Karate Term Confusion Rectified in these Books

  Some believe that “karate is just karate “― but nothing can be farther from the truth.

We find three different variations of this art today:

(a) the genuine Okinawan combat or “self-protection” version,

 (b) the “Japanized” recreational, or “self-perfection” version,

  and (c) the sports version for competition. 

In all other Japanese martial arts, there are different terms for these different versions. For instance, there is the term ju-jutsu, [or ju-jitsu], for the original combat version used by samurai in ancient Japan, and there is the new term judo for its modern sports variation. 

However, we do not see different terms in today’s karate, and

the same term is used for all versions. 

 In order to distinguish today’s three significantly different karate types, we should use the three different terms below:

(a) Classic “karate-jutsu” [initially called Ti in Okinawan language and Te in Japanese], is bugei-karate for the civilian Okinawan self-protection version, created 600+ years ago, and practiced secretly on the island.

 (b) Old-style “karatedo” for the “Japanized” self-perfection version; it is budo-karate to improve character, health, and as a way of life. Karatedo was created on mainland Japan shortly before WWII to support the nation's spiritual mobilization. Before the 1920s, karate was unknown on mainland Japan. 

(c) Modern “sports-karate” for the art’s new competition versions, which were created about 60 years ago, in the 1950s, hence some decades after mainland Japan’s old-style [non-competition] karatedo. Sports-karate is as far away from Okinawan karate as javelin-throwing or fencing are away from their initial martial use.