KARAMBIT:
A SMALL AND LETHAL WEAPON FOR MARTIALISTS AND WARFIGHTERS
By Sensei Bandioli WKKO Italia
The “Karambit” is a small knife, of Southeast Asian origin, whose appearance vaguely recalls a small sickle and it is easily recognizable thanks to its curved blade, which resembles a big talon, and for a ring positioned at the end of the handle. For that reason the word karambit is commonly translated as “The tiger’s claw” (from “Kuku Macan”, one of the many karambit’s nicknames, as an homage to Sumatran Tiger) even if the word “karambit” really comes from the two Indonesian words “karam” and “ambit”, whose combined meaning is “to grab something/someone” (prey, opponent or enemy). As often it happens for many Asian Martial Arts, not always all historians and scholars agree about themselves and, also in this case, there is no one version about the karambit’s origins, employments, and diffusion. Anyhow, for the most reliable hypothesis, the karambit firstly manifested its presence during the 11th century in the Indonesian archipelago (Java island or Sumatra island) as a farming multi-purpose knife, that is “an agricultural tool” used for harvesting rice, racking roots, cutting meats, fruit and forage. Afterwards karambit became also a utility knife for common tasks in everyday use. During the 13th century, because of its power, versatility, precision and efficiency, from agrarian peasantry underwent a changing process, a “weaponizing” process for its employment on the battlefield. The karambit spread quickly throughout Southeast Asia as a self-defence knife and/or fighting knife and made its way to Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Dai-Viet (Vietnam), Burma (Myanmar), Siam (Thailand) and the Philippines. All those mentioned countries had already their own numerous, traditional and famous “cold weapons” (e.g. Kris, Kujang, Balisong, Baraw…), most of which are very different in size, lenght and weight when compared to the karambit. For that reason, the karambit was (and it is) generally used just as a defensive weapon or a backup weapon (last-ditch weapon / last resort weapon / last line of defence weapon) for extreme Hand-To-Hand (HTH) combat or Close-Quarter Combat (CQC). Due to its great geographical spreading, there are many types of karambit, a lot of many regional and subregional variants across all South-East Asia: the lenght, the edge, the shape and the curved/hooked geometry of the blade, the handle and the ring, for exemple, can differ from village to village, from island to island or from blacksmith to blacksmith. For that reason the karambit has also many names (Karambit Besar, Kuku Macan, Kuku Bhima, Garab Karm, Celurit, Sabit, Klurit, Rajawali, Lihok, Sanggot....) and many different pronunciations (Kerambit, Kurambot, Korambit, Kerambet…). Of course, traditional karambits are mainly handmade with very expensive materials (wood and steel) and are highly prized. Anyway, to confirm all those many types, the current industrial production of modern and technologically advanced karambits is greatly influenced by “ancient” versions and variants, taking into maximum account the needs and the specific requirements requested by the different users. Karambit’s versatility is recognized by various users for everyday common tasks, outdoor and utility, agricultural use, hunting and fishing chores, self-defence applications, combative and battlefield use. Doctrinally speaking and in the current martial context, the karambit’s practice (and training) is included in four main combative disciplines: the Indonesian Pencak Silat, the Filipino Martial Arts (and specifically Kali, Eskrima, Arnis de mano, Doce Pares), the Malaysian Bersilat and the Malay-Singaporean Kuntao. Due to its unconventional design, its versatile and highly functional blade, its concealability, precision and recognizing its offensive and lethal nature also, karambit entered both the “martialists” community and the “military” community, also becoming an unofficial “battlefield mate” at many élite Regiments and Units… not only in the Southeast Asian and Far Eastern Armed Forces and Police Forces. For both the “Martialists” and “Military” communities the karambit is generally considered as a “fighting knife”, even if in some versions it could be considered as a “combat knife” (a knife designed and crafted solely for fighting [“for battlefield-use only”]) and in some other versions, it could be considered as a “tactical knife” (a knife designed and crafted for tactical situations, military-utility, and fighting). Unluckily also “Bad Guys” (thugs, evildoers, delinquents, bandits, criminals, terrorists...) use the karambit and, perhaps for that reason, another karambit’s nickname is “cheating knife” because it is quite difficult to