Extending karate

Some join karate to achieve a rank, others join for friendship, others for self-defense, and then some join and realize they want to bear the torch and not let karate fall by the wayside as an art.  This blog will discuss the long-term transmission of knowledge and how we can continue to support karate to the new generation.  

Karate is an art that originated from Okinawa.  The islands of Okinawa were renowned for not letting their training, secrets, or marital arts become known.  The original masters traveled to Japan during the early 1900s and began to showcase karate to mainland Japan.  Japan adopted the martial and built it into the training of its military.  After World War Two, Japan trained foreigners, and karate began its journey in the world post World Wars.  Karate migrated to the US in the 1960s and began to grow.  

The popularity of karate in the US was in the 1960’s, and 70’s.  As the art continued to flourish, the elders began to teach a lineage of students that taught the modern generation.  Returning to our original statement, some learn karate to be torch bearers and continue to progress in karate.  With this in mind, some students have worked hard to research, study, and practice karate to take it to the next generation. 

In the early 2020s, all martial arts ran into COVID, forcing the closures of many dojos, some of which have not reopened.   Students study the art, catalog the events, and bring the art to the online world.  This transition was fought by elders in the 2000s but became inevitable with what was occurring in the world.  Some videos highlight the historical aspects of karate.  Videos are often in black or white from the early sessions.  One of the aspects of historical studying is to modernize the art to allow it to move forward to the new generation.  

Historical students tend to document or write down what they have learned through time.  Many of these first journals are kept and saved on personal computers. The idea of adding videos, and information to websites, vaults, or other areas shows the continued movement of knowledge in a way that can be transmitted. The new transmission of knowledge is through videos and salvaging the history and readings while uploading them online.  Students should continue to highlight their journeys through documentation while recording as time permits.   

Karate's future lies in those students who help progress the art forward.