THE HISTORY OF OKINAWA KARATE DŌ
The evolution of martial arts is parallel to human civilizations worldwide. There are no direct historical records about its development. Most of what we know comes from indirect sources, but here are a few facts: Martial arts literally mean “military arts”. From ancient times, civilizations developed fighting techniques, which included both armed & unarmed combat. Ancient fighting arts were not exclusive to Asian cultures. They developed through every civilization from Ancient Greece to Rome, Egypt, Africa, India, European Knights, American Indians and Asia.
Since the middle ages, as warfare technology developed, most unarmed fighting arts became less relevant. But in the Far East, fighting arts (Jutsu) developed into Martial Arts (Budō), which were passed down secretly for centuries. From the mid 1800’s, Asian nations were exposed to western powers, resulting in social changes, trade, political unrest and eventually wars. Out of these cultural clashes, Martial Arts became known worldwide through articles, fiction, movies, sport competitions and pop culture.
For centuries, Okinawan martial arts were practiced & taught in secret. Therefore, any accounts of the ancient Ti Masters were based on oral tradition & other general historical records. However, the practice of Kata could provide historical references, because they were used as a living textbook and tradition.
According to Onaga Sensei, a Kata is an ancient letter from the Okinawan Masters, which has been preserved & passed down from generation through generation. However, this process was designed for a small number of students. As Karate became open to the world and hundreds of styles were created, the process of using katas was broken, because the key was lost & forgotten by most teachers. Today, only a few teachers know how to use this key of knowledge: Ti.
Ti practitioners, known as Tiyigaya were only concerned with the full understanding of their art, by keeping what worked and throwing away what didn’t, by discovering new techniques and by bringing their art to a higher level with each generation. Tiyigaya do not look back in time to their art like an archeological discovery, but look to the future for new developments. According to Onaga Sensei: “If ancient martial arts were better than today’s, then we should all go home. But in fact, today's Ti is the best…”
Most martial arts authors and so called "historians" speak of Okinawan Karate by mixing facts, culture and legend without the proper historical context. The early accounts of Okinawa, known as the Ryūkyū or Liuqiu, come from China, Japan and other Asian sources. From these accounts, we know there was an intense warfare during the Ryūkyū's early history. Therefore, we can deduct there was a Ryūkyū warrior class, but it is not possible to speak in historical terms about a Ryūkyū Martial Art during this period. For more historical references, see the timelines on the LATE SHELLMOUND PERIOD & GUSUKU PERIOD.
Let's look at the evolution of Okinawa Karate Dō in its correct historical context: the fact without the fiction; for the complete history of Okinawa in relation to the World, see HISTORICAL TIMELINES
Based on this premise, I believe we should break the evolution of Okinawa Karate Dō into FOUR eras:
The Early Karate Era (1879 ~ 1945)
The Modern Karate Era (1945 ~ present)
手 The Ti Era (1429 ~ 1609)
In 1429, King Hashi unified three separate Okinawan kingdoms and founded the Ryūkyū Kingdom with Shuri as its capital. For historical reference, see the timeline on the EARLY RYŪKYŪ PERIOD. Probably, Ti originated around this period; or the name Ti was given to an already ancient indigenous fighting art. Based on tradition, we only know that Okinawa Ti was developed by the Shuri warrior class and it was passed down secretly for many generations.
Ti as a martial art is based on short deadly fighting techniques and intense physical training without the use of Katas or forms. It combined hand & foot strikes, grips, throws, locks and intense physical training. Some of the ancient Ti training methods still around today are:
— Makiwara
— Sagi Makiwara
— Kakie
— Iri Kumi
ABOVE: Shuri Jo - The Shuri Castle in Okinawa.
唐手 The Tōde Era (1609 ~ 1879)
In 1609, the Japanese Satsuma clan invaded Okinawa and kept the Ryūkyū Kingdom under its control. During this period, teachers began to personalized their systems, training methods and katas, which incorporated some foreign ideas:
— Kata, which originated in China, were used without the emphasis on animal forms.
— Warrior code, which originated in Japan as Bushidō, Budō & Bujutsu, etc.
— Other fighting arts, which originated throughout Southeast Asia.
During this period, Tōde was the generic for Okinawan Karate during period until the final dissolution of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. However, many Karate historians mentioned different styles of Ti: Shuri Ti, Naha Ti & Tomari Ti. However, this is only a historical error. In fact, the names: Shuri Ti or Naha Ti are early names for Karate styles: Shōrin Ryū or Gōjū Ryū, which were associated to the location of the teacher.
According to Onaga Sensei: "There are no styles in Ti, because Ti is beginning of all styles".
