all by itself.
Likewise, the style that Won Kyuk Lee and Hwang Kee and Byung Jick Ro and Byung in Yoon founded in Korea was certainly Karate, though they called it Tang Soo Do (which itself is 唐手道, the Okinawan word for “karate-do”). All of them studied Shotokan before founding their Tang Soo Do schools; Lee and Ro studied in Japan with Funakoshi himself. To claim that their style is not Karate because it’s Korean looks like simple bigotry. Or else it is to say that the Korean masters may have been teaching Okinawan/Japanese Karate, but they weren’t teaching it well: karate taught in Korea after WWII is not “true” Karate. This seems obviously false, as the Korean schools have produced great martial artists, teachers of great influence and inspiration. Note that the Korean masters had reasons of nationalism and politics not to use the word “karate”; 60+ years later these reasons need not interfere with historical understanding. Jhoon Rhee used the term ‘Korean Karate’ when he started teaching in the states, before his visit from General Choi and conversion to Tae Kwon Do. The notion that Korean Tang Soo Do is not Karate makes no sense from a taxonomy perspective. Looking at the content of the style, the details of technique and performance, there is no sensible way that Shotokan and Gojo Ryu or Wado Ryu can be categorized as the same thing, yet Tang Soo Do is not. Tang Soo Do basically is Shotokan; it certainly has more in common with Shotokan than Wado Ryu does.
Karate is any striking art that calls itself Karate
This is fair, and it has appeal to any reasonable person who has ever avoided a discussion about religion at the dinner table. It has the advantage of not offending anybody. It has the disadvantage of failing the same “taxonomical” test as the ‘Karate is Japanese’ standard: namely that it classifies Tang Soo Do as not Karate, while it classifies American Kenpo as Karate. This is not to say that American Kenpo is not Karate; but rather that it doesn’t make sense to put American Kenpo in the same category with Shotokan and the Okinawan styles, and at the same time exclude Tang Soo Do.
It has a further disadvantage. The rise in popularity of Eastern martial arts has cr
Karate (band)Karate was a jazzy indie band, with some post-rock influences. The band was formed in Boston in 1993 by Geoff Farina, Eamonn Vitt and Gavin McCarthy. In 1995, Jeff Goddard joined the band as bass player, replacing Eamonn Vitt, who moved to second guitar. In 1997 Eamonn left the band to pursue a medicine career. Karate's final line-up consisted of Geoff Farina on guitar and vocals, Gavin McCarthy on drums and Jeff Goddard on bass. Their music was released on Southern Records.
In July, 2005, Karate disbanded after 12 years. Their final show was played in Rome, Italy on July 10th, 2005.
External links
- [http://www.southern.com/southern/band/KARAT Karate's page on Southern Records]
- [http://www.geofffarina.com/ Geoff Farina's personal Web page]
Category:Post-rock groups
Martial arts
A martial art, often referred to as a fighting system, is a system of codified practices and traditions of training for combat, usually without the use of guns and other modern weapons. Today, people study martial arts for various reasons including sport, fitness, self-defense, self-cultivation (meditation), mental discipline & character development, and self-confidence.
"Martial arts" was translated in 1920 in Takenobu's Japanese-English Dictionary from Japanese bu-gei (武芸) or bu-jutsu (武術): "the craft/accomplishment of military affairs". This definition is translated directly from the Chinese term, wushu (武術, 武术; pinyin: wǔ shù; Cantonese: mou seut; Vietnamese: Võ-Thuật), literally, "martial art", meaning all manner of Chinese martial arts.
This term is slightly anomalous in its English usage. Its strict meaning should be "arts for military use" (flying fighter aircraft, sniper training, and so forth) but in normal usage it is used to refer to formalized systems of training to fight without modern technology. It is nevertheless valuable to distinguish between fighting systems intended for soldiers in battle (even without modern technology) and fighting systems intended for sport or for civilian self-defense.
Overview
There are many styles and schools of martial arts; broadly speaking, they share a common goal: to physically defeat a person or defend oneself. Some Eastern martial arts have a tradition of being about more than simple fighting, which is perhaps why their practice has been seen as worth preserving in the face of their military obsolescence in modern technological culture. Certain martial arts, such as T'ai Chi Ch'uan, may also be practiced to maintain or improve mental or physical health.
