Karate - Japanese Or Okinawan
In Karate-Do Kyohan G. Funakoshi refers to karate as being unique to Okinawa and an Okinawan martial art but then later in the book mentions karate is a Japanese art. Should karate be referred to as being a Japanese martial art or an Okinawan martial art, or something different? Maybe this depends on the style, but what about Shotokan karate? What are your thoughts on this?

Okinawan or Japanese
You will never get a clear answer to this. The Okinawan techniques (formed as a means of defence) would have been based on some techniques already in existence but not classified as a system at that time. Some of these techniques were taken onboard by the Japanese but would only have complemented existing techniques. The historians will tell you they all learnt originally from the Chinese,but the Chinese learnt it from an Indian Monk. Where did they learn it from ? Man has used many self defence techniques from the time they started to walk this earth. They quickly learnt what worked (if they didnt its a good chance they died) If you look at the war dances of Indiginous people from all around the world most of the contain a horse stance yet they had no knowledge of horses.(eg: Maori,Fijian,Samoan,Tongan,Aborigine,etc.) They also had very strong weapons skills. The only answer you might be able to come to a consensus on,is which was the first system,but everybody will disagree on that as well,probably due to their own bias towards the style they train. If you are happy with the style you are training in and getting the benifits you seek,then it doesnt matter who was first. Shuto

Hi Shuto yes I agree, there must have been fighting arts that developed along side with the first 'people' on earth, would be hard to say what was classed as an actual martial art and was taught from one person to another/others in a systemised way, sure is interesting though but probably no one correct answer as you say. I've seen examples of martial arts evidence from ancient Africa in the form of certain artefacts, paintings in caves, hieroglyphics etc I believe some of the old African martial arts are termed Nuba, Hikuta and Sebekah however I’m sure there were systems before that. Perhaps if what is classed as a martial art and what isn't is better defined/agreed upon then it may be traceable to see where the oldest 'evidence' of martial arts comes from. However agreeing on what is a martial art would be no easy task, a fighting system of techniques taught from someone skilled in such techniques to another/others, does the system of techniques need to have a name??? Maybe a 'slightly' easier question would be which is the oldest martial art that still exists? Tell you what I’ll open a new thread for it :lol: prob will make things easier and we can keep this focused on 'karate' and its origin however again as you mentioned that’s not straight forward. I think with reference to 'traditional karate' the Asian world can definitely be credited with its systemisation and formation to something 'similar' to what we see today, but where should get credit for 'karate,' is traditional karate (in the main) an Okinawan art, Japanese, Chinese, Indian...? Personally I think it’s between Japan and Okinawa especially the more mainstream karate such as traditional Shotokan etc. Karate is known to have 'developed' in Okinawa as a mixture of Okinawan fighting techniques and techniques from China so I think its safe to say Okinawa is the home of karate, but then again... it further developed in Japan and most of the styles refer to Japanese named techniques, traditions and instructors and it was Japan who helped spread the art to the rest of the world. However was this just due to the power of Japan compared to Okinawa at the time? Does that matter? Or should Okinawa be the primary place referred to when we think of karate rather than Japan? Or should both countries be equally credited? I know different karate styles have slightly different lineage so it's not a straight forward question, plus Okinawa is now part of Japan lol but what do you class the styles of Goju, Uechi, Shito, Wado, Shorin, Shorei and Shotokan as?