| Although the basic forms of self defense are probably | | | | The man most responsible for the systemization of |
| as old as the human race, the art of karate as it is | | | | karate as we know it today was Funakoshi Gichin. He |
| practiced today can be traced directly to the | | | | was born in Shuri, Okinawa, in 1869, and when only a |
| Okinawan technique called, in Japanese, Okinawate-te | | | | boy of eleven began to study karate under the two |
| (Okinawa Hands). This system of defense in turn is a | | | | top masters of the art at the time. In time he became |
| descendant of the ancient Chinese art of chuan-fa | | | | a karate expert in his own right. He is credited to be |
| (kung-fu). | | | | the first man to introduce karate to Japan proper, |
| Little is known about the historical development of | | | | when he gave exhibitions in 1917 and again in 1922 at |
| karate in Okinawa, but there is an interesting story to | | | | physical-education expositions. The art soon caught on |
| be told about it. About five hundred years ago, the | | | | in Japan, and Funakoshi traveled throughout the |
| famous King Hashi of the Okinawan Sho dynasty | | | | country giving lectures and demonstrations. The main |
| succeeded in uniting the Ryukya islands into one | | | | universities invited him to set up karate teams, and |
| kingdom. To ensure rule by law and to discourage and | | | | hundreds of people studied the art under his guidance. |
| potential military rivals, he seized all weapons in the | | | | As the study of karate in Japan became increasingly |
| kingdom and made the possession of weapons a | | | | popular, many other experts from Okinawa came to |
| crime against the state. About two hundred years | | | | give instruction. At the same time the ancient native |
| later, Okinawa became part ot the domain of the | | | | Japanese hand-to-hand fighting techniques of jujitsu |
| Satsuma clan of Kyushu, and for a second time all | | | | and kendo (sword fighting) were being widely |
| weapons were seized and banned. As a direct result | | | | practiced, and modern sports imported from the West |
| of these successive bans against weapons, it is said | | | | were becoming popular. Karate soon took over many |
| that the art of empty-handed self defense call | | | | elements from these, and the basis was laid for the |
| Okinawa-te underwent tremendous development. | | | | modern Japanese-style karate. |