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It
is said that the traditional Okinawan martial arts called Te and
Chinese Kenpo were blended together and developed into karate.
Karate later underwent significant developments in Okinawa based on
several factors, including the policy of banning weapons following the
political centralization of King Shoshin (1477-1526) and the
Satsuma Clan's invasion of Ryukyu (1609).
It
later developed further through a process of systematization into 'Modern Karate',
which actually had a lot to do with the efforts of the men known as the Chuko
no so (The Revivers), including Sokon Matsumura (1828-1898) of the Shuri-te
style, Kosaku Matsumora (1829-1898) of the Tomari-te style and
Kanryo Higaonna (1853-1915) of the Naha-te style.
In 1908, 'The 10 Articles of Karate' prepared by Anko Itosu were
submitted to the Educational Affairs Section of Okinawa Prefecture. After
that, karate started being introduced into the school gymnastics
curriculum, thus acquiring broad accessibility, in contrast to the
previously secret principles of Isshi-soden (the complete
transmission of a ryu's techniques only to your heir).
Back
in the early 20th century, karate began to be introduced
throughout Japan by several master, including Gichin Funakoshi (1871-1954,
Founder of Shotokan-ryu), Kenwa Mabuni (1891-1952, Founder of Shito-ryu;),
Kanbun Uechi (1877-1948, Founder of Uechi-ryu;) and Chojun Miyagi
(1888-1953, Founder of Goju-ryu). Also throughout Okinawa, karate
was taught by masters such as Chotoku Kyan (1870-1945), Choki Motobu
(1870-1941) and Choshin Chibana (1885-1969, Founder of Shorin-ryu).
It has been said that the original name of Tudi (or Tode) was
changed to the name 'Karate' (empty hand) around this time.
-- Excerpt from the web page of the Okinawa
Prefecture |
