What Happened to Karate?

 There’s been a lot of online discussion lately about what has happened to karate, always from the perspective of degeneration. Clearly, karate has become diminished and lost something since its Golden Age, right? (I haven’t seen it specified, but I think this Golden Age is either the 1960’s-1970’s when karate was taking the West by storm or possibly the 1860’s-1870’s when it was a pure backyards-and-graveyards art for self-protection from thugs and pirates.) Today everyone thinks karate is for children. No one thinks it is deadly or powerful anymore. Thanks Daniel LaRusso!

If you can’t tell, I’m on the opposite side here. I think karate training today is the best it has ever been. We are living in the karate Golden Age right now! The art has grown, it has been refined, but still has preserved its spirit. Even more importantly, I think students and teachers are more empowered in their training today than they ever have been.

Of course there are problems. I don’t think every single aspect of the karate world is great. Some have strayed far from the path as I see it, but by and large, I see a karate landscape that is vital and thriving.

Here are just a few parts of the karate world that jump out to me as being clearly better –

·       Information is available.

Blogs like this one and a million others. YouTube channels and karate forums and subreddits and Facebook groups. I suppose now even things like Patreon. But even the low-tech choices are better than ever – books, modern ones from Western practitioners and historical ones that have been translated. There is a wealth of information available to the karate practitioner – and some of it is even good (zing!).

But the benefit I see here is that the karate teacher has a range of materials to help them learn more about their art and other arts, which helps to solidify their understanding of what they teach. It helps them continue their martial arts journey. And while I’m not keen on beginners diving onto the internet to learn karate stuff, there is a great benefit (for the student) in not being beholden to their Sensei as the single fount of wisdom or as having the final word.

·       Teaching styles are much better and formal curriculums exist.

I love having a curriculum to follow as a teacher and a student. Formal curriculums make it easier for the students to learn and easier for the teachers to teach. That’s why educators the world over structure their courses in this way. The first generation of karate pioneers (Miyagi, Funakoshi, etc.) did an immense service to the art by formalizing a curriculum. Obviously, you still need to teach that material to students, but having a map makes it much more likely that you’ll reach your destination.

I also think the incorporation of additional teaching styles has been a boon to the art. In the past you had to deal with serious language and cultural barriers – both from the Okinawan Sensei and from the first generation of mainly ex-military Westerners. Drill drill drill. Don’t ask questions. Sweep the temple for three years and then I’ll teach you. Very Confucianist. As a Westerner, having the art taught in a Western teaching style makes everything so much easier. My impression is that even Sensei in the East are becoming more willing to talk, or write books, or otherwise spread knowledge outside of the strict dojo drilling that dominated the 60’s and 70’s. That is GOOD and it helps the art survive.

·       General health and fitness knowledge, including medicine and first aid, make karate training healthier and safer than ever before.

There are many karate athletes that live and breathe in this space, but the general practitioner benefits from the increased knowledge and awareness too. Warm up before working out. Rest and recovery. The benefits of weight-lifting and aerobic exercise. I saw a video online a few weeks ago where the teacher was purposely kicking students in the back of the head so that they could “learn what being knocked out” feels like. While that video was messed up, I’m glad to report the comments were loudly ridiculing such a practice. I am sure there are many similar “traditional” practices that have fallen out of favor because they are ineffective and dangerous.

·       Bunkai is a thing.

I don’t agree with every bunkai I see out there (Just read my other posts), but the fact that bunkai is a common term and kata movements are often analyzed is a massive success in my book. Even Shotokan and other Japanese arts have jumped on the bunkai train. I think this makes karate both more effective and closer to its roots than ever before. Clearly a step in the right direction.

·       Sparring is a thing.

From full-contact to point sparring to various “pressure testing” drills, the karate world really recognizes the need to have this unscripted resisting training. I’d argue that most karate schools engage in sparring of some sort and that the number of schools moving away from only point sparring is increasing. I have had a lot of fun sparring in class, but there has been a growing focus on training against a resisting opponent that I think is truly valuable. And not just in the context of free sparring, but focused drilling of certain techniques or certain strategies that absolutely increase the practitioner’s skill.

·       Cross Training is a thing.

While this has always been around in the karate world, cross training is easier and more supported than ever. Obviously it is easier today to find another martial arts disciple or an MMA gym to train at in addition to your karate just because those places have proliferated and the internet helps you find them, but it doesn’t seem as frowned upon as I remember it being in the 1990’s. Different arts can work together well or can help the student progress in new ways. There also seems to be a general acknowledgement that focusing on one art exclusively to build a “base” is more effective than doing it all at once.

I’d also point out that non-martial training in addition to karate is so common that it is often not mentioned. In the 1960’s, people didn’t jog and weightlifting meant bodybuilding. Today it’s very common to have karate-ka go for a run or lift weights as part of their general fitness. And that improved fitness will also improve your karate.

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So there you have it. Six ideas on why I think training in karate today is better than it has ever been. Maybe next time you hear someone bemoan the diminished state of karate you can ask them why they think that. If it’s based on what people who don’t train in karate say about karate… well that probably shouldn’t bear much weight for practitioners.