How Japanese / Okinawan Is Your Karate?

[Harkon72]

My Karate is Okinawan, it has developed since it left there but it's root is authentic. My Aikido is Japanese, my Sensei was there for 10 years. My Ninpo is a mix of Japanese budo and western combat arts studied and taught by military veterans and gypsy families. I'm studying Aikido at the moment and I visit my home island to train with my friends at Ninpo, I always fall back on my karate as this is my parent style.

[devil dog]

Is the use of the word “Karate” exploited?

Yes definitely. I love when you ask someone what they study and they say Karate. Mind boggling why they do not know what style they are learning.

I know that TKD and Karate have – in the most part - merged into one in the US, but a recent thread about terminology of Japanese techniques and mental approach has lead me to think about how sincerely “Japanese” most karate clubs are these days in terms of their approach and pedagogy.

I do not agree with this. Tang Soo Do and TKD do use Karate to describe their art and you do see signs saying Karate but as others have stated this is I believe more for name recognition rather than a merge.

Traditional arts like those I have studied had nothing to do with Korean arts. I can't speak for their systems but I have not seen a merge.

I know there are some strong objections on this board to using Japanese language / expressions as a primary way to relay the teachings of arts like Karate, but just wondered whether things had moved on a little?

Most traditional styles use the Japanese language to describe the techniques. However I have taken arts that use only english as well.

I believe it's more a matter of tradition but if you do not wish to learn a second language there are plenty of schools that do not use or seriously ddown play the use of Japanese.

As for me I do not mind it. I can take or leave it either way.

[RAM18]

I would say mine is still quite Okinawan. We use the Pinan sayings rather than the translated Hinan for our katas. We bow and then asked to mokso to clear our minds. That said use Japanese for our instruction such as turning and basic movements.

Personally i like that but i'm in the UK and i think that a lot of schools still hold those true.

[sensei8]

Is the use of the word “Karate” exploited?

Does anyone here think that it's done on purpose with malicious intent, more often or not?

[vantheman]

Is the use of the word “Karate” exploited?

Does anyone here think that it's done on purpose with malicious intent, more often or not?

I don't know if the intent is ever malicious if the purpose is to try and get students to look into joining. At this point "Karate" has been generalized to refer to almost any martial art, but I don't think anyone is trying to use the term to intentionally convince people they are learning a different art than they actually are. Sure it's exploited in that styles (such as "Kempo Karate" which has VERY limited amounts of Karate in it) will utilize the familiar term to advertise, but I think if a student is unaware of the style they're studying, it is because of their own ignorance (does anyone here think a legit instructor would lie if asked about what style he teaches?). I believe that more malice will come from McDojos calling their watered down art "karate," but I don't think we can say that is the same as taekwondo schools calling it Karate for publicity.

[Wastelander]

Our style is a known style of Okinawan karate, and belt ranks in our dojo will be recognized in the honbu dojo in Naha. I would say that is pretty legitimately "Okinawan karate." That said, the instructors at our dojo bring in a variety of other training experiences and knowledge, which give our karate a different flavor. Some of those experiences are other Okinawan karate systems, but others aren't. That doesn't make it something other than Okinawan, in my opinion, because Okinawan karate has always been an amalgam of people's experiences with a variety of arts.

We follow some Japanese and Okinawan traditions, but we aren't Japanese or Okinawan people, and we don't pretend to be. There is a mixture of Japanese, Okinawan, and American culture in our dojo etiquette. Again, I don't see this as a problem because I'm not tied down to practicing strict adherence to a single culture.

[sensei8]

Both, Soke and Dai-Soke were born and raised in Okinawa...therefore, I'd say Shindokan is very Okinawan.

[Shizentai]

Both, Soke and Dai-Soke were born and raised in Okinawa...therefore, I'd say Shindokan is very Okinawan.

Indeed! You can't get much closer than that.

The instructor of my instructors grew up in Okinawa, and never even traveled outside of there until he was already middle-aged. Yet because that Okinawan man's name is Gichin Funakoshi, my karate is not considered "Okinawan," even by students in the US that study goju ryu but are 6 generations removed from Okinawan instructors. I think that this is very interesting. After all, all karate (as I use the term) passed through Okinawa at some point.

The common usage of "Okinawan Karate" and "Japanese karate" as I have heard it seems basically to just exclude traditional shotokan from every other traditional ryu. Why do we do this? "Okinawan" ryu are so very different! I think this is an interesting way of describing things, as the length of time between Funakoshi leaving Okinawa and other ryu spreading to the mainland of Japan was not that great, within one generation if I'm not mistaken.

I think it would be more meaningful to use a term that indicates stylistic differences, not that it's anyone's choice to change or anything. Just a meandering thought. I'll stop now.

But yes, in my dojo I often speak in Japanese, not just for commands, but in casual conversation as well. We are fortunate to have a strong Japanese community in my home town, which makes this possible. I like Okinawan Japanese dialect, though I don't know of it much yet. I'm more comfortable in mainland Kansai and Kanto dialects.