Origin of Karate-do

Karate is a martial art that was formed in Okinawa, a small island south of Japan. It was developed there at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century during the occupation of the island by the japanese Satsuma clan, which began in 1609. It was developed from an existing form of fighting called Okinawa-te ("te" means hand), but was strongly influenced by Kung-Fu, the Chinese arts of fighting. In, fact until the second decade of our century Karate meant "Chinese hand".

The three main styles of Karate developed in Okinawa were Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te, each coming from the three areas of Okinawa: Shuri, Naha and Tomari. Later, from Shuri-te the Shorin-ryu style evolved. From Naha-te, Goju-ryu and Uechi-ryu evolved and from Tomari-te, Isshin-ryu appeared.

In 1917 and 1922 Gichin Funakoshi, a karateka (karate practitioner), who had studied the Shorin ryu style, went to Japan with the purpose to spread Karate there. Eventually, he succeeded more than he could ever imagine, since Karate was made known not only to Japan, but to U.S.A. and to the rest of the world. A new style emerged from his teachings and it was named Shotokan by his students. Shotokan has considerable differences from Shorin ryu regarding the body mechanics. After Funakoshi's success many other teachers brought their style to Japan. So, virtually all the known styles of Karate have evolved from the ones in Okinawa.

Around that time the meaning of the word "karate" changed from "Chinese hand" to "empty hand". The character meaning "Chinese" was replaced by an equally sounding character meaning "empty". This happened for political reasons. The Japanese and the Chinese mistrusted each other, and the teachers who wanted to promote their style in Japan thought the new meaning was more appropriate.

"Ryu", on the other hand, means "school", while "shorin" means "little pine forest". So, "Shorin ryu karate" means "the empty hand art of the school of the little pine forest".  

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