see in the hand of a skilled user (almost invisible in someone’s hand or covered/hidden by fingers) and it is so easily concealable to become an immediate dangerous threat held in wrong hands (Sudden Materialisation Of The Threat – SMOTT). As it is known, there are generally two ways for handling and wielding the so-called “melee weapon” (“any handheld weapon used in hand-to-hand combat”), fighting knives at first: in a static matter (the user’s hand never leaves the complete grip of the weapon’s handle) and in a dynamic matter (the user’s hand has to leave, generally less than parts of a second, the grip of the weapon’s handle to allow quick moves, changing of direction, spinning and flipping moves, extensions and dynamic transitions of the weapon itself), All those moves are “effective techniques” to reach properly the intended vulnerable target and possible “strange movements” are deliberately performed to create confusion or distraction in the opponent’s mind: no movement is pointless, superfluous or showboating. The moves employed for a karambit are different from the usual stabbing actions with other fighting knives and an opponent may have difficulty understanding what is really happening and consequently reacting and countering. Racking and tearing (just like the claw of a tiger), slashing, hooking, stabbing, flailing and punching are all moves deployable and a well-trained user can transition very quickly between all those technical movements with a very high speed. There are many possible transitions and variations, spinning moves and combined techniques. The blade’s arc offers the ability to fluidly attack and counterattack in a single motion and to change directions of movement with ease. It also allows striking from multiple lines of attack at once and devastating applications of leverage. A “razor-ultra-sharp” blade can tear through flesh like paper, cut off fingers, cut throat, carotid artery, limbs, femoral artery, tendons, nerves and can disembowel a human body with just one swipe (almost as Japanese Tanto, Kaiken and Kozuka are able to do). Furthermore, a skilled user can switch hands with the karambit or is formidable in using two karambits in pairs, one in each hand. Among other considerations, in the past the cutting edge of the blade (or the tip) was often smeared/doused with some types of deadly poisons derived from various species of poisonous snakes, spiders, frogs and scorpions. Some of those poisons act almost instantly upon entry into the bloodstream via a very small laceration or even a light scrape of the flesh.
Currently, to deal with the various requests and requirements, the modern karambits are crafted in two main and distinct configurations (both of which have their benefits and drawbacks): with a fixed blade (immediate deployment, possibility of double-edged blade version) or with a folding blade (for a fast and easy blade deployment needs a small hook on the spine of the blade to snap it into position, compact size, only single-edged blade version [to avoid injures for users], more options for concealment and without the need of a sheath…..).
The modern and upgraded karambit, like its ancestor, is composed of three parts: the blade, the handle and the ring.
The blade. The blade, in its ubiquitous curved shape (usually created with different variety of high-resistance steels or carbon fiber) can take different geometry and colour (gloss, matt, burnished for a “low level visibility”), aggressive design and fanciful forms related to the manufacturers’ creativity and to the different fighting-habits of the users. The blade strongly contributes to giving the whole shape of the knife due to the “tilt angle” (inclination) between the handle and the blade itself. Furthermore, taking into account the type of constraint between the blade and the handle, the knife can assume the definition of “fixed (blade) knife” or “folding (blade) knife”. The knife, as already mentioned, can be a “single-edged” blade or a “double-edged” blade (not for the folding blade type). As far as the size (lenght) is concerned, there is no one size able to fit all tasks: there are different lenghts (overall knife lenghts roughly from 4 to 10 inches, that means from 10.5 cm. to 25.5 cm., and blade lenghts roughly from 1 to 4 inches, that means from 2.5 to 10 cm.).
The handle. Karambits, not only traditional but also modern ones, can have handles made of hardwood or animal-bone (horn), but the main commercial production prefers to use metals and/or syntetic advanced materials (e.g. titanium, G-10, micarta, polymer, carbon fiber…), with ergonomic and functional shapes, that give the handle a more comfortable and firm grip, also in extreme conditions and in different fighting situations (even underwater).
