n Mark Bishop
JAPAN
- showing the
Island of Okinawa
“Today Karate is practised in nearly every country. It
can be divided into hundreds of styles and has thousands
of practitioners. Despite its popularity very few of its
practitioners know about its origins”.
34 | SHIMBUN
Okinawa; The Birthplace of Karate.
Okinawa is a small island off the coast of Japan. It has a total area of 1,256 sq
km. Its length is around 108km and its width varies between 5 and 24 km. It has
a sub-tropical marine climate and is affected by the warm Kuroshio currents that
sweep up from the Philippines, bringing frequent typhoons between March and
September.
n Mark Bishop
Trouble Close By
Northern Okinawa is heavily forested and sparsely populated. In
comparison, Southern Okinawa is densely populated and has
several cities; the largest being the city of Naha. The greater Naha
area now includes within its boundaries the former towns of Naha,
Shuri and Tomari where karate was originally nurtured.
No one can confidently say exactly when karate was first practised
in Okinawa as it had been kept secret from outsiders and there
are no written records. Yet if we look closer into Okinawan history,
we can find on two occasions where weapons were banned by
the rulers. The first was in the 14th century and the other some
200 years later. These bans are believed to be strong reasons for
influencing the birth of Karate. Due to this influence we will take a
closer look at Okinawa in these times.
The First Weapons Ban
During the early part of the 14th Century, the island of Okinawa
consisted of three states. These were Hokuzan (in the north),
Chuzan (in the middle) and Nanzan (in the south). Each of these
states were ruled by several feudal lords known as ‘anji’. Each state
had the aim of gaining supremacy over the other two. Eventually
Chuzan prevailed and Okinawa (or the Ryukyu islands as it was
then known) was unified under the king Sho Hashi in 1429. He
formed a non-military government and formed the capital in Shuri.
Despite the Ryukyuan islands unifying and its new government,
much feudalism still existed. All until another ruler named Sho Shin
(who ruled from 1477 - 1526) came to power. He put a stop to
feudalism, firstly by making the feudal lords (anji) move to the capital
Shiru where he could monitor them. He formed a confucianist state
and imposed a ban on wearing swords. He also made the private
ownership of arms in large quantities illegal.
Okinawa Prospers
This new ruler and his new laws appeared to have been a
massive success for Okinawa. After this the Ryukyuans enjoyed
an undisturbed peace for 200 years. The kingdom of Ryukyu
expanded and prospered. They also further prospered by largely
increasing trade with China. Most of the trade with China took
place in Fuchou (in the Fukien province). This is where the Shaolin
Temple is found and is most likely how the Ryukyuans were first
introduced to the martial arts. They also regularly traded with South
East Asia, Korea and Japan. Despite the unparalleled peace that
existed on Okinawa, the weapons ban to some historians however
was seen as naive, especially considering nearby Japan with whom
they traded with was far from at peace.
Trouble was always present just across the sea. Not to far off was
Satsuma (in Southern Kyushu, Japan). The military governors of
Satsuma were known as the Shimazu and their soldiers who were
often famously referred to as the Satsuma Samurai. The Shimazu
forces had an unequalled reputation for valour and ferocity. They
gained this reputation during Japan’s Sengoku period (civil war
1467-1568). Even after this late in the 15th Century they had given
the great Imperial Regent, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a most difficult time
in his drive to unify Japan.
The Invasion Of Okinawa
In 1609, the Ryukyuans peaceful life was ended abruptly when
they were invaded by the Shimazu.
The actual invasion of Okinawa (or Ryukyu) can be found in many
texts and each may tells a different story. A common held belief is
that the Shimazu were met with stiff resistance when they attacked
the Ryukyuans. A direct formal assault on the port of Naha (the
gateway to Okinawa) failed. Later, after a detached force of the
Shimazu’s Samurai circled the island and made a surprise attack
on the unguarded port of Unten, the invaders were finally able to
gain a foothold. The situation then became dim as the main island
soon fell into Shimazu hands.
The Second Weapons Ban
The Shimazu now considered the southern seas part of their
domain and although the Ryukyuans did maintain trade with China,
the Kingdom of Ryukyu was economically milked by the Shimazu
and gradually declined in wealth. The Shimazu further reinforced
the ‘weapons edicts’ originally imposed by Sho Shin and in 1699
they banned the import of ALL bladed weapons. This tactic would
see the Rykyuans unable to stop the Shimazu’s weaponed Samurai
from taking much of their wealth.