空手 The Early Karate Era (1879 ~ 1945)
In 1879, Okinawa became a Japanese prefecture and initiated a process of assimilation. This was part of the radical cultural & political changes that occurred in Japan during the Meiji Period (1868 — 1912). At this time, modern Japanese Martial Arts like Judō & Kendō were developed and standarized. At the same time, a new trend started in Okinawan Martial Arts, which intended to replace the name Tōde with name Karate in order to break apart from any Chinese connection. However, this was a gradual process of cultural change.
In 1901, Tōde was first included into the curriculum of the Dai Ichi Junior High School and teacher's school. In 1904, Tōde was also adopted at Shuri Elementary School, and the name Karate with the modern Chinese character was used for the first time. In 1908, Ankoh Itosu, a Master of Shuri Ti, wrote a petition to the Okinawan Prefecture Department of Education, requesting to officially introduce Karate into the physical education curriculum. This letter was known as the "Ten Articles of Karate". However, the literal tittle is the "Ten articles of Tōde", using the old Chinese characters.
Ankoh Itosu taught some of the most important teachers of this period, who later founded both Okinawan & Japanese Karate styles: Chibana Chōshin, Chotoku Kyan, Funakoshi Gichin, Mabuni Kenwa & others. During this period, the original Okinawan Karate styles, also known as Ryuha, were:
— Shōrin Ryū, founded by CHIBANA CHŌSHIN and later continued by HIGA YŪCHOKU.
— Gōjū Ryū, founded by MIYAGI CHŌJUN and later continued by YAGI MEITOKU.
— Uechi Ryū, founded by Uechi Kanbun
ABOVE:Karate Kenkyukai. Shuri, 1918.
Sitting, right to left: Miyagi Chōjun, Hanashiro Chomo, Yabu Kentsu & Chotoku Kyan.
Standing, right to left: Nakasone Genwa, Chibana Chōshin, Maeshiro Choryo & Shinpan Shiroma.
Karate was formally introduced to mainland Japan in 1917 during a public demonstration in Kyoto. Soon after, it became a a national sport in Japan. However, Okinawan Karate remained separate from the development of Japanese Karate. During this period, the most popular Karate styles that originated in Japan were:
— Shotokan, founded by Funakoshi Gichin
— Shito Ryū, founded by Mabuni Kenwa
— Wado Ryū, founded by Hironori Otsuka, a Japanese student of Funakoshi Gichin
— Gōjū Ryū or Gōjū Kai, founded by Gogen Yamaguchi, a Japanese student of Myagi Chojun
空手 The Modern Karate Era (1945 ~ present)
After World War II, many Okinawan Karate figures perished during the war and during the Battle of Okinawa. In subsequent years, Karate became popular around the world. However, it was not unitl 1956, when an International Okinawan Karate organization was created: The Okinawa Karate Dō Renmei, also known as Okikuren. In 1967, it was renamed, as the Zen Okinawa Karate Dō Renmei (All Okinawa Karate Dō Federation), also known as ZENOKIKUREN.
Most Karate styles in the world can trace their roots to the three original Okinawan styles: Shōrin Ryū (divided in three lineages: Kobayashi Ryū, Shorinji Ryū & Matsubayashi Ryū), Gōjū Ryū & Uechi Ryū. However, the current trend in Okinawa is moving towards Sports Karate rather than Karate as Budo or Martial Arts.
Today, the Shinjinbukan school, founded by Onaga Yoshimitsu Sensei, maintains the ancient Okinawan training traditions, which are based on Ti, the ancient Okinawan Martial Art. According to Onaga Sensei:
"KARATE AS BUJUTSU REQUIRES US TO TRAIN TO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO KILL WITH A SINGLE TECHNIQUE,
BUT IT IS PARAMOUNT TO ALSO TRAIN ONE’S SOUL AND MIND,
THUS FROM A TRAINING POINT OF VIEW, KARATE AS BUJUTSU IS ALSO KARATE AS BUDO".
"I PERSONALLY CONSIDER TI AS THE TECHNIQUE
THAT HAS EVOLVED FROM WHAT HAS BEEN THE SOLDIER'S WISDOM
AND HAS BEEN ABLE TO STAND THE TEST OF TIME".
BIBLIOGRAPHY - Sources about Okinawa's History, Culture & Current Events.
PREF OKINAWA.jp - The Okinawa Ken (Okinawa Prefecture) Official website.
WONDER OKINAWA.jp - A Karate virtual archive sponsored by the Okinawa Prefecture.
OKINAWA.com - Okinawan historical & cultural resource center.
VIRTUALOKINAWA.com - A virtual resource center about Okinawa.
NIRAIKANAI.WWMA.net - Articles about Okinawan History & Culture written by John Michael Purves.