The ring. The ring is positioned at the end of the handle (some types have a secondary ring located near the handle just below the blade) and it is being considered as a “security grip” however, because the ring can perform various functions, it takes different names: security ring/retention ring (to prevent the blade from sliding back through the user’s hand), finger ring (allows the user to insert a finger in the ring: the index or the pinky, depending on the type of grip chosen) The (finger) ring makes difficult to disarm the user, allows the karambit to be manoeuvred in the finger without losing the grip and permitting various dynamic and fast transitions without dropping the knife or, even worse, avoiding to have the karambit taken away from an opponent. Furthermore, the ring is generally large enough to wear on gloves, the knife can be used in a punching motion as a knuckle-duster or, if the ring is provided of protrusions or spurs, can be used as a hammer (as an “impact weapon”) hitting the opponent with the spur-skullbreaker.
There are mainly two gripping choices to determine how to hold a karambit (plus some intermediate variations) and each one of them offers different techniques, applications, manoeuvreability, power and effectiveness: the “Reverse grip” and the “Forward grip”.
The “Reverse grip”, also called “Traditional grip”, “Combat grip”, “Tactical Grip” or “Pikal”, is the most commonly used and recognized grip. The karambit is held by sticking the index finger in the ring and then the blade is stretched down into the lower part of the fist pointing the tip upwards An unusual application is the “Extended grip”, just “extending” the blade forward by holding the karambit from the ring, without moving the body or the arm, to gain distance.
The “Forward grip”, also called “Straight grip”, “Hammer grip”, “Positive grip”, “Instinctive grip” or “Sak Sak”. The way to hold the karambit is instinctive because the karambit is held like any other knife: the blade is protruding from the upper part of the fist and the pinky (little finger) is tucked inside the ring. Furthermore, the handle can be used as a hammer and the ring as a skullbreaker. Just for information, an unusual application is the “Mantis grip” or “Reaper grip”.
Both the grips, of course, can generate transitions, spinning motions and dynamic techniques usefull for fighting. Anyway, The karambit is a very demanding weapon and it takes careless, patience and more time, than a conventional knife, to learn and master the techniques. Must be underlined, at this time, that a beginner must pay enough attention to avoid serious self-injuries by lacerating cuts. As any lethal weapon, it demands respect, dedication, concentration and if you make a mistake the karambit will make you understand.
To counter a well-trained karambit user is not a walk in the park, and skilled karateka have to improve their ability to react immediately as soon as the threat appears. Some karate instructors, experienced in countering karambit attacks (mainly from Police/Law Enforcement), advise to forget defensive tactics applying instead an “aggressive overwhelming counterattack”. The training of their men is mainly based on quick body movements and changing directions (foot work: “ashi-sabaki” and specifically “tsugi-ashi”), evasive body movement (“tenshin” / “tai-sabaki”), dodges (“kawashi waza” / “furimi”), distance control (“maai shihai”), attack/counterattack in depth (“no-tsukomi waza”) and low kicks (“gedan geri” / “keikotsu geri”).
Hard training but easy fighting… and good job everyone! OSU!