The First Karate On Okinawa
Many historians agree that Karate, the unique weaponless combat
owes its creation to the second weapons ban. It is often believed
that this ban forced the Ryukyuans to invent a means of unarmed
self-defence. However some weaponless combat techniques must
have been practised even before the invasion, so it is plausible
that this new ban acted more as a catalyst to spur the refinement
of existing techniques. So despite the fact that many historians
believed it was naïve to impose a weapons ban on ones own
kingdom, without this the development of karate may never have
taken place.
SHIMBUN | 35
The Effects Of War On Karate
Many stories are told of Ryukyuan peasants using karate to overthrow their Satsuma overlords yet there is no actual evidence to
suggest this. This is backed up by the fact that even long after
the invasion (1609), before 1879 martial arts on the Ryukyuan
islands had been reserved solely for the upper-class families.
Even after 1879 few ordinary folk were able, if willing, to practice
karate. Evidence suggests that between 1609 to 1879 karate was
practised for self-defence and as a means of self-development
by the nobility. This training was done in private so there are no
witnesses to any demonstrations of their abilities.
Karate’s Main Influence And The Evolution Of Its Name
Since the Ryukyuans were a trading regularly with China, there had
been periods of frequent contact between the Ryukyuans and the
Fukien (home of Shaolin) in China. It would have simply been natural
for Chinese Kenpo (lit. fist method) to have been imported back into
the islands. This was more than likely happening centuries before
the first actual demonstration or advent of karate took place.
This actual first recorded advent of karate is agreed to have been
in the later part of the 18th century or early 19th century when a
Chinese going by the name of Kusanku (also Ku Shanku or Koso
Kun) displayed his Chinese boxing and grappling skills on Okinawa
to a delighted audience. Nowadays, many karate styles have a
kata named after this man.
Karate was originally known as to-de. To-de (also known as to-te
or tu-ti), literally translates as Chinese hand (or Chinese boxing) and
was later Japanesed to te, meaning hands. Okinawa-te was also
how it was often referred.
Generally speaking, the introduction of to-de (karate) to Okinawa
was effected by either Okinawans who studied Chinese boxing in
China, or otherwise Chinese people like Kusanku who taught it in
Okinawa.
Although karate has been under a continual process, most of
the karate which is taught today is, contrary to popular
belief, based on Chinese boxing. Many similarities and
differences can be found as the Okinawans took what
they saw as valuable and added to these areas. These
developments originally happened through those who
practised the martial arts in Okinawa. This consisted of
the Ryukyuan kings, princes and anji who lived at Shuri.
Where war can have a horrific effect on the world, it was World War
II and the Vietnam war that helped karate flourish in Okinawa and
later the USA.
As karate became more popular in Okinawa and its trades with
China continued, more and more people were exposed to Chinese
boxing. As these practitioners developed, many also went to
Fuchou (including famous karate-ka like Higaonna, Miyagi and
others) in China to train.
Many different styles or ‘Ryu’ developed. According to records,
most were given their names in the social confusion after the
second world war. When financially hard pressed, the Okinawans
realised the commercial value of karate and opened many private
gyms.
During the Vietnam war, Okinawa became an important US military
supply base. This saw karate become very popular among the
US servicemen, some of whom later introduced their styles to the
United States and elsewhere.
Shortly after this period karate
Fukien Shaolin Temple Boxing
(Fukien Province, Fuchou, China)
spread world-wide.
This
was aided by the fact that
Okinawans themselves started
To-de
(Okinawa)
to go overseas to teach.
Naha-te
Shuri-te
Tomari-te
Various styles under the name Kara-te
Karate Continues To Evolve
Later to-de or Okinawa-te was further developed by the nobles
of the main population centres of Naha, Tomari and Shuri which
are all within a few kilometres of one another. Over time the
way it evolved in each of these areas started to vary and so
were named to reflect their style as Naha-te, Tomari-te
and Shuri-te.
Of course as it grew and was practised and taught
by more and more people in these cities, it again
evolved greatly from school to school. Because of
this, the various styles could no longer be classified
as any of these three. It was decided not to use
these out-of-date terms and instead be unified
by the name Karate in the first half of the
20th century (Kara meaning empty and te
meaning hand)
The Island
of Okinawa
36 | SHIMBUN