It is commonly believed that karate has existed in Okinawa from ancient times, although there is no clear documentary evidence. One Japanese encylopedia, Sekai Dai - Hyakka - Jiten makes the strong conjecture that karate was probably introduced into Okinawa from China during the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618 - 906). One of the strongest supports for this claim, that karate is an innate part of ancient Okinawan culture, is based on observation of certain Ryukyuan classical dances. The parts danced by mail dancers resembles the modern karate movements. But, as it is not clear where or when these dances were created, there is by no means conclusive evidence.

The written records are silent regarding the development of karate in Okinawa until near the end of the 14th century, or the Ming period. Not only is there an absence of written materials on the subject, but even oral traditions concerning the art are vague and generally lacking. In 1372 official Chinese-Okinawan relation were set up when king Satto of Okinawa expressed his loyalty to the Ming Emperor of China. With the Ryukyus now a Chinese satellite, a cultural conversion began in earnest.

In the following centuries the Shaolin ch'uan fa (In Japanese Shorin - ji Kempo) found its way into the Ryukyus and developed into tote, the forerunner of present-day karate. In 1429 Okinawa became a unified kingdom under the famous hero-king Sho Hashi. Okinawa at first profited little from this unification. But this was soon to change. Because of his exposure to Chinese government officials, Sho Hashi learned a great deal about improving economic conditions in his kingdom. One of his first lessons involved the importance of active trade relations with other countries. Since the Ryukyuans had long been able sailors, they quite naturally fell into their newly appointed roles, as commercial sea traders.

Thus for the following two centuries the two large towns, Shuri and Naha, became famous as centers of an increasingly profitable traffic in luxury goods. The wares purchased in the Indies and the merchandise of Southeast Asia, were bought to Okinawa and reshipped to China, Korea and Japan. As a result, the Ryukyuans had widespread contact with the Arabs, Malays, Indonesians and Thai who frequented the centers of commerce. Of course, such contacts in itself is not enough to assure us of an exchange of ideas on Okinawan karate. But when we add two additional ingredients, bored and lonely seamen, and free flowing spirits, we do have an appropriate stage for a great deal of volatile cultural interaction. It is said, that karate like arts had been well developed in Indonesia, Malaya Thailand and other seaports in the South China Sea area. We therefore arrive at a picture of brawling sailors, performing a vivid, although undoubtedly bloody, exchange of ideas on weaponless fighting techniques. It is certain, that at this time Okinawans gained most, if not all, of their insight into the Southeast Asian forms of unarmed self-defense.

In 1609 the Satsuma clan in Southern Kyushu, Japan, marched against the Ryukyus. The military expedition ended Okinawan independence and made way for complete Satsuma control over all the Ryukyu Islands. A number of prohibitive ordinances announced by the Satsuma clan included a ban on all weapons. Arms, found in an Okinawan's possession, were immediately confiscated and the owner or holder was severely punished. For this reason, the various Okinawan kempo groups and tote societies had a series of secret conferences. This resulted in their banding together as the united front against the enemy. The result was, that a new fighting style developed from this combination of tote and kempo (ch'uan fa), which was simply called te (hand). Te might be described as the intermediate stage between tote-ch'uan fa and modern karate.

During these early years of development, te practice was veiled in utmost secrecy due to the iron-clad Satsuma prohibitions. Although we find little information of karate activities, this was the period of the greatest development of Okinawan karate. It is almost impossible to tell, when the secrecy surrounding karate was relaxed. Several modern karate authorities claim, that intense seclusion of karate was maintained until about 1903. The supposition is difficult in view of the fact, that in 1875 Satsuma's “unofficial” occupation of the Ryukyus ended and Okinawa became officially a part of the Japanese Empire. In 1904 karate was officially introduced into the public schools in Okinawa, as a regular part of the physical education curriculum. Karate thus became a rather standard term by 1910 and remained so until new ideographs replaced the old around 1936.

Karate survived the destruction of World War II and emerged to become international in scope. From the ashes of war, karate regenerated and restrengthed itself, to take an equal position among the international sports, such as boxing, wrestling, judo and aikido. This is truly a remarkable achievement. At the beginning of this century, Okinawan karate became more or less standardized in various schools of ryu. The present-day schools of Okinawan karate-do are as follows:

1. Uechi Ryu

2. Ryuei Ryu

3. Kojo Ryu (Kongusuku Ryu)

4. Ishimine Ryu

5. Shito Ryu

a. Shito Ryu Kempo Branch

b. Shiroma-kei Shinto Ryu Branch

6. Goju Ryu

a. Zen-Okinawa karate-do Goju Ryu Kai Branch

b. Kokusai Karate Kobudo Renmei Branch

c. Okinawa Goju Ryu Karate-do Kyokai Branch

d. Itokazu-kei Goju Ryu Karate Kobudo Kenkyu-kai Branch

7. Shorin Ryu

a. Matsubayashi Ryu Branch

b. Ishin Ryu Branch

c. Shorinji Ryu Branch

d. Chubu Shorin Ryu Branch

e. Ryukyu Shorin Ryu Branch

f. Motobu Ryu Branch

g. Kushin Ryu Branch

h. Matsumura Shorin Ryu Branch

1.) Matsumura Shorin Ryu Karate-do kyokai Sub-branch

2.) Shorin Ryu Matsumura Seito Okinawa Kobudo Kyokai Sub-branch

i. Okinawa Kempo Branch

1.) Okinawa Kempo Renmei Sub-branch

2.) Okinawa Kempo Karate Kyokai Sub-branch

j. Kobayashi Ryu Branch

1.) Kobayashi Ryu Shorin-kan Kyokai Sub-branch

2.) Kobayashi Ryu Kyudo-kan Shinkokai Sub-branch

3.) Kobayashi Ryu Karate-do Kyokai Sub-branch

The Technical System of Karate-Do

Karate is basically an art of self-defense, in which only the bare hands, arms and feet are used. In this respect, it is similar to judo and sumo wrestling. Its chief point of departure from the others, is that karate emphasizes the kick, the open-handed strike, and the closed fist strike, rather than the take-down, the hold and the throw. The technical system of karate-do is composed of “kata” and “kumite”.

Kata can be described as a systematically organized series of defensive and offensive techniques, performed in a sequence, against one or more imaginary opponents. Included are the techniques of punching, blocking, striking and kicking. A careful study of the kata reveals, that these exercises are paired units of defensive and offensive techniques. Combinations of these techniques in a unit are called kata.

As a martial art, karate must be practiced without forgetting the existence of the opponent seeking the chance to attack, from every angle and in every possible way. The preparation for this attack cannot be achieved through the mastery of kata alone. So, training of kumite (sparring) is needed, especially the pre-arranged kumite, which enables one to sharpen his reflexes and fighting sense.

The following chart shows the philosophical code and the technical system of karate-do:

			· Passive spirit
		Mental training		MENTAL TEMPERING
			· Active spirit
	Way
			· Historical aspect	THEORETICAL
		Theoretical study	· Physiological aspect	TEMPERING
			· Physical aspect
			· Warming-up
Karate-do			· Supplementary exercise
			· Kata practice
		Karate as code	· Kata analysis	TECHNICAL TEMPERING
			·Pre-arranged sparring
			· Consolidation exercise
	Art
			· Body building
		Karate as application	· Striking experiment	PHYSICAL TEMPERING
			· Free sparing