A SMALL AND LETHAL WEAPON FOR MARTIALISTS AND WARFIGHTERS
By Sensei Bandioli WKKO Italia
The “Karambit” is a small knife, of Southeast Asian origin, whose appearance vaguely recalls a small sickle and it is easily recognizable thanks to its curved blade, which resembles a big talon, and for a ring positioned at the end of the handle. For that reason the word karambit is commonly translated as “The tiger’s claw” (from “Kuku Macan”, one of the many karambit’s nicknames, as an homage to Sumatran Tiger) even if the word “karambit” really comes from the two Indonesian words “karam” and “ambit”, whose combined meaning is “to grab something/someone” (prey, opponent or enemy). As often it happens for many Asian Martial Arts, not always all historians and scholars agree about themselves and, also in this case, there is no one version about the karambit’s origins, employments, and diffusion. Anyhow, for the most reliable hypothesis, the karambit firstly manifested its presence during the 11th century in the Indonesian archipelago (Java island or Sumatra island) as a farming multi-purpose knife, that is “an agricultural tool” used for harvesting rice, racking roots, cutting meats, fruit and forage. Afterwards karambit became also a utility knife for common tasks in everyday use. During the 13th century, because of its power, versatility, precision and efficiency, from agrarian peasantry underwent a changing process, a “weaponizing” process for its employment on the battlefield. The karambit spread quickly throughout Southeast Asia as a self-defence knife and/or fighting knife and made its way to Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Dai-Viet (Vietnam), Burma (Myanmar), Siam (Thailand) and the Philippines. All those mentioned countries had already their own numerous, traditional and famous “cold weapons” (e.g. Kris, Kujang, Balisong, Baraw…), most of which are very different in size, lenght and weight when compared to the karambit. For that reason, the karambit was (and it is) generally used just as a defensive weapon or a backup weapon (last-ditch weapon / last resort weapon / last line of defence weapon) for extreme Hand-To-Hand (HTH) combat or Close-Quarter Combat (CQC). Due to its great geographical spreading, there are many types of karambit, a lot of many regional and subregional variants across all South-East Asia: the lenght, the edge, the shape and the curved/hooked geometry of the blade, the handle and the ring, for exemple, can differ from village to village, from island to island or from blacksmith to blacksmith. For that reason the karambit has also many names (Karambit Besar, Kuku Macan, Kuku Bhima, Garab Karm, Celurit, Sabit, Klurit, Rajawali, Lihok, Sanggot....) and many different pronunciations (Kerambit, Kurambot, Korambit, Kerambet…). Of course, traditional karambits are mainly handmade with very expensive materials (wood and steel) and are highly prized. Anyway, to confirm all those many types, the current industrial production of modern and technologically advanced karambits is greatly influenced by “ancient” versions and variants, taking into maximum account the needs and the specific requirements requested by the different users. Karambit’s versatility is recognized by various users for everyday common tasks, outdoor and utility, agricultural use, hunting and fishing chores, self-defence applications, combative and battlefield use. Doctrinally speaking and in the current martial context, the karambit’s practice (and training) is included in four main combative disciplines: the Indonesian Pencak Silat, the Filipino Martial Arts (and specifically Kali, Eskrima, Arnis de mano, Doce Pares), the Malaysian Bersilat and the Malay-Singaporean Kuntao. Due to its unconventional design, its versatile and highly functional blade, its concealability, precision and recognizing its offensive and lethal nature also, karambit entered both the “martialists” community and the “military” community, also becoming an unofficial “battlefield mate” at many élite Regiments and Units… not only in the Southeast Asian and Far Eastern Armed Forces and Police Forces. For both the “Martialists” and “Military” communities the karambit is generally considered as a “fighting knife”, even if in some versions it could be considered as a “combat knife” (a knife designed and crafted solely for fighting [“for battlefield-use only”]) and in some other versions, it could be considered as a “tactical knife” (a knife designed and crafted for tactical situations, military-utility, and fighting). Unluckily also “Bad Guys” (thugs, evildoers, delinquents, bandits, criminals, terrorists...) use the karambit and, perhaps for that reason, another karambit’s nickname is “cheating knife” because it is quite difficult to see in the hand of a skilled user (almost invisible in someone’s hand or covered/hidden by fingers) and it is so easily concealable to become an immediate dangerous threat held in wrong hands (Sudden Materialisation Of The Threat – SMOTT). As it is known, there are generally two ways for handling and wielding the so-called “melee weapon” (“any handheld weapon used in hand-to-hand combat”), fighting knives at first: in a static matter (the user’s hand never leaves the complete grip of the weapon’s handle) and in a dynamic