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Karate is one of the best techniques of self defense. It gained popularity
because it could help a bare handed person to save himself from life
threatening situations. Karate first developed in Okinawa. Okinawa, now
called Ryukyu was once a small kingdom located between Japan and southern
China. It was invaded and later occupied in 1607 by a southern end Japanese
clan called Satsuma. At the end of the civil war in 1422, the islanders had
experienced a similar situation by their own king. During these tough times
the islanders learned to train in hand-to-hand combat tactics which later
developed into karate.
At
that time, the art offered the use of hands and legs that were trained
through tough practice regime to make them able enough to face the
challenges. Likewise the elbow knuckle, toes and the ridge of the foot were
also trained. Japanese instructors now eliminated such an old training
system due to its risk to damaging the hands. At the beginning in Okinawa
the system was called ~Te~. The arts appeared to differ depending upon
geographical locations and instructors. Other than that, there was the
system called To-De or Tote which is alternatively pronounced as ~Karate~
meaning Chinese hand.
During this transitional period of time when the art was becoming more
popular in main land Japan, the art was called ~Karate Kempou~ or Chinese
Hand Fist System. There
existed in Japan for fifteen to twenty century an incorporated field of
martial arts as for a traditional institution named ~Budo~.
Ever
since Okinawa was forced to become one of the provinces of Japan in 1871,
there had been a political uprising by both the Japanese and the local
citizens to promote the art to be recognized in the field of Budo. Hence,
the practitioners called it Karate-Do. The Art of Karate-Do was official
name during the 1930s in Japan. Among the various styles of Karate practiced
on Okinawa island, Goju-Ryu is one of the earliest institute of karate.
Some
of the Karate moves include: Upper Block, Middle Block, Front Kick, Groin
Kick, Elbow Strike, Palm Heel Strike, Escape from Bear Hug, Escape from Hold
with Knee Strike and Ude Tanden (Arm Blocking/Toughening Exercise).
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