The Biggest Karate Myth DEBUNKED

Karate was NOT invented by farmers in Okinawa to defend against Japanese samurai. Neither was Kobudo. Martial arts was a privilege that only upper classes studied in Ryukyu kingdom. This included both armed and unarmed fighting methods from China. But everything changed in 1879, when Okinawa became a Japanese prefecture and the old caste system was abolished.

☯️ BIO: Jesse Enkamp a.k.a The Karate Nerd™ is a No. 1 Amazon Best-Selling Author, National Team Athlete, Keynote Speaker, Entrepreneur, Carrot Cake Lover & Founder of Seishin International - The World’s Leading Karate Lifestyle Brand.

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WARNING: The advice and movements shown in this video are for informational and educational purposes only. Consult a health professional before engaging in any exercise or martial arts program.

#KOBUDO #OKINAWA

[MG-bimq]

I’m going to start a martial art based on modern farming equipment. Like tractors, chainsaws, and combines.

[superbean]

Akira Kurosawa would be proud of such magnificent filmmaking

[someguy]

That samurai couldn’t even afford coconuts. He never stood a chance, smh.

[BWater-yqjx]

So all that makiwara training isn't so I can punch through Samurai armour?
Well THAT's disappointing... 😏

[slickx]

Lol. You and Oliver should do more “historical” re-enactments :)

[pogdawg]

Not only you'll learn the history of karate, you'll also learn the history of Okinawa japan.

[jamesnewman]

By far one of your most creative and comical creations. You and Oliver have a future in Hollywood😂😂😂😂😂

[Jamesfckoffscammers]

1:13 I recognize that scream in the background, it's usually followed by "Snake? Snake?? Snaaaake!!!" 😂

Metal Gear Solid reference incase anyone wonders. 😁

[frankbrown]

One of the interesting things i've noticed when comparing Okinawan kobudo, to Japanese kobudo, is the weapon distance. In my observation, if the Okinawans were practicing their arts, in order to fight samurai, they would've utilised weapons with a longer reach. Yet all of their weapons seem to be implemented much closer to the body in a defensive way.
The bo is a good example of this as it was a weapon utilised by both the Japanese and Okinawans, albeit in different ways. Okinawan methods seem to favour holding the bo around the centre, deflecting and striking from either end. Japanese bo-jutsu, tends to slide the bo through the hands, moving from one end to the other enabling maximum reach. This allow the user to maintain distance from an opponent, particularly giving an advantage when facing a swordsman.

There's a lot of romantasiation surrounding warrior history, but the reality was perhaps a lot more mundane. Okinawan fighting methods seem to be less about war and feudalism and more about everyday self defence, dealing with thugs and criminals.
Japanese martial arts, seem to be about war and politics, at the base level was a low level samurai, whose skills can be employed in use as a professional soldier and on the top level, an aristocrat whose skills prevent assassination attempts.

[arturoalvarezkawai]

Well, now this is quite interesting. I heard this story almost right from the beginning, and always believed it to be true. I even heard that the karate greeting "oss" (or "osu") meant "resist" and was supposed to be like a pledge to fight back and bring down the Japanese samurai regime. In any case, thanks, man. Really good video. And by they way, loved the cosplay.

[albertotroitimo]

Yes young man, you should debunk more myths, sharing your knowledges about martial arts and its history are hugely welcomed...Thanks

[patrickjoshua]

This is so cool and so cringe in the same time
I like it

[giovannip.]

Thank you for researching martial arts history. 'The Way' is not just about technique, how hard you strike, how well we defend ourselves but how we got there and came to the forms and techniques that exist today.

[YoukaiSlayer]

All in all you’re right, though I would say the whole myth is based off misunderstanding of history to were people started subbing in assumptions no thanks to instructors of questionable backgrounds or just being ignorant.

Like the samurai part I can understand because in 1609 the Satsuma domain in Japan did invade the Ryukyu Kingdom, using the claim of not being supportive of the Korean invasions by Toyotomi as one of the reasons. Which lead to the Ryukyu Kingdom becoming weird middleman or go between for Japan & China. Especially considering the isolationism practiced by the then Tokugawa shogunate. But as you stated the upper classes would have been primarily the students of martial arts or Tode(ti de?) while in such a situation the lower classes such as the farmers would have defended themselves but they wouldn’t be able to compete with such forces. If you think about the forces in the Sengoku period were like this depending on the standing of each feudal lord & how developed their domain was for military capabilities.

Now fast forward to 1879 Japan formally annexes the Kingdom . King Sho Tai was actually forced to abdicate & relocate to Tokyo, where he becomes apart of the peerage system, at the rank of what we in the West would call a Marquee/Marquis. Which makes sense because the royal family is a symbol to the citizens, so removing them from the nation helps secure control.

Interesting enough the Chinese at the time objected to this annexation that one of their officials asked former President Ulysses Grant to mediate the situation when he was on his goodwill mission tour in the region.

But like you said it’s a myth that Karate was developed against the samurai, when no it’s self defense for those who had the resources for the time consuming study of To de( karate) in a more civilian setting & for close quarters, especially close quarters.

As cool as kicking a Samurai off a horse looks, they did use arrows & spears. Which would have lead to someone being Skewered.

Thanks for another awesome video.

[otisbeck]

Okinawa is a hodgepodge of cultures. It is to Japan what Sicily is to Italy. Like Sicilian society, Okinawan culture is mainly agrarian (historically). Uchinaa is Okinawa's name in Okinawan. Karate is really Sino-Japanese (large part Chinese roots) as opposed to being merely modern Japanese.
A lot of the terminology in karate has Sino-Japanese origins. The Bo weapon, for example, has an alternate Sino-Japanese name Kun (Chinese Gun); one would see it in all the names of the various Bo kata i.e. Sakugawa No Kun.

[j-b.c.]

1st : just love your historical opening !
2nd : that explains so much... feels like the tale is the japanese version of the myth of shaolin temple burning and martial art spread in society afterward.

Thanks Jesse !

[wakanakapisihello]

Based on the opening scene high kicks to dismount cavalry would result in a nice "swish" sound... How long those samurai been mounted on sheep?

[claud]

I often wondered where all this comes from. I had assumed that the 'grassroots' movement thing was an attempt to legitimize an art that started from the ground up but it seems it was the other way around. I knew about the Chinese influence and the troubles Gichin Funakoshi had getting his art accepted on the mainland and I assumed the stories were appealing to them for some reason. We do know the styles were altered to accommodate Japanese sensibilities, feeling it was too 'thuggish' but that brings up the question of why they didn't attribute them to the old ruling classes. Were they still out of favor? Puzzling. But please continue with the real histories! It is nice to actually know something and not be educated by folklore.

[tjbjjtkd]

Thank you once again for educating us on the history of karate through Okinawa! I have been on a personal journey of rediscovering and revision of history, since so much we've learned has been left out or misinterpret.

[kagreenk]

Thank you for the valuable history lesson. The re-enactments were the best part!