matter (the user’s hand has to leave, generally less than parts of a second, the grip of the weapon’s handle to allow quick moves, changing of direction, spinning and flipping moves, extensions and dynamic transitions of the weapon itself), All those moves are “effective techniques” to reach properly the intended vulnerable target and possible “strange movements” are deliberately performed to create confusion or distraction in the opponent’s mind: no movement is pointless, superfluous or showboating. The moves employed for a karambit are different from the usual stabbing actions with other fighting knives and an opponent may have difficulty understanding what is really happening and consequently reacting and countering. Racking and tearing (just like the claw of a tiger), slashing, hooking, stabbing, flailing and punching are all moves deployable and a well-trained user can transition very quickly between all those technical movements with a very high speed. There are many possible transitions and variations, spinning moves and combined techniques. The blade’s arc offers the ability to fluidly attack and counterattack in a single motion and to change directions of movement with ease. It also allows striking from multiple lines of attack at once and devastating applications of leverage. A “razor-ultra-sharp” blade can tear through flesh like paper, cut off fingers, cut throat, carotid artery, limbs, femoral artery, tendons, nerves and can disembowel a human body with just one swipe (almost as Japanese Tanto, Kaiken and Kozuka are able to do). Furthermore, a skilled user can switch hands with the karambit or is formidable in using two karambits in pairs, one in each hand. Among other considerations, in the past the cutting edge of the blade (or the tip) was often smeared/doused with some types of deadly poisons derived from various species of poisonous snakes, spiders, frogs and scorpions. Some of those poisons act almost instantly upon entry into the bloodstream via a very small laceration or even a light scrape of the flesh.
Currently, to deal with the various requests and requirements, the modern karambits are crafted in two main and distinct configurations (both of which have their benefits and drawbacks): with a fixed blade (immediate deployment, possibility of double-edged blade version) or with a folding blade (for a fast and easy blade deployment needs a small hook on the spine of the blade to snap it into position, compact size, only single-edged blade version [to avoid injures for users], more options for concealment and without the need of a sheath…..).
The modern and upgraded karambit, like its ancestor, is composed of three parts: the blade, the handle and the ring.
The blade. The blade, in its ubiquitous curved shape (usually created with different variety of high-resistance steels or carbon fiber) can take different geometry and colour (gloss, matt, burnished for a “low level visibility”), aggressive design and fanciful forms related to the manufacturers’ creativity and to the different fighting-habits of the users. The blade strongly contributes to giving the whole shape of the knife due to the “tilt angle” (inclination) between the handle and the blade itself. Furthermore, taking into account the type of constraint between the blade and the handle, the knife can assume the definition of “fixed (blade) knife” or “folding (blade) knife”. The knife, as already mentioned, can be a “single-edged” blade or a “double-edged” blade (not for the folding blade type). As far as the size (lenght) is concerned, there is no one size able to fit all tasks: there are different lenghts (overall knife lenghts roughly from 4 to 10 inches, that means from 10.5 cm. to 25.5 cm., and blade lenghts roughly from 1 to 4 inches, that means from 2.5 to 10 cm.).
The handle. Karambits, not only traditional but also modern ones, can have handles made of hardwood or animal-bone (horn), but the main commercial production prefers to use metals and/or syntetic advanced materials (e.g. titanium, G-10, micarta, polymer, carbon fiber…), with ergonomic and functional shapes, that give the handle a more comfortable and firm grip, also in extreme conditions and in different fighting situations (even underwater).
The ring. The ring is positioned at the end of the handle (some types have a secondary ring located near the handle just below the blade) and it is being considered as a “security grip” however, because the ring can perform various functions, it takes different names: security ring/retention ring (to prevent the blade from sliding back through the user’s hand), finger ring (allows the user to insert a finger in the ring: the index or the pinky, depending on the type of grip chosen) The (finger) ring makes difficult to disarm the user, allows the karambit to be manoeuvred in the finger without losing the grip and permitting various dynamic and fast transitions without dropping the knife or, even worse, avoiding to have the karambit taken away from an opponent. Furthermore, the ring is generally large enough to wear on gloves, the knife can be used in a punching motion as a knuckle-duster or, if the ring is provided of protrusions or spurs, can be used as a hammer (as an “impact weapon”) hitting the opponent with the spur-skullbreaker.
