Karate, A Martial Art?

First, this is simply my personal theory derived from my studies of the plentiful luminaries of the systems of fighting, combatives and martial styles. Second, I will be trying to hypothesize about this subject as it relates to the ancestry of what we call today martial arts. Third, there is no real bibliography that I can attribute to this particular post because the one I have on hand is incomplete to gain a true measure of my reasoning.

First, karate or empty hand is a farily new label used to describe something that was born of the Okinawan system sometimes referred to as "Ti or Toudi." On Okinawa it was the indigenous system of protection practiced. It began to gain separateness due to the practitioners and where or what region they lived, i.e. toudi to shuri, tomari and naha-ti. The naming, in that time was merely to differentiate the systems by the villages in which they were practiced. 

No where in the tenuous and incomplete history of Okinawa was karate referred to as a martial art. None that I could find over the last few decades except the use of the term by modern authors and practitioners influenced greatly by the Japanese Budo influences. I actually believe that Okinawan karate was not included as a martial art or system until Funakoshi Sensei brought Okinawan karate to the mainland in Japan where Japanese influences resulted in changes. 

Even then, I don't believe that karate, even changed to suit the Japanese, was included as a Japanese martial art. I get the feel that it didn't occur until the late 1800's and early 1900's. I also suspect that the western influences of the fifties and later years simply lumped any and all Asian fighting systems be they combative or civil defense or sport into one easy title, "Martial Arts." Even today, there is contention as to what is truly a martial art or martial jutsu, etc. and that disparity will remain simply because there is no real historical proof.

Karate was also referred to as "China Hand" due to the Chinese influences that was absorbed into the Okinawan system of Ti/Toudi to become "China Hand." Then is is fairly clear when it changed and by whom to mean "Empty Hand."

Then there is the ongoing contention that karate is for combat and karate is a civil self-defense system. Stories abound as to how Ti/Toudi was necessary to the disarmament of Okinawan citizenry in the 1600's by Japanese occupation and even earlier by the Okinawan King. There are hints that Ti/Toudi was used by the Kings security or guards to protect the Kings court, etc. but I believe that was mostly the system of kobudo. Kobudo, in my view was a separate system of combatives that simply got bundled with Ti/Toudi/China Hand and then Empty Hand for convenience since the kobudo practitioner, who relied on said weaponry over empty hands much like modern military persons, also held effectiveness in the empty handed system. 

Even in the sixties and seventies almost all systems of fighting/combatives were lumped under one heading of karate until modern practices created yet another label for the arts or systems, i.e. MMA, etc. Even full contact karate of the sixties and seventies were lumped under the title karate but actually were more in line with Kick Boxing now practiced generally as Thai Kick Boxing, etc. 

In reality I believe karate is not a true martial art but simply the indigenous system of self-protection from Okinawa modified as other cultures came in contact with the Okinawan economy, the shipping industry they relied on heavily, such as, dominantly, the Chinese influences. Maybe those influences resulting in changes to where it was called China Hand resulted in Ti/Toudi being included as martial arts due to the possibility that the Chinese bundled their China Hand systems, i.e. Chuan Faa, Kung Fu, etc. into a general heading of martial arts. 

In the end it may not matter since historically, i.e. the 1900's and now the 2000's, almost all Asian systems are now bundled under and referred to as martial arts if for no other reason than convenience. I tend to call my karate a martial art or martial system. I tend to lean heavily toward its applications as a civil self-defense model. I also believe that the current military effort is to incorporate the more sportive Asian systems into a combative one to replace the old hand-to-hand system to move forward into a more modern fighting force (the military really need to analyze what they have as a military martial art system so they can test out the more sportive beginnings and morph them into a more combative one). It is a good beginning and destined to go far for the military.

Karate as a Martial Art? Not really traditionally but today, yea we tend to include it with true martial arts. Oh, in closing, remember even the Japanese didn't start calling it a martial art until the end of the feudal samurai period where jutsu was forced to change toward an art or "do (doah) or way." That in itself is another whole posting.

ADDENDUM dtd October 18, 2013 at 10:56 hrs.

"Too dangerous for use in sporting contests, Okinawan karate has been unaffected by the many difficulties that the introduction of competitions created. Sport should be fun; but when sporting reputations, national prestige, and personal pride are at stake, passions run high and both common sense and good manners are soon abandoned ... Okinawans value tradition, and both Okinawan tradition and culture dictate that karate is a martial art and not a game." Isamu Arakaki Sensei