WHAT IS KARATE?
The literal translation of the word Karate means "empty". This refers to the fact that Karate originated as an unarmed self-defense system using the hands, feet and body of the practitioner. This is system of basic techniques that block or evade an attak then counter attack the opponent with a variety of strikes kicking, or combinations of strikes.
Empty-handed fighting was brought from India to Canton, China, during the Liang Dynasty by a Buddist Monk named Daruma Taishi. There he originated a meditative sect of Zen and introduced empty-handed fighting about 525 A.D.
About 300 years ego, the Satsuma clan of Kyushu banned all weapons in Okinawa. This caused a form of unarmed fighting called Okinawa-te to undergo development.
The man most responsible for the systemization of Karate as we nkow it today was Gishin Funakoshi. He was born in Shuri, in Okinawa and began the study of Karate (then known as okinawa-te) at the age of eleven. He trained under the Sensei Azato and Itosu, the two top masters of the art at that time. In time he became an expert in his own rigth. He is credited with being the first man to introduce Karate to Japan proper. He gave exhibitions in 1917 and 1922 at physical education expositions sponsored by the Ministry of Education. The art soon caught on in Japan and Funakoshi traveled throughout the country giving lectures and demonstrations.
The main universities invited him to help set up Karate teams, and hundreds of people studied the art under his guidance. In 1957, Master funakoshi, the father of modern Karate, passed away at the advanced age of 88. Thousnads of students were left to carry on his spirit in Karate. Funakoshi was also a poet under the pen name "Shoto", meaning "pine trees in the sand". The style of Karate he taught then became known as "Shotokan Style Japanese Karate".
Mr.Tomasaburo Okano, a devout student of Mr. Funakoshi, opened a school of Shotokan Karate under the guidance of Mr. funakoshi and his son. My sensei Minoru Horie, was student of Mr. Tomasaburu Okano. Sensei Horie opened a school "Horie Karate Dojo" in U.S.A. I´m a student of him. Now I live in Ecuador...