There are mainly two gripping choices to determine how to hold a karambit (plus some intermediate variations) and each one of them offers different techniques, applications, manoeuvreability, power and effectiveness: the “Reverse grip” and the “Forward grip”.
The “Reverse grip”, also called “Traditional grip”, “Combat grip”, “Tactical Grip” or “Pikal”, is the most commonly used and recognized grip. The karambit is held by sticking the index finger in the ring and then the blade is stretched down into the lower part of the fist pointing the tip upwards An unusual application is the “Extended grip”, just “extending” the blade forward by holding the karambit from the ring, without moving the body or the arm, to gain distance.
The “Forward grip”, also called “Straight grip”, “Hammer grip”, “Positive grip”, “Instinctive grip” or “Sak Sak”. The way to hold the karambit is instinctive because the karambit is held like any other knife: the blade is protruding from the upper part of the fist and the pinky (little finger) is tucked inside the ring. Furthermore, the handle can be used as a hammer and the ring as a skullbreaker. Just for information, an unusual application is the “Mantis grip” or “Reaper grip”.
Both the grips, of course, can generate transitions, spinning motions and dynamic techniques usefull for fighting. Anyway, The karambit is a very demanding weapon and it takes careless, patience and more time, than a conventional knife, to learn and master the techniques. Must be underlined, at this time, that a beginner must pay enough attention to avoid serious self-injuries by lacerating cuts. As any lethal weapon, it demands respect, dedication, concentration and if you make a mistake the karambit will make you understand.
To counter a well-trained karambit user is not a walk in the park, and skilled karateka have to improve their ability to react immediately as soon as the threat appears. Some karate instructors, experienced in countering karambit attacks (mainly from Police/Law Enforcement), advise to forget defensive tactics applying instead an “aggressive overwhelming counterattack”. The training of their men is mainly based on quick body movements and changing directions (foot work: “ashi-sabaki” and specifically “tsugi-ashi”), evasive body movement (“tenshin” / “tai-sabaki”), dodges (“kawashi waza” / “furimi”), distance control (“maai shihai”), attack/counterattack in depth (“no-tsukomi waza”) and low kicks (“gedan geri” / “keikotsu geri”).
Hard training but easy fighting… and good job everyone! OSU!
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KARATE FOR MILITARY PURPOSES AND WARFIGHTING
By Sensei Bandioli WKKO Italia
Over the years a huge amount of books and articles have been written on Karate concerning its
historical origins, lineage, techniques as well as its various aspects as a martial art, as a fighting sport
or a self-defence discipline. But very little indeed, if not almost nothing, has been written about its
lethal nature, its military development and its employment on the battlefield. In this perspective, to
fully understand karate also from a military point of view, it is however useful to make a brief
historical hint to focus its remote origin defining the specific military evolution that has taken place
over time. Its birthplace on the island of Okinawa, in the context of a rural and peasant society, is
certainly the best known aspect but indeed it represents only a limited period, albeit very significant,
of the historical evolution of karate itself. The complete history is very complex, sometimes
undetermined, contradictory and it is often difficult to focus its evolution in a linear way, even by
numerous historians and scholars of the subject. Indeed circumstances, events, dates and places are
not always certain ... mainly due to the lack of official documents, precise references, reliable
testimonies, accurate translations and, perhaps, also due to the desire not to disclose information
outside a specific and restricted context. The island of Okinawa (Uchinaa, which in the native
language means “the rope in sight”, as seen from the sea it resembles a piece of rope floating on the
water surface) is the main island of the Ryukyu Islands archipelago, an archipelago located south-
west of Japan and consisting of more than a hundred islands. The history of the Ryukyu Kingdom
(kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands:1400-1800), whose capital was the city of Shuri (in Okinawa),
developed with alternate events, from a period of great opulence and warfighting power (Gosoku –
the period of the 300 castles) to a period of a partial decline when, at the beginning of 1600, the
Kingdom suffered the Japanese invasion as the result of which it essentially became, until 1800, a
partially independent fiefdom. Only in 1879 Okinawa, and its archipelago, officially became a
Japanese Prefecture (Prefecture of Okinawa). Anyway, for many years the aristocratic and refined
Ryukyu Kingdom was a centre of attention in the spotlight of wide and different interests for many
countries of the Far East, as it proved to be an excellent place for commercial intermediation and
cultural development. Therefore, for a long period of time, transited or settled there lots of
merchants, diplomats, men of culture, artists, writers, warriors, sailors and fishermen mainly coming
from Japan, China, Formosa (Taiwan), Korea, Siam (Thailand), Dai-Viet (Vietnam) and Indonesia.