What differentiates the martial arts from mere unarmed brawling is the organization of their techniques into a coherent system and the codification of effective teaching methods. One common training technique is to have a series of routines called forms (also called kata, poomse, ch'ůan t'ao, kuen, tao lu, hyung, sequencias, or tuls) which can serve as a dictionary of essential techniques to be memorized and drawn from at need. Martial arts are also characterized by the controlled, mindful application of force in ways selected for empirical effectiveness. In this sense, boxing, fencing, archery, and wrestling can also be considered martial arts.
Martial arts may focus on
- striking (e.g. Boxing, Karate, Southern Praying Mantis, Wing Chun, Krav Maga, Bando)
- kicking, (e.g. Kickboxing, Taekwondo, Savate, Capoeira, Lethwei)
- grappling and throwing (e.g. Wrestling, Jujutsu, Judo, Sambo, Naban, Aikido, Kampfringen), or
- weaponry (e.g. Iaido, Naginata-do, Bojutsu, Kendo, Fencing, Kali, Gatka, Banshay, Kalarippayattu, Kunst des Fechten).
Most martial arts include some study of all of these different styles and some explicitly attempt to be complete systems (Eskrima, many types of Jujutsu, many traditional Chinese martial arts).
Some martial arts, particularly the traditional Chinese arts, used to go beyond this to teach side disciplines such as bone-setting, qigong, acupuncture, acupressure (tui na), and other aspects of traditional Chinese medicine. This was a natural extension, as at an advanced level techniques can take advantage of a detailed knowledge of how the opponent's body works to drastically increase their effectiveness.
The martial arts, perhaps due to a half-century of dramatic portrayals in popular media, (particuarly in films starring the famous Martial arts stars such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li; see Orientalism), have been inextricably bound in the Western imagination to East Asian cultures and people. Martial arts are by no means unique to Asia, however. Humans around the world have always had to develop ways to defend themselves from attack, often without weapons. Not all martial arts were developed in Asia. Savate, for example, was developed as a form of kickboxing in France. Capoeira's athletic movements were developed in Brazil by slaves based on skills brought with them from Africa.
History
The history of martial arts is both long and universal. Martial arts likely existed in every culture, and at all classes and levels of society, from the family unit up to small communities, for instance, villages and even ethnic groups. One example is t'an t'ui, a northern Chinese kicking art, often said to be practiced among Chinese Muslims. Systems of fighting have likely been in development since learning became transferable among humans, along with the strategies of conflict and war. In some places, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, one can still see this plethora of village fighting systems.
Every martial arts system and every martial arts school has its own history. This generally falls into two categories: recent history and ancient history.
Recent history, in this context, is relatively verifiable: who did the teacher learn from? Where did the teacher study? What other arts has the teacher studied, and how has the teacher incorporated them into their teaching? Was the teacher given permission to teach by their teacher? What are the teacher's goals in teaching the class?
This last question deserves some explanation. Some classes are taught primarily to teach students to become effective competitors in tournaments. Some classes are taught to attempt to teach the students to defend themselves effectively against some class of anticipated situations. Some classes are taught to preserve an ancient tradition. The practical details of these distinct kinds of classes will be very different.
Ancient history, at least in the sense used here, is much more difficult. In fact, for most systems it is essentially a legend — in the sense that it is propagated by word-of-mouth among students in the absence of verifiable evidence. This is not to say that it is not also true! But the importance of such a history does not depend on its truth: the effect of such a legend on shaping the development of a martial art is probably much greater than the effect of events two hundred years ago (at least five generations of passing the art on from teacher to student). So an art that is believed to be an art of warriors will focus on battlefield effectiveness and weapon use against highly skilled opponents, while an art that is believed to be for self-defense will focus on reactions to surprise attack and multiple opponents.
The history of martial arts around the world is therefore quite complex; on the one hand, most groups of people have had to defend themselves and have developed effective fighting techniques, but on the other hand, most of those techniques have been rendered militarily obsolete over the centuries. Even at an individual, rural level, the threat to the safety of a village is now more likely to come from warriors armed with automatic rifles than from men with swords. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to preserve a martial art; doing so requires many years of teaching at the hands of a good teacher to pass on the art for a single generation. So it is relatively rare that a martial art would survive and become popular in today's culture, and each art that has done so has a unique history. Some generalities can be said, though, and the next few sections will attempt to discuss the overall rise to popularity of some martial arts.
