Martial arts originated from ancient combat techniques that are practiced for reasons such as self-defense, war, keeping fit, and preserving cultural heritage in some communities. Martial arts can be armed or unarmed. Armed martial techniques include the use of swords, archery while unarmed involves the use of grappling techniques or striking with the feet. Nowadays, martial arts are practiced for purposes such as; self-defense, sports and entertainment, spiritual nourishment, and healthy exercise. Some common martial arts types include; Jiu-jitsu, Karate, Tae kwon do, aikido, Hapkido, and Kung fu. Martial arts is one of the most efficient ways of self-defense.
Karate is a martial art skill that originated from Okinawa's Japanese islands, formerly referred to as the Ryukyu Kingdom. Karate means empty hand. (Kara – empty, te – hand). Karate skills were previously named after the cities they were formed in; an example is Shuri-te. Okinawa used to send its upper-class members to china to benchmark certain political and practical lessons. These upper-class members always brought new fighting techniques they learned from China. There were restrictions in owning weapons, so Kungfu techniques from China were incorporated into 'te.' Sakukawa Kanga, who practiced both pugilism and Chinese style, taught his mixture of arts in 1806. His best student was Matsumura Sōkon, who advanced his teaching to various ‘Te’ fighting techniques. Itosu Anko was taught by Matsumura, who later introduced simple Kata techniques into public schools in Okinawa. Gichin Funakoshi is accredited to having spread Karate to mainland Japan during the 1920s and 30s. During Japan's militaristic regime, Funakoshi had to downplay the Chinese influence in his fighting technique due to political reasons. Kata was the fighting skill mainly used in Japan (Johnson,2012).
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Kyokushin is a style of Karate founded in 1957 by Masutatsu Oyama, a professional martial artist who combined various styles of Karate. Physical toughness and full-contact sparring are emphasized in this form of Karate. Kyokushin is mainly used by skilled mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters. Ancient Karate focused on self-development. The modern Karate taught in Japan dojos focuses on the psychological elements incorporated into a proper attitude such as perseverance, fearlessness, virtue, and leadership skills. Sport karate is mainly for training exercises. The first Karate dojo was opened in the United States after servicemen deployed to Japan during world war two learned Karate.
Karate focuses on the hand as a striking method. Some common examples of hand striking techniques include; back hind strike, the ridge hand strike, and the forefinger knuckle strike (Podhurskyi,2012). Karate also uses foot techniques such as the front kick. The front kick is executed by Raising the knee straight forward while leaving the foot and shin either dangling loosely or pushed to the thigh, then straightening the leg in front of the practitioner and kicking the goal area. Grappling is not widely used in Karate; therefore, it is uncommon to seize the opponent to the ground.
In my opinion, Karate is very effective in self-defense. The low stances and rigid footwork are suitable for flexible and quick movement during a street fight. With good training and discipline, anyone with skills in Karate can stand up to anyone. Using Karate to provoke fights is entirely discouraged, and it goes against the whole principle of Karate fighting.
In conclusion, Karate is a very effective form of fighting, and it is as well entertaining to watch Karate championships. The karate kid movie released in 1984 made Karate famous across the entire United States.
References
Johnson, N. C. (2012). The Japanization of Karate?: Placing an Intangible Cultural Practice. Journal of Contemporary Anthropology, 3(1), 4.
Podhurskyi, S. E. (2020). Performance of striking techniques among qualified Muay Thai athletes of different weight classes. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 20(2), 294-304.
