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By Melia Brett | Submitted 2022
“Karate, is the most essential of the arts of unarmed self defence, is, among many other things, a protective, not an aggressive, technique… It is a rigid training of the mind and body.” – Masutatsu Oyama, What is Karate
The history of Martial Arts dates back to 500 a.d. Budarama (also known as Daruma in Japan), an Indian Budist Monk, introduced martial arts as a form of exercise to the Monks living in the Shaolin Temple, China. In the 1400s it was introduced to Okinawa, an island off the coast of Japan. At the time the ruling of the government (King Shō Shin) banned the use of all bladed weapons in an attempt to control the people of Okinawa. As a result of this self defence was practised in secret involving the use of everyday household and farming tools as weapons. This eventually lead to the beginning of the three main styles of Okinawan Te (te meaning hand); Shuri-te, Tomari-te and Naha-te.
By Amy Ballantyne | Submitted 2022
The strength of a punch can be measured and analysed through biomechanics. This essay will summarise the collision dynamics of breaking a wooden board with a punch by discussing concepts such as the transfer of energy from the fist to the target, work done, force and power produced. This will be followed by analysing a punch into a boxing bag, and concluded by discussing techniques karate-ka (practitioners of karate) can use to increase the strength and power of their punches.