The teaching of martial arts in Asia has historically followed the Confucian cultural tradition of teacher-disciple apprenticeship. Students are trained in a strictly hierarchical system by a master instructor: Sensei in Japanese ; in Chinese 老師, (Wade-Giles) Lao Shih, (Pinyin) lǎo shī (lit., old master); Cantonese Sifu; 師父 Mandarin (Wade-Giles) Shih fu, (Pinyin) Shī fù (lit., the master-father), 사범님 Sabeomnim (Korean). The instructor is expected to directly supervise their students' training, and the students are expected to memorize and recite as closely as possible the rules and basic training routines of the school.
Open speculation about training methods or the instructor's motives and personality is generally not tolerated in juniors, as they are not considered familiar enough with the basic requirements of their respective arts to make realistic distinctions. They are instead encouraged to repeatedly train applications of the forms and techniques that they've been shown in gradually more complex scenarios.
In this Confucian family-based hierarchy, those who enter instruction with the instructor before the student are considered older brothers and sisters; those after, younger brothers and sisters. The instructor's peers are considered aunts and uncles, etc. into other generations above and below. Such clearly delineated relationships, based on seniority, are designed to develop intangibles such as good character, patience and discipline in martial students. As a matter of safety for the instructors, the student body and the individual student, before they are shown anything beyond the most basic conditioning exercises, students learn their place in the school hierarchy. Students should learn how and why to clearly demonstrate respect for others and how to follow the directions of their instructors properly. The traditional schools are said by this reasoning to provide thereby a level playing field for all students, providing a relatively fixed framework for interaction with one's seniors, peers and juniors, so that everyone, not just the physically gifted, can have an opportunity to benefit from the training provided in a martial art school.
Some method of certification can be involved, where one's skills would be tested for mastery before being allowed to study further; in some systems, especially in China, there are no such certifications, only years of close personal practice and evaluation under a master, much like an apprenticeship, until the master deems one's skills satisfactory. This pedagogy, while still preserved and respected in many traditional styles, has weakened to varying degrees in others and is even actively rejected by some schools, especially in the West.
Martial arts with historical roots in Europe do not exist to the same extent as in Asia. Boxing as well as forms of wrestling have endured. European martial arts have mostly adapted to changing technology and are truer to the English meaning of that phrase, so that while their descendants still exist, martial arts are focused on things like flying helicopters and infantry tactics for riflemen. These are generally not referred to as martial arts.
Martial Arts existed in classical European civilization, most notably in Greece where sport was integral to the way of life. Boxing and Pankration (pan, meaning all, kratos, meaning power or strength) were represented in the Ancient Olympic Games. The Romans produced Gladiatorial combat as public spectacle based on a more martial sport.
Some traditional martial arts have been preserved in one form or another. For example, boxing, archery, and fencing were preserved by being made into sports; of course this has changed the practice significantly. Some historical fencing has survived, and some groups have attempted to reconstruct old European martial arts from a few surviving combat manuals. This includes such styles as sword and shield, two-handed swordfighting, jousting and other types of melee weapons combat.
Another aspect of the reconstruction effort involves more historically recent martial arts and combat sports, such as those practiced during the 1800s and 1900s. A partial list would include bare-knuckle boxing, Bartitsu, quarterstaff fencing according to late 1800s rules, etc.
Unarmed European martial arts that have survived in active form include English boxing, Olympic wrestling, and French savate. Some weapon systems have also survived as folk sports and as self defence methods, including stick-fighting systems such as the Juego del Palo style(s) of the Canary Islands.
Other martial arts were made into sports that we no longer recognize as combative, such as some kinds of gymnastics, where the pommel horse is called a horse because it simulates a horse; the art comes from the necessity of a cavalryman to be able to change positions and fight effectively from the back of a horse. More ancient origins exist for the shot put and the javelin throw, both weapons utilised extensively by the Romans.
While the native peoples of North America had their own martial training, these, like much of their culture, have been almost completely lost. However, the European colonists (and later, Asian immigrants) brought over their own martial arts such as boxing, fencing and wrestling.
The interest in Eastern Martial Arts dates back to the late 19th Century, as Americans became involved in China and Japan. This involvement was initially through trade, where the martial arts seen were recorded as eccentricities of strange lands. Relatively few Westerners actually practiced the arts, most seeing them as performances. This view held with many of the first Asians to demonstrate martial arts in America and Europe doing so as part of vaudeville shows.
As Western influence grew in the East a greater number of military personnel spent time in China, Japan and elsewhere protecting Western interests, and advising certain factions on military matters. Initially much of this advice was aimed at changing the Eastern way of fighting to a Western way of fighting, but gradually individual members of the western contingents began to see the value of Eastern martial arts and actually began training in them seriously. This training resulted in various techniques being incorporated into Western military training. This escalated to the extent that by the Second World War nearly all commandos received training in Japanese jujutsu.
