Karate is primarily a striking art, but there are styles that also practise throws, joint locks and vital point striking. Karate has a rich weapons system, but this is usually referred to as Kobudo (old martial ways), a separate martial art.
Traditionally karate is a ferocious martial art, hard in application. The basic philosophy is to avoid violence at all costs, but when a fight is absolutely unavoidable knock the opponent down.
Today there are hundreds of styles and splinter groups in karate and some have become pure sport or watered down variations of the original arts. But karate taught and practised correctly is primarily a martial way (Do) that teaches humility, courtesy and respect along with fighting skill. It fosters alertness, decisiveness, courage and self discipline. A focal point of karate training is the development of a strong spirit.
Training consists out of conditioning, kihon (basic techniques), kata (forms), bunkai (applications) and randori (free sparring). Kata is the core of karate training. Kata’s are prearranged strings of fighting techniques. They serve as a library containing the techniques and derivatives of a style. Bunkai is the application of the techniques in the kata’s, practised with a partner. In modern karate, kata and bunkai are often misunderstood or not understood at all and many schools teach kata mainly as aerobic exercise, or for competition and gradings.
Hans and Roger sparring
Gichin Funakoshi
History
Karate originated in Okinawa, otherwise known as the Ryukyu Islands, a small island group south of Japan. Originally karate used to be know as “te” or “ti” and was an art reserved for the Okinawan royalty and their retainers, but it became increasingly influenced by chinese and southeast asian martial arts. In time it became know as “china hand”. Members of the Okinawan upper class were often sent to China to study various disciplines and they brought with them knowledge of chinese martial arts, most notably Fujian White Crane, the Five Ancestors and southern Shaolin systems.
Karate was also indirectly influenced by the Japanese Samurai martial arts (kenjitsu and jujitsu) because it developed in response to the invasion and occupation by Japan. Japanese influence in Okinawa started in 1609 with the invasion of the Satsuma Samurai Clan. Under occupation the Okinawan people, especially the peasants, were forbidden to carry weapons or to practise martial arts. So karate was often developed and practised in strict secrecy and the training was designed to deal unarmed against an armed and armoured opponent. Training was often simple and basic, relying heavily on body conditioning and the development of a few effective techniques. Karate was often a simplification of the complex chinese martial systems and it developed a flavor distinct from its chinese influences.
The karate kobudo weapons systems made use of sticks, oars, spades, rakes, hoes and other farming tools that could be carried by peasants. One famous karate fighter even used a wet towel to disarm a samurai warrior. The sai, tonfa, kama and nunchaku are all derivatives of farming tools.
In 1901 karate was introduced into Okinawa’s public schools by Itosu Anko. He also structured and standardised the katas, creating the heihan and pinan kata series, to make it suitable for training in the schools.
In the 1920’s karate was popularised in Japan primarily through the efforts of Gichin Funakoshi, but also through men like Choki Motobu and Kenwa Mabuni. Gichin Funakoshi lay the philosophical and technical foundations of modern karate. He introduced the white uniform (do-gi) and the belt and dan system, which had been previously popularised by Jigoro Kanu, the founder of Judo.
Chojun Miagi and Gichin Funakoshi Bottom left and right)
Styles
New styles of Japanese karate started to develop. Today there are many styles of karate. The most famous are:
Okinawa Styles:
• Shorin (shaolin) Ryu – founded by Matsumura Sokon in 1806 • Uechi Ryu – founded by Kanbun Uechi • Shito Ryu – founded by Kenwa Mabuni • Goju Ryu – founded by Chojun Miyagi
KYOKUSHINKAI KARATE, the bith and death of Budo Karate
"The heart of our karate is real fighting. There can be no proof without real fighting. Without proof there is no trust. Without trust there is no respect.”
Masutatsu Oyama
Kyokushinkai literally means ‘the society of the ultimate truth’. This might sound like some kind of religious sect, but the meaning is actually quite simple: the truth in martial arts can only be discovered through real fighting. It is for this reason that kyokushin karate is characterised as a hard full-contact fighting style of karate.
Nei Cho Su
Founded by the late master Masutatsu Oyama (1923 - 1994), a Korean immigrant in Japan. The style has an interesting history. As a child Mas Oyama learned some Korean fighting arts before coming to Japan. He was a big kid and was often taunted and got into many fights. His Korean name was Choi Baedal and he later changed his name and citizenship to integrate himself into Japanese society. Life was very hard for Korean immigrants at that time.
He learned karate from Gichin Funakoshi (shotokan karate) and later from So Nei Chu (go-ju karate student of Chojun Miyagi) and also from Gogen Yamaguchi. Under So Nei Chu’s recommendation Mas Oyama spent many months training in seclusion in the mountains, perfecting his art and enduring many hardships. He shaved off one eyebrow in order to resist temptation to return to society. When he did return he gained notoriety for his strength by winning the all- Japan karate tournament, by fighting many challenge matches all over Japan, and even by fighting bulls with his bare hands. Mas Oyama became famous in japan and abroad and he gained many students and set up many branch schools in Japan and all over the world.
Gogen Yamaguchi
Mas Oyama wanted to maintain his idea of a “budo karate”, a style where practitioners can find the truth through full contact fighting. He was not happy with the point system sparring used by the shotokan school, so he introduced a bare handed full-contact method of competition fighting in which the winner was decided by knockout rather than by points. But in order to minimize injury he removed punches to the face and only allowed punching to the body, and kicks to the legs, body and head.
This style and competition system gained popularity and under Oyama’s rule the Kyokushikai organization became very strong, with about 10 million registered members world-wide. Budo karate became strong.
The Decline of Budo Karate
There are two factors which marked a decline in the budo nature of Mas Oyama’s karate to this day, and these two factors also made me take distance from kyokushin karate and made me seek budo elsewhere:
Hatsuo Royama
Firstly, the style has become sport karate. With the exception of maintaining some customs, basics and kata training, the style has become completely specialised on the no-punch-to-the-face competition fighting. There is some value to this kind of training, but it is limited because the rules are very unrealistic when taken in the context of self defence or real street fighting scenarios. When kyokushin fighters become to specialized in competition fighting they are fooling themselves when they think that they are seeking the ultimate truth in budo. They have just become obsessed with winning competitions. This has very little to do with budo. In the kyokushinkan school of kancho Hatsuo Royama there is a move toward the budo aspect of karate and they are doing allot of research into weapons training, self defence and alternative sparring methods, which is very positive.
Secondly, politics. After Mas Oyama’s death in 1994 the kyokushinkai organization disintegrated and split into many factions in a ghastly display of political bickering and fighting which had absolutely nothing to do with the spirit of budo. When Oyama was alive the kyokushinkai was like a big family but after a ten year political dogfight brothers have turned against each other and the family has split. This is even the case in South Africa where many greedy politician-karateka used the split-up as an opportunity to gain power and dan rankings. I have no time for this kind of politics. I train with whomever I choose and my motto in this regard is:
“You can expect your friends to be my friends, But don’t expect your enemies to be my enemies.”
Kenny Uytenbogaardt of South African kyokushinkai
It is my sincere wish that all the people who were once part of the larger family of kyokushin will set aside their differences and come together again, in the true spirit of budo karate.
Karate-do 
In 1901 karate was introduced into Okinawa’s public schools by Itosu Anko. He also structured and standardised the katas, creating the heihan and pinan kata series, to make it suitable for training in the schools. 
"The heart of our karate is real fighting.
