A Brief History Of Karate
Karate originated 500 years ago from the Ryukyu Islands. It is a form of fighting art derived from a combination of traditional Okinawan martial art called Te, and Chinese Boxing.
In the Ryukyus, the king had a policy of banning the usage of weapons among the common people. As a result, the people had to invent their own martial arts so as to protect their lives and properties. During the early 17th century, people were banned from carrying or possessing weapons. Hence, people of the upper class studied Chinese Boxing in secret, and founded their unique form of martial art. This was the earliest known Karate.
Before Tang-te (Chinese Boxing) was being studied by people of the Ryukyus, two forms of martial arts had already existed - Naha-te and Shuri-te. These martial arts, found in the cities of Naha and Shuri, were considered to be the origins of the many styles of modern Karate.
Naha-te was the martial art founded by Kanryo Higaonna. Kanryo Higaonna went to Fukien Province, China to study Shaolin Boxing. He founded a style of Te based on a combination of traditional Naha-te with Chinese Boxing, called Shorei-Ryu. The other style, Shuri-te, was represented by Yatsunesu Azato. Modern styles of Karate like Shotokan-Ryu, Shito-Ryu and Wado-Ryu were derived from Shuri-te. Another style, Goju-Ryu, was founded by Chojun Miyagi, a disciple of Kanryo Higaonna.
Shihan Miyagi was borned in 1887, in the city of Naha. The Miyagi family was well-known in Naha. At the age of 14, Chojun Miyagi studied Te from Naha-te Grandmaster Kanryo Higaonna. At 16, he alone went to China to learn the martial arts. Once in China, Shihan Miyagi received strenous training from the Chinese masters. Shihan Miyagi also studied the old texts and theories of martial arts. After he went back to the Ryukyus, he compared the pros and cons of Chinese Boxing with Okinawa-te, and founded an unique way of breathing called Sanchin. Till today, Sanchin is still an essential form of exercise (for warming up and for body strengthening) practised by Karate-kas, regardless of the many styles. Shihan Miyagi not only managed to combine physiology with Karate, but also founded Karate as a form of practice for spiritual well-being. With these new ideas, he founded Goju-Ryu Karate-do ie, the Hard and Soft school.
Goju-Ryu Karate-do, as defined by Go, which means hard, and Ju, which means soft, is based on the natural laws of Yin and Yang. (A Taoist philosophy which separates elements of the Universe into "positive" and "negative" forms, hence resulting in a state of equilibrium for the world) Yin and Yang can also be found in humanistic ways, with the Go (Yang) representing preserverence and Ju (Yin) representing cohesiveness.
Goju-Ryu maintained its traditional appearance and its usefulness in a real fight. This is clearly seen in the hard and soft techniques unique in Goju-Ryu, for example, the Sanchin and the Tensho Katas, the latter also known as 'turning-palms' kata.
In Sanchin, the practisioner maintains absolute mental alertness and tension in his body and nerves, hence reaching a state whereby he is in total control of himself. Tensho, a softer form of exercise as compared to the Sanshin, is practised in a way such that the fighting spirit is concealed within the practisioner, waiting to be unleashed upon the opponent.
Goju-Ryu techniques, whether hard and soft, can be easily changed to its opposite forms. The motion of the practisioner is dynamic, undisrupted and keeps in line with his opponent. If his opponent attacks with hard techiques, he can be easily overcome with soft techniques. Should his opponent attack with soft techniques, he could be counteracted with hard techniques. This is seen as the paradox of Karate, and is originated from Goju-Ryu unique style of breathing exercise.
Goju-Ryu Katas (forms) included many stances of animals, like the cat, the dog, the crane, the tiger and the dragon. To say that man learned how to fight from the animals is fair, because when animals fight, their concentration are focused in only the fighting and not disrupted by any other thoughts. Unlike animals, man is not able to concentrate only in the fighting, as their minds have already been overcome by selfish desires and evil thoughts. Goju-Ryu is traditional in a sense that it emphasized heavily on natural breathing and forms of animals.
To focus one's concetration wholly in a fight is represented by the Go (hard) aspect of Karate-do. But the paradox of Karate is not necessarily represented by the Go aspect. Rather, if Go means an reaction to intensified situations, Ju (soft) means avoiding unnecessary bloodshed or conflicts. If both the Go and Ju aspects can be equally balanced, the paradox of Karate could then be reached.
The Karate of the future is not only an art whereby the sole purpose of the practisioner is to knock down the opponent. If this is so, Karate would have lost its meaning as an art. The practisioner trains in Karate to safeguard his life, as well as learning to respect the life of his opponent. In this way, he could be a most courteous person; the do aspect of Karate would be fulfilled and people could then see Karate as an art worthy to be practised.
3 Aug 1997
Charles Ng