History of Karate

China

• Karate started 1500 years ago in China around 517AD
• Durama was an Indian Prince from a warrior caste. He gave up his riches to become a Buddhist Monk.
• Durama crossed the Himalayan Mountains, on foot, from India to China
• He was the 28th patriarch to Siddhartha Gautama, who was the Buddha.
• He entered China to enlighten the monks on the teachings of Buddhism.
• Durama founded the Shaolin Monastery and established a set of 18 hand and breath movements to strengthen the monks who were weak from hours of meditation and prayer. (The 18 Hands of Lohan)
• This set of 18 I-Chin (Sanchin) exercises became the first recorded kata.
• These exercises soon developed into a very effective self-defense system.
• This self-defense system became known as Shaolin-Szu or Chinese Kempo. (Kempo means fist way).
• The Shaolin Priests became known as the most formidable fighters in all of China. As centuries passed the art spread throughout the orient.

Okinawa

• Okinawa is the largest island in the Ryu-Kyu Island Chain, which stretches from Japan to Taiwan.
• Karate means open or empty hand. Kara=empty/Te=hand
• The Okinawans combined the ancient art of Te with Chinese Kempo.
• In the 1400's Okinawa was divided into three regions, and a final territorial war was fought to unite Okinawa.
• The Okinawan monarch, King ShoHashi was the victor. He united the three kingdoms and banned all weapons to keep the different factions from warring.
• In 1609 the Japanese Satsuma Clan invaded Okinawa and another weapons ban was imposed. Once again, Karate was practiced in secret.
• The major Okinawan Karate Systems came from three separate villages, Shuri, Tomari, and Naha. The Goju-ryu system came from the village of Naha, which is now the capital city of Okinawa, with a population of around 700,000 inhabitants.

Okinawa and Japan - Goju-Ryu (Hard-Soft-Style)

• Master Kanryo Higaonna traveled from Okinawa to Fuzhou, China in 1869, to begin studying Kung Fu, after the death of his father.
• Higaonna studied Chinese Kempo from Master Ryu-Ryu-Ko for 13 years.
• Master Higaonna returned to Okinawa and started teaching what he called, Naha-te. It was said that he was super human, words could not describe him.
• Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953) became the uchi deshi or private disciple of Master Kanryo Higaonna.
• Sensei Miyagi succeeded Master Higaonna after his death in 1915.
• Master Miyagi stylized and named the Goju-ryu System in 1930.
• Master Ei'ichi Miyazato took over the garden dojo when Master Miyagi passed away in 1953.
• Master Miyazato taught Sensei Larry Pickle at the Jundokan dojo, in 1963.
• In the spring of 1965, Mr. Pickle began teaching karate in Anderson, Indiana. Hanshi Larry Davenport was one of his first students.
• In the early 1920's, karate was introduced to Japan by Master Gichin Funakoshi. Sensei Funakoshi, a retired schoolteacher, was chosen to go to Japan because he was an educated gentleman.
• The Japanese helped establish karate as a major martial art. The Japanese Culture was more formal than that of the Okinawans.

USA Karate

• Grand Master Robert A. Trias was the Father of American Karate.
• He established and systemized the Shorei Style in 1946, in Phoenix, Arizona.
• In 1947 Master Trias started the United States Karate Association. Master Phillip Koeppel became second in command of the largest karate organization in the United States.
• Master Trias personally promoted Hanshi Larry T. Davenport to Shodan June 7, 1970.
**Grand Master Robert A. Trias passed away in 1989**


• Mr. Glenn Keeney was Hanshi Davenport's karate instructor for more than 20 years.
• Hanshi Davenport is an 10th Degree Black Belt in the Goju-ryu Style of Karate.
• Shihan Maria Davenport, 7th dan, is part owner of the LDKS. She was the first female karate student in Madison County.
• The Larry Davenport Karate Studio moved from Alexandria to Anderson in January of 2009
• Students of Hanshi Larry Davenport, Shihan Dan Stanley and Sensei Heather Smith, opened Alexandria Martial Arts in August 2013