Karate began in the 14th century on the island of

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. Karate as a word first emerged due to

Gichin Funakoshi was a japanese martial artist who is regarded as the founder of Shotakan karate, perhaps the most widely known style of karate, and is known as a "father of modern karate". Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato,Funakoshi, Gichi ...

. Karate was introduced to mainland Japan in the 1920s.

History

Karate ( lit. "empty-hand") has its roots in ancient martial practice in India and China. There is a popular tale of an Indian monk by the name of Bodhidharma, who brought a system of exercise and fighting techniques to the

Shaolin Monastery Shaolin Monastery (少林寺 ''Shàolínsì''), also known as Shaolin Temple, is a renowned monastic institution recognized as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin Kung Fu. It is located at the foot of Wuru Peak of the So ...

in China around 525 A.D. It is said that this was the beginning of a systematized martial practice that eventually spread to other

Asian countries This is a list of sovereign states and dependent territories in Asia. It includes sovereign state, fully recognized states, states with limited but substantial international recognition, ''de facto'' states with little or no international recogn ...

via traveling monks and traders. Karate itself was born in Okinawa (actually a string of islands off the coast of Japan known as the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

). It is said that in

ancient times Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...

a style known simply as "te" (literally "hand") emerged from the influence of the aforementioned

Shaolin Kung Fu Shaolin Kung Fu (), also called Shaolin Wushu (), or Shaolin quan (), is one of the oldest, largest, and most famous styles of wushu, or kung fu of Chan Buddhism. It combines Ch'an philosophy and martial arts and originated and was developed i ...

. In the 1920s a public school teacher named

introduced what was, by then, called kara-te into

mainland Japan is a term to distinguish the area of Japan from its outlying territories. It was an official term in the pre-war period, distinguishing Japan and its colonies in the Far East. After the end of World War II, the term became uncommon, but stil ...

. He developed the nomenclature of this art at the research club in

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

, changing the meaning of its name from "Chinese hand" to "empty hand" and adding the suffix ''do'' to conform

budō is a Japanese term describing modern Japanese martial arts. Literally translated it means the "Martial Way", and may be thought of as the "Way of War" or the "Way of Martial Arts". Etymology Budō is a compound of the root ''bu'' ( 武:ぶ), m ...

arts. In 1933, the art was officially recognized by the

Dai Nippon Butoku Kai ''Dai Nippon Butoku Kai'' (DNBK, ja, 大日本武徳会, en, "Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society") was a martial arts organization with strong ties to WWII-era Japanese government, originally established in 1895 in Kyoto. Following the end of ...

. There were already family styles of karate in Okinawa and soon several styles were also formed in Japan. There are several differences between the two traditional approaches but that can be researched elsewhere.

Establishing organizations

Organizations like

Japan Karate Association Japan Karate Association (日本空手協会; ''Nihon Karate Kyokai''; JKA; sometimes referred to simply as ''Kyokai'' 協会 in Japan) is one of the oldest global Shotokan karate organization in the world. Origins Gichin Funakoshi played a ma ...

and the

Japan Karate Federation The Japan Karate Federation (JKF), a.k.a. Japan Karatedo Federation, is a national governing body of sport karate in Japan. The JKF is officially affiliated with the Japan Olympic Association (JOC), World Karate Federation (WKF), Japan Sports As ...

emerged in the 1950s to standardize karate as a sport.

National board

is the largest Karate Association in Japan. It is a member of the Japan Olympic Association. The Japan Karate Federation is a member of the Asian umbrella organization Asian Karatedo Federation (AKF) as well as the World Association for

World Karate Federation The World Karate Federation (WKF) is the largest international governing body of sport karate with 198 member countries. It was formed in 1990, is the only karate organization recognised by the International Olympic Committee and has more than te ...

(WKF). On the part of the Japan Olympic Committee, the JOC is the only Karate Association authorized to send athletes to the Olympic Games.

International competition

Japan a traditional world power in

Sport Karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fujian ...

and its record in

Karate World Championships The Karate World Championships, also known as the World Karate Championships, are the highest level of competition for karate organized by the World Karate Federation (WKF). The competition is held in a different city every two years. Championshi ...

is an impressive one.

Karate World Championships

Spreading the martial art

As Karate grained prominence in Japan many karate masters exported the martial art to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and many other parts of the world.

Present

The sport has declined in popularity and is more popular abroad.

Karate at the 2020 Summer Olympics Karate at the 2020 Summer Olympics was an event held in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. It was the debut appearance of karate at the Summer Olympics. Karate was one of four new sports added to the Olympic program specifically for 2020, ...

is going to be a debut event at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Okinawa Karate Kaikan