Karate

It seems impossible that people could punch through bricks with their bare hands. But for masters of karate, that would be easy. Karate is a spectacular and powerful method of unarmed self-defense. It combines kicking and punching with knowledge of weaknesses in the human body. Karate students can fight back against muggers and bullies with their hands, feet, elbows, knees, fingers, and other parts of the body--even the head. Using karate, it is possible to overcome an attacker with a single blow. Besides being a means of self-defense, karate is a popular sport. It is also a system of exercise that builds agility, flexibility, and strength. Karate masters place great importance on controlling their fighting ability, since it would not be fair for them to fight with untrained people. They live by a strict code of morals and do not fight unless attacked.

History of Karate

In ancient times, a method of fighting began to develop in Okinawa. Around 1600, Japanese warriors invaded the island. To maintain control of the Okinawans, the Japanese made it a crime to own any weapon. From that time on, secret training in unarmed fighting increased among Okinawan farmers and their families. The Okinawans were also helped by Chinese visitors who knew many different ways to fight. They taught the Okinawans the points on the body that could be easily hurt--the eyes, the spine, the groin, the joints, and so on. The Okinawans toughened their hands by hitting hard posts and punching sand or gravel. The Okinawans also invented ways to use their farm tools as weapons. Some karate schools still teach students how to fight with the kama (sickle), the nunchaku (flail), the tonfa (a short stick), the bo (a long wooden staff), the sai (a short pitchfork), and the eku (a long club). These Okinawan fighting arts were taught secretly for over 300 years. Then, about 1920, an Okinawan, Gichin Funakoshi, first taught karate to the Japanese. Funakoshi, who is known as the "father of karate," started to learn the different Okinawan ways of fighting at the age of 11. He combined those methods into one style before he began teaching in Japan. He also taught the idea that karate students do not attack anyone. They use karate only to defend against wrongdoers. Today, karate is taught worldwide. Karate was introduced to the United States in the early 1950's, and many people have become highly skilled in this martial (fighting) art.