The post-World War II era saw karate rapidly transform and spread globally, especially with the influx of American GIs and Allied troops stationed in Okinawa, who took the art back to their homelands, making it a global phenomenon by the 1960s.
Sportification of Karate:
• This unprecedented proliferation led to the worldwide development of karate tournaments.
• Concerns for competitor safety led to a significant reduction in the practical effectiveness of karate techniques.
• Most damaging techniques were banned from tournament sparring, including eye gouges, joint dislocations, neck-breaking, and strikes to the groin, throat, spine, and other lethal targets.
• All joint locks, throws, and pins (other than foot-sweeps) were also forbidden.
• Acceptable scoring techniques were limited to punches to the front and sides of the body and head, and kicks targeting the body and head. Kicks and strikes below the belt, or to the spine/back of the head (among the most effective for self-defence), were prohibited, and penalties were imposed for excessive contact. This meant that the most useful and effective karate techniques were excluded from competition.
• The International Olympic Committee recognised karate as a sports discipline for the 2020 Olympic Games, marking a culmination of its evolution from a martial art of self-defence to a sporting game over about 100 years.
• Competitive sparring was encouraged by offshoots like Gōjū-Kai, founded by Yamaguchi Gogen’s eldest son, Yamaguchi Gosei Norimi, contrasting with the traditional Gōjū-ryū curriculum.
• However, Okinawan karate masters like Nagamine Shoshin expressed concern over Japan’s arbitrary standardisation and alteration of Okinawan kata, arguing that Okinawa, as the birthplace of karate, had the responsibility to maintain pure traditional kata.
Commercialisation and Modern Styles:
• The post-war period also saw karate become a commercial product. After WWII, financially hard-pressed Okinawans realised karate’s commercial value and opened numerous private gyms.
• The modern era has seen tournaments, especially in the USA, move from medals to monetary prizes for winners and runners-up.
• The competitive dimension and commercial exploitation gave rise to eclecticism and a departure from authentic Okinawan karate.
• Many teachers today are described as capable of little more than mimicking and handing on what they were taught, rationalising this lack of creativity with the doctrine that nothing must change, turning “traditional” karate into a rigid practice. The development of karate from the mid-twentieth century onwards has involved the loss of much that is valuable and the introduction of much that is not.
Development of Specific Styles and Organisations (Post-1960s):
• Gōjū-Kai (剛柔会): Yamaguchi Gogen’s offshoot of Gōjū-ryū, encourages competitive sparring and performs traditional kata slightly differently. Yamaguchi Gogen (1907-1989), appointed by Chōjun Miyagi, promoted Gōjū-ryū on mainland Japan, and his name became almost synonymous with Japanese Gōjū-ryū. He is credited with developing and introducing jiyu-kumite (free sparring) into the karate-dō curriculum in Japan, making it comparable to Judo and Kendo. His jiyu-kumite was close-quarter fighting with low kicks, throws, and circular striking techniques, appearing very realistic.
• Jundokan (順道館): Founded by Miyazato Ei’ichi (宮里栄一) (1922–1999) in Asato, Naha City, in 1957. He was accepted by many in the Gōjū community (including Miyagi’s family) as Miyagi’s successor and continued teaching in Miyagi’s garden dojo after his death. Miyazato is recognised for his tireless efforts to develop and expand Okinawa Gōjū-ryū karate-dō worldwide.
• Isshin-ryū (一心流): Founded by Tatsuo Shimabuku (島袋 龍夫) (1908–1975). He began studying Matsumura’s version of Shōrin-ryū with Chōtoku Kyan around 1931, learning Seisan, Naihanchi, Wansu, Chinto, and Kūsankū kata, as well as bo kata (Tokumine no Kun) and sai proficiency. He also studied with Chōjun Miyagi and Chōtoku Kyan, learning Sanchin, Seisan, Seiunchin, Wansu and Chinto kata from them. His system incorporated various kobudo kata as well, such as Chatan Yara no Sai and Hama Higa no Tuifa.
• American Kempo/Kempō: A broad martial art that has gained recognition in recent decades. Ed Parker founded the International Kempō Karate in 1963 or 1964.
• Taekwondo (태권도): After 1945, it positioned itself as an ancient native Korean art, though academic research strongly suggests it developed from Japanese karate during Japan’s colonial period in Southeast Asia in the 20th century. Taekwondo, as practised within the International Taekwondo Federation, bears the clear imprint of Shotokan karate as part of its ancestry. It became a full-medal sport in the Olympics from 2000 onwards.
• Urban/USA Gōjū: A synthesis developed by Peter Urban, combining what he learned from Richard Kim, Oyama Masutatsu, and Yamaguchi Gogen, with his own innovations. He retained the name Gōjū and traditional kata names but composed new kata and extensively revised standard ones, resistant to the idea of a fixed curriculum. The kata he regarded as cornerstones of USA Gōjū are listed.
• Ryukyu Kobudo (琉球古武道): Taira Shinken (1897-1970) was a pivotal figure in modern kobudo. He formed the International Karate and Kobudo Coalition (Kokusai Karate Kobudo Renmei) in 1963 and published Ryukyu Kobudo Taikan (An Encyclopedia of Ancient Ryukyuan Martial Arts) in 1964, detailing the discipline’s evolution, some kata, and biographies of masters.
• Efforts to Preserve Originality: Despite the global spread and changes, some figures like Shoshin Nagamine emphasised the need to preserve kata. He articulated concerns about the “miserable condition” of shitei kata designated by the Japan Karate Federation (JKF), arguing that Okinawa must maintain its pure traditional kata and pass them down to posterity. Efforts by researchers like Dr. Hermann Bayer aim to understand the original and pragmatic approach to karate, arguing that changes made after its arrival on mainland Japan in the 1920s transformed it to the point where it no longer reflected its original functionality. The “Never Changing Kata Principle” is critical to the effectiveness of genuine Okinawan karate.
Ongoing Debates and Challenges:
• The contemporary culture of karate is seen by some as having deteriorated, losing valuable aspects and adopting superficial ones.
• The shift from individualised, secretive instruction to large, regimented classes and standardised curricula has been noted.
• There’s a constant political squabbling that “infects the culture of modern karate,” making it difficult to discern truth, for example, regarding Chōjun Miyagi’s true inheritor.
• The history of karate as a whole is described as “more than ordinarily difficult” due to complex origins and historiography.
• The core argument is that Okinawan karate, with its clear intention of self-protection, integrated foreign knowledge as an improvement, without sacrificing its essence. However, modern sports karate derivations are sometimes seen as not qualifying as a martial art due to their changed purpose and form.
• Some believe that the true spirit of karate, if it is to be kept alive, is believed to reside in humility and obscurity, practised by anonymous minorities and individuals with imagination, creativity, and commitment, away from commercial temptations.
•For others, they accept that karate brings purpose, focus, meaning, and joy to many people, however they practice it. To them, everyone has their own path (‘do’) and imposing a purist version of karate breaks from the true original intent of many old masters – that karate is a journey for self-improvement.
Karate Kata Step By Step 