These days, many people would argue that karate isn’t a form of martial arts. First, my response to these people is that it’s completely false. I’ve seen plenty of arguments as to why it’s not a martial art – all of them are misleading. So, let’s examine whether karate is a martial art.
Karate is a form of martial arts because it teaches effective fighting techniques and was first constructed for self-defense. Moreover, the people of Okinawa, an island in Japan, designed it in a time of war, since they wanted to learn self-defense, another characteristic of a martial art.
Some claim that karate wasn’t born by the military, which is what characterizes a martial art. However, I would argue it was, since the people of Okinawa created it in a time of war.
The people of Okinawa wanted to know self-defense by not using any weapons. Nonetheless, some karate forms also include weaponry, a common characteristic to a traditional martial art.
This article will examine and discuss the relation between karate and other martial arts. Additionally, I’ll prove once and for all that it’s a traditional fighting style-which was first created for the purpose of self-defense in times of war. All of these will help me prove my point.
Without further ado, let’s dive into my arguments.
Is Karate a Form of Martial Arts?
Many still claim that one of the most influential fighting styles worldwide isn’t a traditional martial art—that is: karate. To that, I’m not as inclined to respond directly because I know how much impact it had on the fighting world. Anyone who says otherwise: isn’t as educated in this realm.
Karate is a form of martial arts because it was created in times of war and for the military, a trait of a fighting style. Additionally, the people of Okinawa constructed it to teach themselves self-defense, another common trait of a fighting style.
The influence it had on the martial arts world-is enormous. Frankly, there aren’t enough words in the dictionary to express the influence it had on this area.
However, that’s not what’s important. What is truly vital information—is how many lives karate influenced. All of its trainees are people eager to improve themselves. Therefore, the impact this traditional fighting style had on so many of its trainees-is unimaginable.
Karate uses various strict methods to ensure its trainees go through a self-development process. For example, it uses sparring as a means of reducing one’s fear of fighting. For example, it’s not uncommon to spot martial arts trainees who are scared of fighting.
Finally, not only does its trainees self-defense, but it also develops character and its trainees’ physical shape. Today, developing your physical shape is unusual. We, as a society, have failed to ingrain such influential values to the new generations. Well, karate does that for us.
What Makes Karate Different From Other Martial Arts?
Today, there’s a variety of martial arts, and all of them seem to serve similar values and techniques. However, that’s not as accurate as what’s really occurring. Some fighting styles are constructed for many purposes. Therefore, before you choose which you’ll learn, it’ll be best if you examine more options.
Karate is different from other martial arts because of its focus on mental and physical strictness. The training pushes both the mental and physical boundaries of its practitioners every time. As a result, the values it ingrains are different from other fighting styles, which focus on other beliefs.
The influence and positive impact karate had on so many of its trainees-is stunning. All it takes to change the entire course of one’s life is to instill some values into one’s life.
For instance, many karate trainees report feeling more confident, with better self-esteem, and body functionality. Ask yourself: Will these traits improve my life? How will my life look with my mental and physical better constantly on the rise?
This is all it takes to change one’s life-and karate does it amazingly.
Other martial arts simply don’t do it as well as karate, a fantastic, traditional martial art. For example, Judo and Jiu-Jitsu don’t focus on ingraining values into their practitioners’ lives as much as our fighting style does.
There will be some exceptions, of course. So, some Jiu-Jitsu and Judo dojos will focus more on the values, but the number isn’t as high as all the karate schools out there doing that.
Is Karate Not a Martial Art?
As we’ve discussed thus far in the article, karate is a remarkable martial art, which does its job perfectly well. The values it instills in its trainees’ lives will inevitably positively impact the course of their lives.
Karate is a martial art because the people of Okinawa, an island in Japan, constructed it in a time of war. It was born out of a need – and that’s its purpose. Precisely, the people of Okinawa needed to know self-defense and that’s also karate’s purpose, to teach others how to fight fiercely.
Some people claim that karate isn’t a martial art because it wasn’t in military use, the entire point of martial arts. However, that’s simply untrue.
In fact, the people of Okinawa, the origin of karate, constructed and designed it to fill a need. They needed to learn self-defense, and they needed to do it quickly. As a result, they used karate to fill their purpose.
Today, many people study and practice it for many reasons, including self-improvement, improving their mental and physical health, and learning to fight. All of these are entirely valid reasons.
However, the fact that you can learn it to develop yourself-doesn’t mean it’s not a valid martial art. The opposite is true.
The positive influence of all martial arts, and karate in particular, have on their trainees-is astounding. Consequently, I can’t recommend learning one enough, as it’s a life-changing process.
Follow the link to an article of mine if you want to know which are the best martial arts for self-defense globally.
Final Words
To end this article, I want to emphasize how dear this topic is to me: the positive influence karate had on so many of its trainees can’t be described with mere words. I wish I had a number to show, but I don’t.
And still, learning karate or any other martial art will change your life. It’ll instill crucial values into your mindset and lifestyle, such as honesty, work-ethic, and simplicity. All of these will aid you in your life-journey.
It’s no secret that many people make fun of traditional fighting style, such as Judo, BJJ, or even karate, as they don’t understand them. They don’t know how many lives they have saved—so the only logical result is to make fun of it.
Despite these individuals, I hope you differentiate between what’s wrong and what’s accurate in today’s era of information.
Many will try to steer you away from success, since they’re afraid of it. However, you need to keep strong and follow what you think is most appropriate.
If you enjoyed reading this article, I encourage you to read another piece of mine on the topic of the belt order of karate. Understanding the ranks and how the meaning of the different colors-is vital if you want to learn it.