Karate in the West London

Karate, like jujutsu, judo, aikido, and the koryu, came to America and then to the rest of the world through two primary paths:

• Japanese immigration to the United States, where it stayed largely inside the Japanese American community (although to a lesser degree in Hawaii); and
• by specialised study by members of the police and the military.

It would be accurate to say that the biggest boost to the popularisation of karate in America came with the American military occupation of Japan and Okinawa after World War II; once American soldiers had assimilated the discipline, they returned to the States and began to disseminate it.

The rise in popularity of kung fu movies among the public propelled karate and the other martial arts into a newfound popularity - but at a cost. The sudden swell in interest also brought with it a considerable amount of misinformation, misconceptions, and outright con artistry, to karate. Although legitimate teachers (Okinawa, Japan and the West) have helped to expand the knowledge and practice of the art, they are becoming increasingly hard to find among the crowd of 'commercial' dojos which teach watered down, misunderstood approaches to the art, usually under the auspices of "Grandmaster (insert name here)." It is not uncommon to encounter schools which offer contracts that guarantee a certain belt rank after a certain number of hours of attendance or fees paid.

Many "freestyle" schools in the West (particularly the USA) sell a highly compromised interpretation of the art, and should not be regarded as emblematic of karate. The freestyle approach is oriented heavily towards sport competition, which includes point fighting and demonstration of forms (aka, kata) for entertainment value. Martial practicality is eschewed in favour of gymnastic and musical fashion. As a result of this competitive emphasis, sparring is the most prominently featured aspect of many schools.

With the removal of practical techniques and the prominence of high and vulnerable kicks, American freestyle "karate" has essentially been rendered into a bastardisation of karate and sport style tae kwon do. The ineffectual hand techniques and high, rapid kicking constitute a limited skill base which is potentially finite and very predictable. When the "forms" practiced are compared to the self defence techniques taught in these schools it becomes obvious that the two have little or no relation to each other.