After the War, with large numbers of servicemen stationed in Japan the adoption of techniques and the gradual transmission of entire systems of martial arts to the West started. It was in the 1950's however when this exportation of systems really began to gain momentum. Large groups of US Military personnel were taught Korean arts (Taekwondo) during the War with North Korea and many of these brought their training home and continued to practice and teach after their demobilisation. By the 1960s the Japanese arts like Karate and Judo had become very popular, the early 1970s saw martial arts in the movies and, due in part to Bruce Lee, the rise in popularity of Chinese styles.
The exportation saw an increase in the dilution of the arts with many of them being molded into competitive disciplines. Sport Karate for example became a major force internationally with professional fighters and big prizes, television coverage and sponsorship deals.
The later 1970s and 1980s saw a rise in interest in non-sport arts, especially those that provided weapons as well as empty hand techniques. This interest was fed by the media with magazines, books and movies embracing the supposed mysticism and alleged supernatural lethality of various arts (especially those claiming to be associated with ninjas and neo-ninjas). This in turn led to opportunistic teachers at one end of the spectrum exploiting the fashion by making many claims of the overwhelming superiority and rarity of their techniques to sell books, videos and certificates, yet providing little evidence of such superiority; to the other end of simpler black belt factory schools selling expensive long-term training contracts as well as a diverse array of uniforms and multicoloured belts to children of affluent suburban families.
Martial arts were unearthed and brought to America from Vietnam, Burma, the Philippines, Indonesia, South America, and almost every other corner of the Earth. Others were simply invented by the unscrupulous out of previously existing styles or out of whole cloth. Some gained a measure of popularity due to the novelty of their claims of effectiveness, in some cases justified. This in turn led to further exploration of disciplines from Korea, Japan and China for their historical and cultural value.
Martial arts internationally
Every village and tribe around the world had a few trained fighters who passed on their knowledge; however, it is difficult to pass on a fighting system, so almost all of these have been lost as their practical relevance has declined. However, a few have survived for one reason or another, and a very few of those have seen a recent boom in popularity, perhaps related to the world music phenomenon. Examples of this are Pehlwani(India)Capoeira and some related arts in Cuba, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago, which were preserved partly through their relationship with Candomblé, Santería, Vodun, and other syncretic religions. Of these, only Capoeira has risen to worldwide prominence.
The 2003 movie Whale Rider featured several scenes involving Mau rakau, a traditional martial art of the Maori people. It involves the use of the taiaha, a 2-handed fighting staff.
Martial arts also developed among military and police forces to be used as
- arrest and self-defense methods. One example is Krav Maga, a self-defense system developed by the armed forces of Israel. Another example is Kombato developed for the Brazilian armed forces.
- lethal tactical arts for use in close quarter combat warfare, i.e. Military Martial Arts e.g. UAC (British), LINE (USA), ACCS Advanced Commando Combat System
Comparisons between martial arts
It is common to compare the goals, teaching methods and the techniques of different fighting systems in order to understand their similarities and differences. Such comparisons tend to be controversial when there is a lack of format in which a direct and objective comparison is possible. In addition to physical combat, many martial arts have spiritual or philosophical aspirations, such as the various Chinese, Japanese and Korean martial arts that emphasise traditional Confucian teaching methods. Some systems are sports oriented, such as Judo, Tae Kwon Do and Wushu, and have their own distinct set of rules which are incompatible with other systems. Some are described as "reality based", with a focus on self-defense, including Jeet Kune Do, Defendo, Krav Maga, Kombato, and Angeles Eskrima. Because different martial arts often have differing goals, it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of various martial arts based on one general standard or method; it is arguably impossible to directly compare the arts with fundamentally different domains of practice, such as Kendo against Tae Kwon Do.
However, many martial arts claim to be effective fighting disciplines within a particular context, such as unarmed combat between two fighters, self-defense against multiple attackers, use of specific weapons, escaping from those seeking to harm or capture the practitioner, and so on. While some of these claims are sometimes difficult to assess, an objective evaluation of practioners may be achieved within context. For instance, regardless of background, those sharing a common interest in hand-to-hand fighting may engage in sparring using a mutually accepted set of rules in order to determine who is the better fighter at that time. An example of a martial arts tournament that attempted to answer the question of "which fighting system is the best" using as few rules as possible was the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the United States in the early 1990's. Organizations such as the UFC have since evolved due to the rise of mixed martial arts.
