The Human Weapon: Karate Seiken Choku Zuki

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Karate—the worlds most popular martial art—originated in Okinawa, now a Japanese prefecture with strong historical ties to China as well as Japan. Over 1,000 years old, Karate began as a training practice for monks in the ancient Orient. It owes the fundamentals of its techniques to Kung Fu, from China, and Japans jujitsu fighting, but also contains elements of other fighting systems, including Roman gladiatorial combat, Japanese sumo wrestling and the type of weaponless fighting native to countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

Okinawa was under the strong influence of both China and Japan from the 14th century, but had its own language and culture until 1879, when it was officially annexed by Japan. Various rulers between the 15th and 17th centuries set a ban on weapons to prevent rebellion, which resulted in the rise of weaponless fighting techniques. The native Okinawan martial art, called Te (hand), combined with Kung Fu to become known as Kode Te (Chinese hand), which was changed to Kara Te (empty hand) around the turn of the 19th century with the advent of Japanese rule.

A fighter named Gichin Funakoshi was credited for introducing Karate to the Japanese, and later to the rest of the world, when he led a demonstration in 1921 for then-Crown Prince Hirohito during a royal visit to Okinawa. After World War II, when U.S. forces occupied Okinawa, American soldiers began training in Karate methods, and Karate is now practiced by 50 million people around the globe.

Incorporating special breathing and shouts, Karate is as much about self-discipline as it is about power. Karate stresses striking as opposed to grappling or throwing an opponent. Fighters direct focused strikes with the hands, elbows, knees or feet towards the most vulnerable areas of the opponents body, including the face, neck, spinal column, groin and kidneys. A geri, or kick, is a focused blow with the leg delivered either low, to bring the opponent to his knees, or high, to cause injury to the head. In competitive karate, fighters are only allowed to hit above the waist, and all blows are pulled; in a traditional fight, any of the blows can be fatal.

Training methods for Karate fighters include breathing techniques as well as strengthening the hands by driving them into containers of sand or rice and striking special punching boards. Fighters wear loose fitting white uniforms similar to pajamas (called gi) and no padding or protective gear. They train at centers called dojos, and are ranked by a belt system—adapted in the 1920s from Judo—with belt colors ranging from light (white) to dark (black) to indicate ascending levels of mastery.

Credits to The History Channel Series The Human Weapon

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[mitchinat]

doesn't matter what martial arts you use, but how well you use it.

[Wenner9]

Robert...all Bruce Lee proved is that he had tremendous connection to the floor and delivered it through a very quick, short punch. Which is a benchmark of karate techniques. Connection to the floor, body dynamics and transition through the technique. Almost any karate sensei can do a one-inch punch if they have good knowledge of body connection.

[ZadroOtrebor]

I practice muay thai, bust from sparring with karate students i can totally agree on how much that punch hurts.

[Altonahk]

@Shivasyn13 That varies from art to art. Some styles of karate have it at the end, some have it during the punch, some don't turn at all, preferring a vertical punch (Isshinryu is a good example).

[Shivasyn13]

The twisting of the hand is quite wrong :) They should animate the rotation at the end.

[stevevandien]

@stevevandien Now, Lee scholarship is ongoing. Perhaps we shall learn one day that he DID work out with other martial artists of exceptional caliber, and DETAILS about those sessions. (Let's throw Angel Cabales, Remy Presas and William C.C. Chen into the mix as well:)).

[stevevandien]

Sometimes I wonder how Bruce Lee would have fared, in light workouts or full-contact sparring; against Kanazawa, Enoeda, Kubota, Ueshiba, Bong Soo Han, Jim Arvanitis, etc. Each was renowned for extraordinary sensitivity, speed and power. As far as I know, BL never worked out with any of them. Perhaps he would have come out on top; perhaps their respective skill levels were near or beyond his --

[iverbob]

i like the way they are showing it wrong... and yes i do karate.

[TaekwondoFitness101]

So punch him in the stomach? Thanks, I never would have thought of that.

[BlakOpzDragon]

Bruce Lee may not be a master to some but he is a "master" in his own right. I mean, he wasn't Ip Man, Grandmaster Tatsuo Shimabuku, or even Soke Masaaki Hatsumi, but give credit where credit is due. Don't belittle his accomplishments by saying, "he just learn" or "he didn't learn" Just like Shimabuku Sensai, who took Gojuryu and Shorinryu and created Isshinryu, he took what he needed from different forms and created a new.

[theclash181]

@mitchinat THANK YOU; my friend keeps bragging about how much Hun Gar kung fu is better than shotokan karate