History of Karate

History of Karate can be traced back some 1400 years back, it is believed that it travelled from India to Okinawa (small island between Japan and China). Bodhidharma, a Budhist monk travelled from India to Okinawa and started teaching it to the Chinese people which were very weak. Seeing their miserable condition Bodhidharma introduced some form of breathing exercises (now famous by the name Zen Meditation) which might be same form of Yoga and Martial Arts that he has learnt in India.

Karate is derived from two words “kara” means “empty” and “te” means “hands” thus Karate literally means empty hands although the correct term is “KARATE – DO” here “do” means “way” and thus the word “KARATE – DO” means “Way of Empty Hands” .

Karate is one of those very few Martial Arts that has a deep rooted philosophy behind its practice and application. The goal of karate is to kill one’s ego and bring peace to the society. The concept of this art is to use every means available to the practitioners, and to overcome by technique, conditioning and training and assailant or assailants in a fight for life. The skills and techniques are lethal and training is hard of a Karate Student even in early training. Karate is based on the blows delivered with the hand, foot, head or knee. When a Karate-ka (one who learns karate is called karate – ka) has mastered all these effective techniques, he is than awarded his BLACK BELT.

Perhaps, the student takes up the art initially as an effective self-defense system. Then as a result of hard training and the battle between mind and body to achieve instantaneous automatic reaction to any given situation, a feeling of inner calm and peace is experienced. The Karate – ka then reaches a point, where he has won the fight within himself, and no longer needs to prove that he can fight. There is an old saying that “ONE WHO OVERCOMES OTHERS IS STRONG, ONE WHO OVERCOMES HIMSELF IS MIGHTY.” The Karate – ka will often prefer to walk away from trouble or gith. But should that trouble follow him, he will be able to deal it with deadly efficiency. There is no end of Karate, more you practice, more you gain. As the great masters have side that “Karate is not about fighting, it is about breaking the limitaions and exploring the truth.”

With the passage of time karate travelled to many places in the world and was very popular in Japan and various instructor of karate formed its own style of fighting and performing their techniques and thus by this way various styles of karate came to be known in the world. Various Martial Arts of the World
Kung – Fu, Karate, Tae – Kwang – Do, Judo, Kobudo, Ji-Jitsu, aikido, Jeet – Kune – Do, Boxing, Kalyaripattu, Gatka

Various Styles of Karate
Shotokan, Shito – Ryu, Goju – Ryu, Ishan – Ryu, Shorin – Ryu

Benefits of Karate
Besides Self Defence, Physical Fitness and Self Confidence; Discipline, Talent, Tolerance and Patience, Better Utilization of Time, Reaction Time Decreases, Will Power Increases, Better Concentration, Focus, Profession etc. are other benifits of karate.