The History of Karate and the Masters Who Made It: Development, Lineages, and Philosophies of Traditional Okinawan and Japanese

A concise yet comprehensive history of traditional Okinawan and Japanese karate, with biographies of the great karate masters. This concise-yet-comprehensive history of traditional Okinawan and Japanese karate includes authoritative biographies of the great karate masters of the past and the philosophical issues they faced as karate changed and evolved.
Bringing a fresh understanding to the study of the martial arts, Mark I. Cramer dispels many of the often-repeated martial-arts myths as he details the lineages of the modern styles of karate and describes the social, cultural, and political events that influenced them. While most books focus on a single style of karate or the biography of just one of the great teachers, this book offers a well-researched and detailed overview. By bringing all of this knowledge together in one volume, Cramer—an award-winning inductee into the USA Karate Federation’s Hall of Fame—fills a crucial gap.
Martial Arts Myths Busted: For instance, we were told a story of how the karate black belt developed. It was explained that in antiquity a karate-ka (karate student) started out wearing a white belt and that over time it gradually darkened as the karate-ka gained knowledge and experience. Since the belt was never washed, it turned darker and darker until it eventually became black, signifying that the karate-ka was in possession of true knowledge.
This and most of the other myths proved to be entertaining, but they also proved to be false. The truth of the matter is that originally, no black belts were worn in karate. In fact, no karate gi (uniform) was worn either; practitioners wore short pants and were bare-chested. Karate black belts and uniforms were first adopted in the 1920s and had nothing to do with the story that we were told. The true history of karate’s adoption of the black belt proved to be much less philosophical and entertaining but much more informative of the social and cultural climate of Okinawa and Japan at that time.