MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2008 Posted by: Administrator on Monday, March 31, 2008
Category: History |
The relationship between Okinawa and Japan is complex and, in the context of karate, it is appropriate to consider them as originally being separate sovereign countries. Japan annexed the nominally-independent Ryukyu Islands in 1874, after centuries of strong Japanese influence over the kingdom following the invasion by the Japanese Satsuma clan in 1609.
The Okinawan martial art "ti" (or "te") was practiced by Okinawan royalty and their retainers for centuries before, and alongside, later Chinese influences. There were few formal styles of ti, but rather many practitioners with their own methods. One surviving example is the Motobu-udun ti school passed down from the Motobu family by Seikichi Uehara.[16] Early styles of karate are often generalized as Shuri-te, Naha-te, and Tomari-te, named after the three cities from which they emerged.[17] Each area and its teachers had particular kata, techniques, and principles that distinguished their local version of ti from the others.
Members of the Okinawan upper classes were sent to China regularly to study various disciplines, both political and practical. The incorporation of empty-handed Chinese kung fu into Okinawan martial arts occurred partly because of these exchanges. Many karate kata bear a strong resemblance to Fujian martial arts such as Fujian White Crane, Five Ancestors, and Gangrou-quan (Hard Soft Fist; pronounced "Gojuken" in Japanese).[18] Further influence came from Southeast Asia— particularly Sumatra, Java, and Melaka. The similarities between karate and silat may be found not only in the unarmed forms, but the weapon forms as well. Many Okinawan weapons originated in and around Southeast Asia including the sai, tonfa, and nunchaku.
Sakukawa Kanga (1782–1838) had studied pugilism and staff (bo) fighting in China (according to one legend, under the guidance of Koshokun, originator of kusanku kata). In 1806, he started teaching a fighting art in the city of Shuri that he called "Tudi Sakukawa" (at that time meaning "Sakukawa of China hand"). This was the first known recorded reference to the art of Tudi (written as ??). Around the 1820s, Sakukawa`s most significant student, Matsumura Sokon (1809–1899) taught a synthesis of te (Shuri-te and Tomari-te) and Shaolin (Chinese ??) styles. Matsumura`s style would later become the Shorin-ryu style.
Anko Itosu Grandfather of Modern Karate
Anko Itosu
Grandfather of Modern Karate
Matsumura taught his art to Itosu Anko (1831–1915), amongst others. Itosu adapted two forms he had learned from Matsumara (viz., kusanku and chiang nan) to create the ping`an forms ("heian" or "pinan" in Japanese) as simplified kata for beginning students. In 1901, Itosu was instrumental in getting karate introduced into Okinawa`s public schools. These forms were taught to children at the elementary school level. Itosu`s influence in karate is broad. The forms he created are common across nearly all styles of karate, and his students included some of the most well-known karate masters, including Gichin Funakoshi, Kenwa Mabuni, and Choki Motobu. Itosu is sometimes known as the "Grandfather of Modern Karate."[19]
In addition to the three early ti styles of karate, a fourth Okinawan influence is that of Kanbun Uechi (1877–1948), who at the age of 20 went to Fuzhou in Fujian Province, China, to escape Japanese military conscription. While there, he studied under Shushiwa, the leading figure of Chinese Nanpa Shorin-ken at that time.[20] He later developed his own style of Uechi-ryu karate based on the Sanchin, Seisan, and Sanseiryu kata that he had studied in China.[21] |
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