Mixed martial arts or MMA is an eclectic, modern form of martial arts cross-training. Followers of this practice believe that no traditional fighting system is strictly better than all others, and that by being competent and well-trained in multiple areas, one can become a better fighter overall. Due to this movement, tournaments such as the UFC and Pride Fighting Championships have emphasized more on competition between individuals and less on competition between specific systems, as virtually all participants in these events have become knowledgable in multiple systems. While MMA is currently seen largely as a form of sport competition with organization-specific rules, it can also be considered a school of thought in which the practioner may incorporate any useful martial art technique into their personal training. Many competitive MMA fighters manage to incorporate traditional techniques from boxing, Muay Thai, jujutsu, wrestling and so on, while using a central strategy of fighting such as "sprawl-and-brawl" or "ground-and-pound", among others, which may be seen as complex, modern fighting styles.
Classification
Numerous criteria have been devised to classify different fighting systems, though many of these criteria are either controversial or overly generalized. For example, while some Chinese systems have traditionally been classified as either "internal" or "external", these notions require concepts such Qi which are not necessarily applicable to all systems internationally. Another category is the notion of "hard" versus "soft", which asks whether a system relies on using force and power to defeat the opponent or, instead, on avoiding attacks and applying leverage: the Shotokan school of karate may be perceived as using a "harder" approach than judo does. However, many systems have both hard and soft aspects and do not always fit into either category; a judo practioner still uses full physical strength when throwing opponents in competition. Another set of similar concepts is "striking" versus "grappling": does the art focus on punching and kicking, as in boxing and Taekwondo, or on clinching and holding, as in wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu? While some systems may consist of mostly striking or mostly grappling, various arts such as Sambo or San Shou, among many others, often utilize both areas in conjunction. Muay Thai, for example, is studied primarily as a striking art, yet it makes frequent use of the grappling technique known as the Muay Thai clinch.
Technical aspects
Fighting is a highly complex discipline. In the past, soldiers such as Mongolian cavalrymen, Manchu bannermen, European knights and Japanese samurai usually spent lifetimes studying all relevant aspects of unarmed fighting and fighting with basic weapons, honed by real, close-quarters combat resulting in fatalities. While soldiers today are still trained in these areas, due to the characteristics of modern warfare, unarmed fighting is often practiced now by civilians in sport-like and less lethal fashions. Practioners today generally study a limited number of fighting aspects within specific martial art systems. Nonetheless, many practitioners would like to have some skill in more than one context, and most arts include some study of many aspects. In certain systems, in-depth study of certain aspects is not begun until a practitioner has been training for many years.
Some aspects of fighting include:
- Long-range unarmed fighting. In this situation, things happen relatively slowly (hundreds of milliseconds), giving participants time to react to visual stimuli. This allows powerful strikes as well as subtle feints to be performed.
- Short-range unarmed fighting. In this situation reaction time is such an important factor that visual stimuli are not very useful, and practitioners must learn to react to tactile stimuli. Strikes are still possible but reactions must become reflexes, making feints more difficult.
- Grappling. In this situation participants are wrestling each other attempting to get the other in a submission or weak spot for striking. Leverage and physical strength become very important. If not forbidden by rules, biting, pinching and spitting can be very effective at this range.
- Armed fighting. Fighting with weapons can be rather different from unarmed fighting, both because strikes can become much more destructive and because weapons can drastically increase the reach of a practitioner. Of course, each weapon and each range requires its own techniques, but a cleverly designed teaching system can take advantage of similarities to simplify the study.
- The study of pressure points can be used to improve the effectiveness of traditional techniques, and they also add a whole range of new options to the martial artist. For example, instead of just striking the body, knowledge of pressure points means that the target point can be chosen for much greater effect.
- Moral, emotional, and physical development. The dedication and practice required to acquire skill in a martial art can be very beneficial to the character of a practitioner. Some martial arts systems focus on these effects, and emphasize techniques and training that encourage this development.
- Fighting against a single opponent. Both traditional duels and most modern sparring matches pit one expert fighter against another, with some set of rules, and after a battle, declare a victor. This has a number of different effects; for example, footwork can be simplified as a practitioner rarely needs to turn quickly. On the other hand, one can expect one's opponent to be about as highly skilled as oneself.
