Roughly eight centuries ago, a new martial art called karate came into being on a subtropical island now known as Okinawa. On Friday, an Okinawan won the first ever Olympic gold medal in one of the modern sport’s premier events, the men’s kata.
By Simon Denyer and Julia Mio Inuma
TOKYO — Roughly eight centuries ago, a new martial art called karate came into being on a subtropical island now known as Okinawa. On Friday, an Okinawan won the first Olympic gold medal in men’s kata, one of the modern sport’s premier events.
“I’m very happy that I was able to make a mark in history,” said three-time world champion and now Olympic champion Ryo Kiyuna, speaking about his pride of bringing an Okinawan tradition to the wider world.
He was the first Olympic gold medalist ever from the southwestern island chain known for its sparkling blue seas and sandy beaches. But for the 31-year-old Kiyuna, there was no dramatic celebration after he won his gold medal contest. There was a quiet moment of contemplation, kneeling with his face down in a gesture of thanks.
Later, as he accepted his gold medal and stood for the national anthem, he clutched a framed photograph of his mother, who died two years ago at 57.
“After I won, I first wanted to tell my mom and also share my appreciation to everyone who helped me get here,” he said. “I wanted to tell my mom that I kept our promise.”
Karate traces its origins to the 14th century and the arrival of the first Chinese martial arts practitioners into what was then the independent Ryukyu kingdom. When samurai from Japan turned the kingdom into a puppet state in the 17th century and prohibited Okinawans from carrying swords, the martial art became an underground form of combat favored by young aristocrats as a form of secret resistance, known as “kara-te” or “Chinese hand.”
But as it developed, training soon focused on self-discipline, on restraint and on avoiding confrontation with a philosophy of “no first strike.” Later, the kanji characters for “kara-te” were changed to spell the phrase “empty hand.”
Karate only made its way onto mainland Japan in the 20th century and was transformed there, adopting the white robes and belts of the more popular discipline of judo and eventually turning an art form into a competition.
But its emergence as a global sport owes something to the American occupation of Japan after World War II. While Allied commander Gen. Douglas MacArthur swiftly banned military education and most martial arts in Japan, he left the less popular and lesser-known karate alone, giving it room to flourish.
Even more important was the extended occupation of Okinawa, which lasted until 1972; thousands of American military personnel and civilians developed a fascination with this exotic new form of self-defense and brought it into the global cultural mainstream.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/08/06/okinawa-ryo-kiyuna-olympic-gold-karate/
