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Introduction to KarateKarate is a form of unarmed combat in which a person kicks or strikes with the hands, elbows, knees, or feet. Karate is one of several Oriental forms of unarmed combat called martial arts. The Japanese word karate means empty hand. Most blows are aimed at body parts that are easily injured, such as the stomach and throat. A karate blow can cripple or kill someone.There are four major types of karate - Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Okinawan. All use the same basic techniques, but each stresses certain skills and has its own characteristic style of movement. For example, Korean karate, called tae kwon do, emphasizes kicking. Chinese karate, called kung fu, also spelled gongfu. The type of karate learnt in Western countries often has a combination of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Okinawan features. Karate training usually takes place in a Dojo (The Karate School). Students and teachers wear a pyjamalike costume that consists of a white cotton jacket and trousers and a coloured belt. They train in bare feet. The students begin by doing exercises to strengthen and stretch their muscles. They toughen their hands and feet by pounding padded boards. The students practise with punch bags, imaginary opponents, and each other. When working with each other, they either stop short of hitting or touch their opponent only lightly. A person strikes with full force only in self-defence. Karate students may advance through various ranks of achievement, each of which is designated by a belt of a different colour. Beginners wear a white belt, and experts wear a black one. Schools award different colours, including brown, green, and purple, for intermediate ranks. Students earn promotion by demonstrating to a licensed examiner or a group of licensed examiners the techniques required for the next rank. Basic techniques include stances (ways of standing) and methods of blocking, kicking, punching, and striking. Stances include the back stance, cat stance, forward stance, and horseback-riding stance. Blocking methods try to stop an opponent's attack. Kicking techniques include the front kick, hook kick, roundhouse kick, and side kick. Punching involves hitting with the knuckles of the first two fingers. Striking uses other parts of the hand. For example, the edge of the open hand is used to strike the knife-hand blow. Students of karate often practise these techniques in prearranged patterns called forms. Sound plays an important part. An attacker often yells yah! or yiah! to put maximum force into the blow. This yell is produced by expelling air from the lungs and tightening the stomach muscles. Sometimes, an attacker yells before striking to startle an opponent. Many karate exhibitions include demonstrations of breaking various objects with the hands and feet. But most karate schools do not require students to practise these techniques. Karate Contests There are two kinds of karate contests, form competition and free fighting. In form competition, each contestant demonstrates various forms to a panel of five judges. Each judge awards the contestant 1 to 10 points, and the one with the highest total wins the competition. In free fighting, the contestants fight without prearranged techniques. A referee and four judges watch each match. A contestant scores when he delivers a blow that a majority of the judges consider effective. A blow must start with full force but stop a split second before it hits. Blows to the middle of the body may make light contact. Rules forbid hitting certain areas of the body and using many dangerous karate blows. The History Karate, like most martial arts, can trace its origin to Bodhidharma (Daruma in Japanese), an Indian prince and Buddhist priest who traveled to the Shaolin temple in China in the early sixth century. There, he developed the Chan, or "Intuitive" school of Mahayana Buddhism. Under the Chan philosophy, enlightenment was sought through meditation, rather than by the practice of rituals or the study of religious texts. According to legend, Bodhidharma sat facing the wall in the Shaolin temple for nine years, until he achieved enlightenment. (Other legends have him sitting and facing a wall in a cave for nine years.) Bodhidharma also developed martial arts as a physical regimen to accompany the mental discipline of the meditation. During the following centuries, the Chan (or Zen in Japanese) philosophy spread to Okinawa and then to Japan, accompanied with martial arts. Over time, Zen and martial arts became intermingled with each other and deeply ingrained in Japanese society. The word Karate is derived from the words: Kara meaning "Empty", and Te meaning "Hand". Kara also means "Chinese", and the original meaning of the word karate was "Chinese Hand" because of its origins in Chinese kempo. However, Gichin Funakoshi, the Okinawan master who brought karate to Japan and developed Shotokan Karate, believed that "empty" better described the meaning of karate. |