- Fighting against multiple opponents. Some martial arts systems focus on being able to deal with multiple opponents simultaneously. In order for this to be possible, normally the opponents must be assumed to have less skill than the practitioner. This has technical effects as well, including tight, careful footwork to allow rapid turning, as well as rapid disabling of opponents in order to move on.
- Fighting without injuring the opponent. Many systems are suggested for police or security work; as such, there is a certain amount of effort devoted to minimizing the damage a practitioner inflicts on an opponent. Disarming, locking and controlling techniques are emphasized in this situation over the simpler striking techniques which disable or kill.
- Avoidance of fighting. Some martial arts systems are strongly oriented towards practical self-defense, and so some emphasis is placed on defusing or avoiding violent situations rather than fighting.
Testing and Competition
In general, testing or evaluation in some form is important to martial art practioners of many disciplines who wish to determine their own level of skill in specific contexts. Students within individual martial art systems often undergo periodic testing and grading by their own teacher in order to advance to a higher level of recognized achievement, such as a different belt color or title. The type of testing used varies from system to system but may include forms or sparring. Sparring can generally be divided into light- or medium-contact, and full-contact variants. Both forms and sparring are commonly used in martial art exhibitions and tournaments. Some competitions pit practitioners of different disciplines against each other using a common set of rules.
Forms
Forms, known as kata in various Japanese arts and hyung or poomse in various Korean arts, involve the performance and interpretation of routines, either traditional or recently invented, both unarmed and armed. These may be performed solo or with more than one practioner. By definition, forms are distinguished from sparring in that they involve mostly pre-determined routines and patterns which may artistically resemble combat but are inherently non-combative or co-operative. Jet Li is a well-known practioner who has been successful in form-based wushu tournaments. In open competitions, the routines may be evaluated by a panel of master-level judges from more than one martial art background.
Light and medium-contact sparring
Sparring in some martial arts may involve a point-based system of light to medium-contact sparring in a marked-off area where both competitors are protected by foam padding; certain targets are prohibited, such as face and groin, and certain techniques may be also prohibited. Points are awarded to competitors on the solid landing of one technique. Again, master-level judges start and stop the match, award points, and resolve disputes. After a set number of points are scored or when the time set for the match expires (for example, three minutes or five points), and elimination matches occur until there is only one winner. These matches may also be sorted by gender, weight class, level of expertise and even age. Some critics of these point sparring competition note that this type of training teaches students to pull their punches or not throw combination attacks as the fighting is frequently stopped by judges to award points or declare fouls. This disruption alters the flow of actual combat and enforces what some see are the bad habits of not following through on attacks, lowering your guard, and relying on tactics that may score points but lack the power to disable or hurt an actual attacker.
Full-contact fighting
"Full-contact" sparring or fighting is often pursued by martial art practioners who are interested in realistic unarmed combat. The phrase may refer to several aspects which differentiate it from light and medium-contact sessions. It may imply a general lack of protective gear. For example, Kyokushin is a variant of karate that requires advanced practioners to engage in sparring while wearing no more than a groin guard for protection. It may refer to a full variety of permitted attacks and contact zones on the body, excluding a small and limited number of forbidden techniques such as biting, groin striking or attacking the eyes, bestowing significant fighting freedom upon the competitors. The phrase could also refer to the use of full force in order to disable the opponent, either by knock out or direct submission of defeat. There is often a lower emphasis on scoring points, assuming a point system exists; points, judges and time limits were not used in the early UFC events, whose outcomes were determined only by the inability to continue. Due to these factors, full-contact matches tend to be more aggressive in character. Vale tudo, meaning anything goes in Portuguese, is a definite form of full-contact fighting. Nearly all MMA events, including UFC, PRIDE, Pancrase and Shooto, use full-contact rules, although recently the use of small protective gloves and other safety rules have been added. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo do not allow striking but are full-contact in the sense that full force is applied during grappling and submissions. Some versions of Sambo are full-contact.
Some practioners believe that physically defeating the enemy, as opposed to winning a sport match by rules, is the only important matter in hand-to-hand combat. Some of them treat martial arts only as matters of self-defense or life-and-death situations. For instance, one practioner said "Forget about winning and losing [...] let him fracture your bones and you take his life." As such, these people may prefer not to participate in most types of rule-based martial art competition (even one such as vale tudo), electing instead to study fighting techniques with little or no regard to competitive rules or, perhaps, ethical concerns and the law (the techniques practiced may include attacking vulnerable spots such as the groin or the eyes). Nonetheless, others maintain that, given proper precautions such as a referee and a ring doctor, full-contact matches with basic rules could serve as a useful gauge of one's overall fighting ability, encompassing broad categories including striking, grappling and finishing holds.