Numerous experts from various combat disciplines, samurai and sailors included, passing by the
Ruykyu Islands provided a notable contribution to the development of those local, ancient and pre-
existing fighting systems, whose techniques were initially and secretly transmitted only within the
Ryukyu aristocracies and subsequently elaborated by those same nobles who decayed and then
became peasants. The prolonged contacts with Chinese people, including those Chinese who
permanently settled on the island of Okinawa, as well as the prohibitions on carrying any kind of
weapons, greatly influenced the further development of various styles and techniques of unarmed
combat. Chinese fighting influences came mainly from the monks’ school of Shaolin temple and
from the Wushu-Wutang school: two different schools that greatly influenced that martial art firstly
defined as Okinawa-te (“Hand of Okinawa”), then redefined as Tote (“Chinese Hand”) and finally
defined as Karate-Do (“Art of the Empty Hand”…or naked or disarmed hand). Although karate was
already known and practiced in Japan, in 1922, by invitation of Shihan Jigoro Kano (founder of
“modern” Judo), the Okinawan Shihan Gichin Funakoshi (founder of “modern” Karate) went to
Japan and performed a formidable karate demonstration at the Kodokan of Tokyo in front of
numerous Japanese dignitaries and notables, following which demo it was decided that karate should
have been taught and practiced at numerous Japanese universities. Finally, in 1939 the Dai Nippon
Butokukai of Tokyo (in this case in its particular role of “Military National Training Center”)
decreed the official inscription of the “Discipline of the Karate-do” in the list of the “Japanese
Martial Arts” and sanctioned also its teaching and practice at the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces…
thus giving, in point of fact, the origin of the “Japanese Karate”. However, even though Okinawa has
been Japanese for more than a century, the many differences between “Okinawan Karate” and
“Japanese Karate” still remain in almost every style, at least in the roots. How it is handed down, in
the early Okinawan period (but this is a very argued topic!), being already itself a synthesis of many
other forms of fighting, karate provided two main currents: the Shorin current (from which have
arisen those karate styles that privilege speed and agility, despite their fairly low guard stance with
the legs quite bent to ensure greater stability) and the Shorei current (from which have arisen those
karate styles that privilege physical strength and muscular power and using relatively high guard
stance to ensure greater body mobility and lunge in attack). The question is still debated since it
would appear that the words Shorin and Shorei could be both the historically incorrect reported
pronunciation of the word Shaolin (Shorinji in Japanese language…as it is in “Shorinji-Kenpo”). But
indeed all karate styles strongly pursue the development of speed, agility, power and strength!! That
being said, from the initial few historical karate styles, through different interpretations and technical
enrichments promoted by both famous karate grandmasters and less known karate instructors, there
are now worldwide more than a hundred styles, from the most famous and widespread ones to the
less known ones, but all of them extremely good and valuable. Strength of tradition, most of them are
still influenced by their different ancient Okinawan or Japanese roots (terminology, training,
development of power, types of breathing, Kihon, Kata, Kumite, fighting techniques and combat
tactics). Now, to understand properly karate “for military purposes” is appropriate to call attention
from Budo to Bugei concept: Budo represents the practice of martial arts to achieve a balanced
lifestyle through a rigid mental discipline, rigorous training methods and intense physical
conditioning whereas Bugei represents the practice of martial arts aimed at achieving offensive and
lethal capabilities in warfighting. In this perspective, each karate style and/or school can be
“converted” for the final purpose that is fighting at war. To better set the topic, a specific imi (“the
final purpose” for which a dedicated mental and physical conditioning are always required) is senjo
(“the battlefield”): so “Senjo Karate” is, generally speaking, any karate expression (independently
from styles or schools) whose objective is just a warfighting application. The starting points are
shugyo, the “rigorous and disciplined practice” and tanren, the “discipline aimed at the training of
the warrior”: body and mind must be “forged” like a sharp blade of a dagger….being always combat
ready. Body conditioning is aimed at strengthening and parts of the body must be accustumed, as far
as possible, to being hit (shimè) [not to be confused with shime-waza, the Judo strangulation
techniques] and parts of the body must be conditioned to impact on hard targets (using makiwara,
sunabukuro or other proper tools) in order to transform own bones in weapons. Of course
tameshiwari (“trial by the wood”, but not only!), as breaking performance, remains the top
expression for demonstrating that a part of the body, if properly conditioned, can become a weapon.
