Karate History

• Karate was first introduced to the United States in the early 1960s.arts martiaux 3 image by Nathalie P from Fotolia.com
  
  As early as 1000 B.C., the unarmed combat form known as vajramushti was practiced by the Indian warrior class, which was later brought to China where they adopted some of the fighting art, according to Robin Rielly, author of "Karate Basics." Bodhidharma, and Indian religious figure, was born to the Kshartriya caste in India. After his teacher died he traveled to China around A.D. 520 and eventually began keeping monks healthy and fit by teaching them vajramushti.
  
  The Shaolin monks became skilled and known fighters of self defense which was later known as Shaolin ch'uan fa. The ch'uan fa system developed more throughout China during the next several centuries and many different varieties evolved with kicking and hand techniques, along with linear and circular movements. The development of karate as it's known today began on Okinawa in the 1700's. In 1902, the first serious public acknowledgment of the Okinawan art developed when karate master Ankoh Itosu began teaching karate for physical education in the first middle school.
  
  In 1930, Kenwa Mabuni began teaching karate in Japan, which combined elements of his teachers and was named Shito Ryu. In the 1920s, karate schools developed the system of prearranged sparring and then free-sparring as a regular part of training. World War II had a devastating effect on Japanese and Okinawan karate, as many schools were destroyed and instructors were killed. The Japan Karate Association was organized in 1948, which revitalized the art and developed a competitive sport.
  
  

Karate in the United States

• Karate was first introduced to Los Angeles in the mid 1950s when Tsutomo Oshima arrived. In the early 1960s other instructors from Japan and Okinawa helped spread their art in the United States. In 1959 karate was brought to the New York City area and in 1960 it was taught in Massachusetts.
  
  The three primary categories of karate that grew in the United States were classical or traditional, semi-classical and new art. Traditional karate is when organizations practice karate as close to the original style as possible. Semi-traditional karate has a basis in traditional karate but does not adhere to the original techniques and standards. And new art is defined as a combination of gymnastics, dance and power contests.
  
  

Kickboxing History

• Kickboxing was first introduced to the city of Los Angeles in 1974.Kickboxing 13 image by Alfredo Panini from Fotolia.com
  
  Full-contact karate, which later became known as kickboxing, was first introduced in Los Angeles in September 1974 by Mike Anderson, according to Eddie Cave, author of "Kickboxing: The Essential Guide to Mastering the Art." After it gained popularity in Los Angeles, it was then brought to Europe by a close friend of Anderson, George Bruckner. Bruckner eventually promoted the first European kickboxing championship in Germany in 1976 and two years later promoted the first world championship in West Berlin with 18 countries competing.
  
  

Kickboxing Trial and Error

• The fighters who participated in the sport of kickboxing came from various different ranks of karate or other types of martial arts training. They discovered that certain techniques practiced outside of the ring were not being executed to their full potential while inside of the ring during a fight. The fighters found that their punches and kicks, which held a direct correlation to the original form of karate, were not effective during a fight. After some trial and error, the fighters began to adopt techniques of western professional boxing. The full-contact karate fighters then began attending boxing gyms to learn the tricks of the trade for their 10 rounds of fighting. The new conditioning that the fighters took on improved their kickboxing, which made the sport more powerful.
  
  

Differences Between Karate and Kickboxing

• Karate is practiced as a way for an individual to protect himself, not as a means to harm another person. But it can also be used as a tool of protection when a person is directly threatened.
  
  Kickboxing on the other hand is used as a full-contact, stand-up fighting sport, which is utilized as a combat form of martial arts. The idea of kickboxing is to have an effective fighting technique that could be used for close-combat fighting in the streets or in a ring.