Martial arts and self defense
:Main article Self-defense
Self-defense strategies formed the basis of numerous martial arts, especially East Asian martial arts, which usually provide self-defense classes as part of their curricula.
Many schools of self-defense also teach strategies aimed at avoiding or defusing physical confrontations. The curriculum for such courses commonly teach positioning strategies and strengthening the defender's self-confidence, which is assumed to discourage some physical attacks.
Martial arts practice, with or without actual emphasis in self-defense specific techniques, is a recognized way to both teach positioning strategy and to boost self-confidence thus, subjectively, martial arts in general could be regarded, to some extent, as a kind of self-defense system.
Martial arts as sport
On the subject of competition, martial artists vary wildly. Practioners in some arts such as Boxing, Taekwondo, Judo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu often train for sport matches in those arts, whereas those in other arts such as Aikido and Krav Maga generally spurn such competitions. Some schools believe that competition breeds better and more efficient practitioners, and gives a sense of good sportsmanship. Others believe that the rules under which competition takes place have removed the combat effectiveness of martial arts or encourage a kind of practice which focuses on winning trophies rather than the more traditional focus of combat effectiveness, or in East Asian cultures, of developing the Confucian person, which eschews showing off (see Confucius, also renaissance man.)
Some martials artists, including Forrest Morgan, have criticized sports derivatives for being unrealistic and distracting warriors from looking at the whole art - instead concentrating only on techniques allowed in their competitions.
As part of the response to sport martial arts, new forms of competition are being held such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the U.S. or Pancrase in Japan which are also known as mixed martial arts or MMA events. While the financial success or failure of these events is not well-known, it is interesting to note that certain systems do indeed tend to dominate these full contact or freestyle competitions. Supporters of those styles which win time and again make the statement that this proves the real-world self defense effectiveness of their art.
Martial arts and dance
As mentioned above, some martial arts in various cultures can be performed in dance-like settings, either for evoking fiercefulness/pumping adrenaline in preparation of battle, or rather showing off skill in a more stylised manner, or both.
Examples of such war dances include the gymnopaidiai from ancient Sparta, New-Zealand's Haka, the Sabre Dance depicted in Khachaturian's ballet Gayane, the Maasai "jumping" dance, Brunei's Aduk-Aduk, Qatar's Ayyalah, the Indian Kalarippayattu, Pakistani/Afghan Khattak Dance, Brazil's Capoeira, Scotland's Dannsa Biodag ... (not to forget the spoofing weasel war dance).
Often there appears some tension between martial arts (considered macho) and dancing (considered more effeminate): e.g. Plato's The Laws devotes some attention to this topic. The solution given to this by the Maasai can be considered amongst the most original: they perform their "jumping" martial dance in women's attire, because, as they say, women are prettier than men.
Ballet, as it originated at the court of Louis XIV also goes back to a sort of ambiguity between being the strongest and being the most refined: worldly power was granted by the king to his noblemen, according to their ability to perform refined "ballet" dancing.
In addition, in theatre and film, the fight scene is essentially a dance meant to depict hand to hand combat.
Notable styles of martial arts
- Aikijujutsu is a Japanese martial art which dates back to the samurai. It has been suggested that Aikido evolved from this style.
- Aikido is a Japanese martial art which evolved from Jujutsu and Kenjutsu.
- Baguazhang is an internal Chinese martial art that trains in distinctive circular footwork patterns and is also known for training with unusually large weapons at advanced levels in some schools.
- Bando is the official Burmese Fighting System that includes techniques of throws, holds, locks, chokes, foot-sweeps, etc. Several Bando sub-systems include Lethwei, Naban and Banshay which includes stick fighting, sword fighting, knife fighting, spear fighting, etc.
- Capoeira is a survival-oriented dance-fight-game originally developed in the 16th century by Angolan slaves in Brazil. It emphasizes kicks, dodging, and mental training including trickery, sense of humor, and understanding of rhythm.
- Eskrima or Pekiti Tirsia Kali highly combative Filipino Martial Art.
- Fencing (the European Olympic style), exists now almost entirely as a sport.
- Hapkido is a Korean martial art with kicks, punches, joint manipulation, locks, and throws that is said to have developed from Aikijutsu. Many of its techniques are similar to those of Aikido.
- Jeet Kune Do, meaning 'Way of the intercepting fist', was developed by Bruce Lee, one of the most famous martial artists of the 20th century.
