The Different Styles of Karate - By: Justin Davis

Most of us have thought that karate is just one style of martial art. However, there are many styles of karate. Let us talk about some of these styles.

Goju-Ryu Karate

Goju means hard soft, Ryu means school, altogether hard-soft school of Karate. This is among the four original Okinawan styles of karate. This technique was founded by Chojun Miyagi who trained with the Chinese masters of White Crane style Kung Fu. This was known Naha-Te since it originated Naha, which is now Okinawa.

Goju-Ryu Karate has remained untainted through the generations because its tradition has remained true to the lessons of Chojun Miyagi. In fact, you won't see this in tournaments. This is mainly for practical self-defense. This includes a soft blocking technique when confronted by a hard strike. Thus, a strike is deflected rather than met head-on with another force. Correspondingly, when attacking, they use a hard body part against a soft target or a soft body part against a hard target. The heel of the palm (soft) is used against, say, the head (hard) and the shin (hard) is pitted against the groin (soft).

Shotokan Karate

Originating from Japan, this style is characterized by long and deep stances and linear movements. This has minimal circular movements unlike Okinawan styles. It doesn't have supplementary exercises for body conditioning like Goju-Ryu. The primary focus to Shotokan are tournaments and point sparring.

Wado-Ryu Karate

This was created by Otsuka Hironori from his knowledge of Shotokan, Jujitsu, grappling, and Tai Sabaki. This does not have body-strengthening exercises. It prefers body movements (Tai Sabaki) to evade attacks.

Shito-Ryu Karate

It was developed by Okinawan master Kenwa Mabuni from the combination of kata and techniques of Naha-Te and Shuri-Te styles. The features of Shito-Ryu Karate are square-on stances and linear strikes. It also teaches how to use traditional Okinawan weapons like sai, nunchaku, and tonfa.

Kenpo Karate

Kenpo is literally translated into the law of the fist. Like Goju-Ryu, it also traces its roots back to the Shaolin monks of China. Training with Chuan Fa masters, To-De Sakugawa later developed Shuri-Te from which Kenpo was born. Kenpo emphasizes both the use of the hands and feet equally. It also practices Kata or forms. Kenpo introduced the wearing of black Gis for higher belts because they want to emphasize it as a "battle art." Some practitioners even mix black tops and white pants or white tops and black pants.

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