Karate is a form of martial art developed through the ages. The general belief is that Karate originated in Japan. But, it existed in Okinawa long before the island’s annexation by Japan. In Okinawa the art was known as Te. Even Okinawa may not be the place of Karate’s origin. It is possible that Karate came to Okinawa from some other country through China with Zen Buddhism. In China it was known as Kung Fu. It was in Japan it got the name, Karate. Karate is meant to develop self discipline and self defense. So much Karate information is available now thanks to the internet. By 1960s and 70s Karate got widespread acceptance all over the world and Karate training schools started appearing everywhere.

In Karate attacks are dealt with evasive movements of the body and blocking. Counter attacks are delivered by punches, kicks and strikes by knee and elbow. No weapon is used in Karate. Bare hands are employed. Hand chops, restraints, joint locks are also parts of Karate. Strikes at vital points of the body of the opponent, grappling and throws are also employed in Karate. In addition to self defense it is also a good exercise to keep oneself healthy. One who practices Karate is called a Karateka.

Karate teaches how to use your body movements effectively for your own defense. It is not a fixed set of reactions to any kind of attack. Karate is a set of principles on how to keep the stability of your body and destabilize the opponent. Keeping physical fitness is another function of Karate. Karate training is a lifelong process. The practice of Karate is divided into three parts. The first one is learning the basics known as Kihon. The next is Kata or forms. Kuminte or sparring is where you practice on an opponent what you learned in Kihon and Kata.

Kihon

In Kihon, you get training in basics. In this you learn different postures, body movements, kicks, strikes and punches without actually having an opponent. You learn how to keep your balance always and at the same time deliver maximum power with minimum effort. Employing minimum effort is equally important as delivering more power because then only you can fight an attack long enough. Each of the movement is practiced individually first and then in combination of two or more techniques at a time.

Kata

Kata is the learning and practicing of the set forms of movements and self defense. These are different at different levels of training. As the training advances, advanced techniques are also taught. During Kata practice training in improvement of balance, coordination of limps and breathing are also given.

Kumite

Kumite or sparring is the actual practicing of what you leaned in Kihon and Kata. You will have an opponent while doing Kumite. The modes of practicing Kumite are different according the levels of training. Likewise, for each technique there is different Kumite mode.

Gichin Funakoshi, who developed the Shotokan system, popularized Karate in Japan during the pre-war years.

Origin of Karate The general belief is that Karate has its origin in Japan. It is not so. Karate was developed in the Ryukyu Islands of the present Okinawa long before the annexation of Okinawa by Japan in the 19th century. The Ryukyu Islands were part of the then Ryukyu Kingdom. Karate is actually a fusion of the local martial art form of Ryukyu Islands called Te and the Chinese Kenpo. Karate came to mainland Japan only in early 20th century as a result of increased cultural exchanges between Ryukyu Island and the mainland. By early 1920s the Ministry of Education in Japan, in line with the increased militarism of that country, took special interest in this martial art and established Karate clubs in every university with the help of experts from Ryukyu Islands. That is for the modern times.

Karate of ancient times: If you go back in time some 1400 years you will see that Karate is very much related to Zen Buddhism. Daruma who is believed to have founded Zen Buddhism in India also introduced Karate. It was to give his disciples greater strength and endurance. Spiritualism and physical teaching were combined in their training. Daruma was the one who took Buddhism into China. Along with it, he also introduced this hard physical training in China. All these facts are recorded by Daruma in his book, Ekkin-Kyo. This book is the first record on Karate. Karate in China developed into Shaolin Kung-fu in the north and Shokei in the south. These two schools of martial arts slowly influenced the Okinawa-te, the indigenous variety of Okinawa. Karate continued its journey through Japan to other parts of the world.

What is Karate? Karate is a form of martial art which employs kicking, punching, strike by knees and elbow and many other methods for self defense. Strike at vital points of the opponent, chops by hand, restraints and grappling are some other techniques used in Karate. Outside Japan this form of martial art is considered as a method of hand to hand fighting only. But the Japanese consider it a way of life. They are very philosophical about it. For them Karate teaches them self discipline and must have lifelong practice to achieve it. The Japanese consider Karate as a vehicle for promoting spiritualism and ethical principles in the practitioner. In Japan a practitioner of Karate is called Karateka.

Karate in United States: Karate came to the United States immediately after the World War II. It was brought by the servicemen stationed in Okinawa. By 1960 and 70s Karate became so popular in the United States that movies with Karate as the main theme started coming out of Hollywood studios. The interest in Karate spread all to parts of the world by this time. Many Karate training schools opened their doors across the United States. But most of the school did not practice the pure form of this art. Any martial art form coming from Asia came to be known as Karate.
Anyway, Karate inspired people all over the world to have hard training to keep themselves fit mentally and physically.

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The ranking of the Karate students by the color of their Karate belts is a very recent practice even though Karate has a history of centuries. The ranking by belt color was first seen in Japan for Judo. Judo was developed in Japan at the end of the 19th century by Kano Jigoro. He adopted the then existing practice in Japan of awarding colored belts to those who excel in arts. But he too had only two colors, white and black. In the early 19th century with the introduction of Judogi more colors were adopted by its promoters. It was only much later the Karate belts came into being.
The origin
Karate belts came into existence only in the 1920s when Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan Karate decided to introduce the ranking system in Karate. While introducing the Karate belts sensei Funakoshi told his wards not to wash the belts at any time. His theory was that the Karate belts wound change to appropriate color with sweet and blood of the practitioner. Funakoshi opined that the hard work and efforts put in by the students can be measured by the color of their Karate belts. The harder you work, the more are the stains on your belt. That is why Karate belts are never washed. But to change the color, the Karate belts are dyed.
The ranking
The usual ranking of the students is from Kyu 7 to Kyu 1 from bottom to top. Kyu means rank. Rank Kyu 7 is for a beginner and Kyu 1 is at the top. The colors awarded to their Karate belts are white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and brown advanced respectively from Kyu 7 to Kyu 1. For the Okinawa Goju Ryu version of this martial art, there are 21 rankings. The first 11 from the bottom are 11th Kyu to 1st Kyu. Here also the 1st Kyu is at the top. Their Karate belts have colors white, white with a yellow stripe, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, purple with a white stripe, brown, brown with a white or black stripe and brown with two black or white stripes.
When the student goes beyond brown belt with two black or white stripes another set of ranking and Karate belts are awarded. The ranking is 1st Dan to 10th Dan, bottom to top. The color of their Karate belts is black for all. The ranks are known as Dan once the student reaches the black belt level and the rankings are described as Black Belt 1st Dan to Black Belt 10th Dan. Black Belt 10th Dan is the highest rank in the Okinawa Goju Ryu system. Other systems have their own methods of coloring their Karate belts. The system is not universal as generally believed.
You cannot judge the competence of a Karate practitioner merely by the color of his/her belt. Under some systems it takes up to 10 years to reach the top while in others you can get a black belt in three years. So you have to understand the system before assessing their ability.

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