Shotokan Karate White Headband

The roots of traditional karate began somewhere in the distant past with elements of unarmed fighting methods from China and Japan coming together to be shaped by the unique culture and people of a small group of islands known as Okinawa. Situated geographically and sociologically at the halfway point between two great cultures, Okinawans developed a strong fighting spirit, which allowed them to exist for centuries as a culture distinct from their stronger neighbors. During the 17th and early 18th centuries, first under its own central rulers and then later under clans from the main islands of Japan, a small ruling elite outlawed the possession of weapons by the general population. The secret study of weaponless fighting, or te as it was called, became one of the only means native Okinawans had to protect themselves from heavily armed warriors and brigands.