- Judo means gentle way, ('Do' means 'Way of'), a Japanese martial art and sport that consists in the aggregation of techniques from many jujutsu schools. Striking (atemi-waza) and some dangerous throws are forbidden in competitions but still present in trainning and sparring.
- Jujutsu is a general Japanese term encompassing mostly unarmed martial arts with strikes, throws, grappling and locks and those using small weapons. It´s a commom misconception to think of jujutsu as a singular fighting style (this same misconception occurs with the chinese term Kung Fu and Wushu).
- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a much modified version of some original Japanese jujutsu schools, based on and closely related to Judo but with even greater emphasis on ground fighting. Sometimes referred to as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu after its founders.
- Kalarippayattu a martial art from Kerala in South India. It has a strong association with Ayurveda and healing systems.
- Karate simply means 'Empty hand' (originally 'Chinese hand'), and is perhaps the most popular martial art in Japan and the West. It is Okinawan in origin and has several sub styles including Shotokan, Shotokai and Wado Ryu.
- Isshin-ryu, meaning "One Heart Way", is a descendent of Karate created by Master Tatsuo Shimabuku in 1954, on the island of Okinawa, Japan. It's forms were taken from Shirin-ryu and Gojo-ryu, however, most of the forms were "simplified" by showing the punches, kicks, strikes, and blocks in plain view. The style stands out because of it's vertical fist punch (much like a boxer's jab) and it's forearm blocking, which utilizes the large area of the forearm instead of the muscled sides.
- Kendo is the Japanese art of sword fighting, using bamboo swords (shinai) and protective clothing.
- Kuk Sool Won is a systematic study of all of the traditional fighting systems which together comprise the martial arts history of the Korean Peninusla.
- Kung Fu, or more precisely "wushu", refers to the many diverse Chinese martial arts, some of which include: Shaolin, Shuai Chiao, Wing Chun, Drunken boxing, Taijiquan, Xingyiquan, Yiquan, Lau Gar, Hung Gar and many more. The Chinese words kung fu can be used to describe one's skill in any discipline, not just martial arts.
- Krav Maga is a modern martial art, derived from the distinctive fighting style of the Israeli Haganah and the modern day IDF. The style is purely focused on practical combat skills and eschews competitions beyond occasional 'fight club' nights, wherein practitioners can free-form spar with protective padding.
- Mixed martial arts or MMA, a modern martial art which attempts to combine practical aspects of many (or all) useful martial arts, including Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, and wrestling, among others. The emphasis is on actual combat and freestyle competition with few rules, as opposed to theoretical philosophy. Well-known MMA organizations include PRIDE and UFC. By definition, any combinational or open-ended style of fighting may be considered a form of MMA.
- Muay Thai, a Thai martial art, from which most styles now known as kickboxing descend.
- Ninjutsu is a Japanese style said to have originally been practiced by Ninja, this martial art combines traditional attacks with scout style survival and elusive moves.
- Silat is an art from the Malay World and has regional variations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, among others.
- Systema is an art of Russian origin. This style employs no pre-defined moves, katas, rankings, or sport application. Rather, Systema works from the basis of the breathing, movement, form (not to be confused with "forms"), and lastly technique. Practicing technique in Systema is more a means for objective exploration by the practitioners rather than a procedural advancement of combat heuristics and mental/physical conditioning. This exploration can be geared towards any situation on any level of human ability as the core philosophies of Systema do not exclusively apply to combat.
- Tai Chi Chuan, the different styles of which are a Chinese martial art practiced nowadays by many people for health maintenance. Its slow moving training forms are often described as "moving meditation," but are also a catalogue of self-defence techniques. Despite the emphasis on relaxed training the name actually means "Supreme Ultimate Fist" and often uses its soft style interceptions to simultaneously counter attacks and strike the attacker in its advanced level martial training. Traditional T'ai Chi classes at intermediate level and above should include weapons training, two person pushing hands as well as ch'i kung, for greater health benefits and generating coordinated martial power.
- Taekwondo is modern Korean art, descended from Karate but with a much greater emphasis on kicking. Along with Judo, one of only two Asian martial arts to make it into the Olympic Games.
- Tang Soo Do (which means 'way of the Chinese hand') is a traditional Korean martial art descended from Karate, which remained outside the merging of Korean styles into a national sport in 1961. Its most famous proponent is Chuck Norris.
- Xingyiquan is also an internal Chinese martial art, known for its | | |
