by Joshua Peacock

Created on: October 17, 2009

Contrary to popular belief, Karate originated in Okinawa, not mainland Japan. Although Japan has its own Karate now, the source was the Okinawans. Karate is a synthesis of southern shaolin descendant kung fu styles from china, with the indigenous Okinawan martial art of Te ("hand"). These styles were mixed together as traders who knew martial arts exchanged martial knowledge. They soon spawned many different styles, which became the secret martial art of Okinawa, Karate. Karate once meant "China Hand" but the word meanings have been changed to mean "Empty Hand". Below are a list of the three major styles of Okinawan Karate, plus one popular system.

Shorin-ryu: Is a transliteration of the chinese word "Shaolin," which really shows it's roots as a chinese martial art. Shorin is a swift, straight-shooting martial art, which is very rigid. It relies on natural stances, and natural breathing and an arsenal of linear strikes, which shows its variation from Karate's white crane roots. A few major icons were Seito Matsumura, Ankoh Itosu, Choki Motobu and Shoshin Nagamine. Shorin-ryu now has hundreds of sub-styles.

Goju-ryu: The second major Okinawan style, created by Chojun Miyagi, litteraly means "Soft-Hard," symbolizing its synthesis of rigid and soft as well as linear and circular movements. Goju is different from Shorin-ryu in stance, structure and approach to fighting. Goju has a strict breathing system that is used during one of its characteristic forms, Sanchin, which is a tense, slow exercise to toughen the body and improve balance, among other things. This form can also be found, in a different incarnation, in the White Crane and other shaolin descendant styles, showing Karate's roots in the southern Chinese martial arts.

Uechi-ryu: Uechi-ryu was founded by Kanei Uechi, and has a heavy use of crane techniques, as well as tiger and dragon strikes as well. It also has the sanchin kata, like Goju, but it was modified by its founder to fit the system. It also has a strict breathing system, as well as structure and fighting approach, which is much like the crane styles in that one parries first and then strikes. Some of Uechi-ryu kata, like seisan, are interestingly open handed adaptions of sai kata.

There is also another popular Okinawan Karate style called Isshin-ryu, developed and founded by Tatsua Shimabuku, and is a synthesis of Shorin-ryu and Goju-ryu. Isshin ryu is characterized by its heavy use of the straight punch, whereas virtually every other style of Karate uses the horizontal punch as its main strike. It borrows from both Shorin-ryu and Goju-ryu kata, including Sanchin from the latter, and the Shorin version of Naihanchi (which was modified by Shimabuku, however, as well as the sanchin kata).

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