Karate was born in Okinawa, yet most people think that Japanese Karate is the source. The reason for this is that Karate traveled through Japan, and this country became the central marketing force of that art. Thus, people just assume that Japan is the heart of the art.
The fact of the matter is that Japan has contributed greatly, but there are a few problems arisen because of that help. Things have happened to Karate that actually restrict an individual's search for artistic expression. This piece of writing will go into that area.
The force behind moving Karate into the modern world is a fellow name of Gichin Funakoshi. Master Funakoshi didn't advise Karate for competition. Unfortunately, this advice was ignored.
Nothing wrong with testing oneself, but when the emphasis is on win at any cost, got to get that trophy, got to beat the other guy up, the art becomes slanted badly. The sport desire to beat another goes against the more artistic desire to control oneself. Thus, Karate ceases to exist as Art, and becomes a vehicle for human cockfighting.
The problem, to be truthful, came about because Funakoshi was teaching college students. These students, young and proud, translated the art into their youthful excesses, and put aside the development of character as the prime purpose of the art. Thus, tournaments waxed, students became enthralled with brutality, and there was even one instance of a student being killed for not wishing to go down this dark path.
Because of this drive for power there was also a distinct degradation of art. To this day a karate point won't be awarded when engaging in freestyle unless the student charges in with a front stance. If one examines the Chinese based arts from which the Japanese version came, however, one will see that the front stance is an over commitment, and that the true fighting stance is typically the more balanced back stance.
When fighting from a balanced back stance one can use all weapons (fist, foot, or otherwise) and still retain the ability to shuffle backward out of the action. To be able to stand back, apart from the action, as it were, encourages the student to take a more balanced viewpoint to the fact of even getting in a fight. It has been a rather sizable observation of this author that when students are trained in the back stance as the major stance of Karate, they become less aggressive and more understanding.
Interestingly, Funakoshi himself seems to have understood these points. On one hand, he is reported as saying that he didn't even recognize that Karate that was being taught, that it was drastically different from that which he had brought to Japan. And, on the other hand, his official paraphernalia, the chops and seals and what have you, were not given to Shotokan Karate (the premier Karate organization of Japan) upon his death, but rather were passed on to a more complacent and gentle style of Karate called Shotokai.
In closing, whether you study one of the more balanced styles of Karate, or whether you have been influenced by the power pushing Japanese styles doesn't matter. What matters is that you do the forms, and you seek for balance. Thus, consider the words of this article, apply them as you can and Japanese Karate can revert to a more true form of Martial Arts.
The fact of the matter is that Japan has contributed greatly, but there are a few problems arisen because of that help. Things have happened to Karate that actually restrict an individual's search for artistic expression. This piece of writing will go into that area.
The force behind moving Karate into the modern world is a fellow name of Gichin Funakoshi. Master Funakoshi didn't advise Karate for competition. Unfortunately, this advice was ignored.
Nothing wrong with testing oneself, but when the emphasis is on win at any cost, got to get that trophy, got to beat the other guy up, the art becomes slanted badly. The sport desire to beat another goes against the more artistic desire to control oneself. Thus, Karate ceases to exist as Art, and becomes a vehicle for human cockfighting.
The problem, to be truthful, came about because Funakoshi was teaching college students. These students, young and proud, translated the art into their youthful excesses, and put aside the development of character as the prime purpose of the art. Thus, tournaments waxed, students became enthralled with brutality, and there was even one instance of a student being killed for not wishing to go down this dark path.
Because of this drive for power there was also a distinct degradation of art. To this day a karate point won't be awarded when engaging in freestyle unless the student charges in with a front stance. If one examines the Chinese based arts from which the Japanese version came, however, one will see that the front stance is an over commitment, and that the true fighting stance is typically the more balanced back stance.
When fighting from a balanced back stance one can use all weapons (fist, foot, or otherwise) and still retain the ability to shuffle backward out of the action. To be able to stand back, apart from the action, as it were, encourages the student to take a more balanced viewpoint to the fact of even getting in a fight. It has been a rather sizable observation of this author that when students are trained in the back stance as the major stance of Karate, they become less aggressive and more understanding.
Interestingly, Funakoshi himself seems to have understood these points. On one hand, he is reported as saying that he didn't even recognize that Karate that was being taught, that it was drastically different from that which he had brought to Japan. And, on the other hand, his official paraphernalia, the chops and seals and what have you, were not given to Shotokan Karate (the premier Karate organization of Japan) upon his death, but rather were passed on to a more complacent and gentle style of Karate called Shotokai.
In closing, whether you study one of the more balanced styles of Karate, or whether you have been influenced by the power pushing Japanese styles doesn't matter. What matters is that you do the forms, and you seek for balance. Thus, consider the words of this article, apply them as you can and Japanese Karate can revert to a more true form of Martial Arts.
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