The origins of karate are steeped in myth and legend. Thus the true roots of karate have proved difficult to trace by historians. What follows here is a brief outline of the most popular accepted version!

• The Mysterious Shaolin Connection
• Okinawa
• Popular Styles and their Origins

The Mysterious Shaolin Connection

The true source of karate is the most obscure reference of all. It is believed that all traditional martial arts (or at least any that come from the Shaolin temple) may have stemmed from a single person, a Buddhist monk from India. This monk, known as the Bodhidharma, travelled to China and taught Zen Buddhism. A component of Zen was a set of exercises designed to develop body and spirit. It is believed that the Shaolin monks formalised these teachings, thereby forming the original Chinese fighting styles of kung fu.

Okinawa

Teachings of the chinese fighting art travelled to Okinawa via Taiwan. At this stage, the history of karate becomes less elusive as more historical data is available.

Okinawa is Japan's southernmost island, situated roughly halfway between Japan and Taiwan. However, until fairly recently, Okinawa wasn't actually a part of Japan, but was it's own kingdom, called the Ryukyu Kingdom.

In the 15th century, King Sho Shin of Okinawa imposed a total weapons ban to prevent acts of rebellion. In the early 17th century, Japanese rule was established, yet the weapons ban remained. The citizens of the island secretly developed a fighting art referred to as Te, meaning 'hand'. Three variations of Te developed, called Shuri-Te, Naha-Te and Tomari-Te, based on the names of the Okinawan villages from which they originated. The differences between these styles is attributed to varying levels of influence of the Shaolin fighting arts that had spread from China. The Shuri-Te style had the most influence from Shaolin 'boxing'.

These various forms of Te became collectively known as Tode, meaning 'Chinese Hand'. It wasn't until 1935 that the name karate - meaning 'empty hand - was official adopted for the now 'Japanese' fighting art. The teaching of karate is often referred to as karate-do, meaning 'the way' of karate'. This term embraces not only the physical, but also spiritual and philosophical aspects of the art.

Popular Styles and their Origins

Four main Japanese styles of karate are practiced today. These are Gojo-ryu, Shito-ryu (watch the pronounciation - it's "sh'to"!), Shotokan and Wado-ryu. Ryu means 'way' or 'school'.

Goju-ryu, meaning the 'hard-soft way', developed directly from Naha-te. As it's name implies, the style places emphasis on the dynamic combination of hard and soft movements.

Shito-ryu is a combination of both Naha-te and Shuri-te. This style places much more emphasis on power than other styles.

Shotokan was founded by Gichin Funokoshi, considered to be the 'Father of Modern Karate'. It was master Funokoshi who originally introduced karate into Tokyo, during a demonstration in 1921. The name 'Shotokan' comes from Gichin Funokoshi's pen name - Shoto. Shotokan means Shoto's Hall. This style places emphasis in deep, rooted stances and direct, linear techniques.

Finally, we come to Wado-ryu, the last of the four popular styles of karate to be founded. This style combines karate and jujitsu. Much emphasis comes from Gichin Funokoshi's teachings, which explains many of the similarities in techniques and kata. However, Wado-ryu exhibits the use of much higher stances than Shotokan, as well as more emphasis on evasion and close-quarter combat. While clearly not as powerful as Shotokan, modern Wado-ryu is much more diverse and unashamedly borrows techniques from many martial arts.