Читать книгу Complete Shotokan Karate. History, Philosophy, and Practice онлайн

13 страница из 39

Finally, a practical section including chapters on karate etiquette, kumite (training drills), and kata (set sequences of moves) is included.

(Overleaf) Do mu kyoku (No limitation for life)

Calligraphy by Masatoshi Nakayama, presented to members of the East Coast Karate Association.

Note: Oriental names are given surname first, except in the case of Japanese living in modern times, whose surnames are given last.

Chinese place-names are rendered in the pinyin system of ro-manization; other Chinese words (personal names, traditional martial arts terms, etc.) are given in their traditional spellings.

1

The History of Karate

At some point in man's ancient history he found it necessary to defend himself continuously from his fellows. This need for self-defense was usually a collective enterprise, as man did not live alone, but in extended families or small tribes. Eventually, these groups became large enough so that individual roles were defined. In primitive societies could be found men whose main duties were the making of weapons, hunting, or other related tasks. Throughout the feudal periods of history, wars between neighboring groups were carried on mainly by members of the aristocracy, and sometimes by peasants, who laid aside their farm implements and picked up weapons to defend their native soil.