What is Karate?

Karate is a Japanese fighting technique in which you use your hands and feet to defeat your opponent. This fighting action is not allowed to hit the opponent's body during the match, must be stopped a moment before hitting the opponent, otherwise it is a foul. 14th century, Chinese martial arts to the Ryukyu Islands, China and the Ryukyu exchanges were frequent, Chinese boxing into the Ryukyus, and the development of the local martial arts, known as the "Tang hand". Due to the longstanding prohibition of martial arts, "Tang Te" could only be taught in secret until 1905, when it became a popular martial art, and in 1935, because "Tang Te" means "China", it was combined with the words "Tang Te" and "Kung Fu". In 1935, because of the Chinese connotation of "tangdan" and the fact that it is pronounced the same way as "karate", it was changed to "karate" and became a Japanese martial art.

Karate is divided into three main systems due to the different generations of Chinese martial arts practitioners and the different styles of fighting; "Shuriken", "Nabatsu", and "Bokuden". The three main systems were "Shuriken", "Naha" and "Pohaku". These three systems were later developed into the "Four Schools" of traditional karate. "Shuriken was represented by Funakoshi Yoshizane, whose nickname was "Matsudo", and whose karate was known as "Matsudokan Karate or Matsudokan Ryu Karate". The representative of "Naha-te" was Miyagi Nagashun, who established "Goujou-ryu-te". After "Matsutokan" and "Goujou Ryu", in 1929, Morifumi Hitoshi established "Itoto-Ryu Karate". In the same year, Otsuka Hiroki established "Wado Ryu Karate".

In 1935, Funakoshi Yoshizane published a book entitled "Karate Teaching Methods", which officially renamed karate as "Karate", and in 1970, the World Karate Federation was established and the first World Karate Championships were held. Currently, the official international organization of karate is the World Karate Federation. The competition standards for the World Karate Federation's kata (routines) are based solely on the designated kata of the four schools.