Furthermore, karate has a particular feature, common only among a few other Far-Eastern fighting
disciplines, that is the kimè (approximately the chinkuchi of the Okinawan schools), the well known
ability of a sudden contraction of all muscles and tendons of the body at the moment of impact on a
target, thus increasing the power and the devastating effect of a strike. The topic is very complex and
articulated but, in a nutshell, the kimè turns out to be also a sum of many factors including zanshin (a
state of mind of maximum concentration and permanent, continuous alertness), hakkei (the
generation of power), kiai (the expansion of internal energy compressed and forcefully conveyed by
abdominal contraction through forced breathing-ibuki), koshino-kaiten (the rotation and vibration of
the hips) and haragei (the control and orientation of the flow of energy generated from the center of
abdomen seika-tanden). The term haragei requests a further important clarification: haragei is not
only the capability to develop a coordinated strength of the entire body but also represents a
particular “state of mind” through which “is being developed the capacity to sense and/or perceive a
threat or a danger”. Before tackling other topics, as far as “lethality concept” is concerned, is
mandatory to deal with the study of Kyusho (or Kenketsu), that is to know “where” to convey the
destructive power of a strike (identifying both vital and deadly points of the human body), and the
study of the Atemi-waza (“the techniques of the strikes inflicted”- in Japanese) or of Dim-Mak (“the
touch of death”- in Chinese), that is to know “how” and “with what” to hit a target. Moreover, one of
the pillars of ancient karate but also of the current warfighting karate is: “Ichigeki hissatsu” (“single
strike, certain death”). But that doesn’t delete the great validity of the methodology of several, strong
and extremely fast and furious strikes inflicted in the shortest possible time for the immediate
breakdown/culling of an opponent (“Shunsoku no renraku”). Some of current common training
methods are directly derived from ancient military practices, as for example the Tegowai-geiko
(“tough training”), the Gasshuku (“staying together at a lodging house”) or the Uchi-deshi (“inside
student”, living and training full time in a Dojo). The maximum expression of a “full immersion
training” might take place usually twice in a year in particularly hostile climatic conditions (as it
happened commonly in the past) to strengthen both body and mind: the Kangeiko, 30 days of winter
training in the coldest month of the year in the coldest hours of the day, and the Shokugeiko, 30 days
of summer training in the hottest month of the year in the hottest hours of the day. In the military
world great importance is given to initial training because of a military unit in full tactical capability
and/or employed in operational activities has very limited amount of time to spend for all those
activities not specifically related to the assigned mission. Anyway, is mandatory to have always
guaranteed over time a high level of efficiency and a high level of lethality, despite any lack of time
for training. By the way, as far as military karate training is concerned, very famous karate
grandmasters (i.e. Masutatsu Oyama, despite his Korean origin, Seiken Shukumine, Taiji Kase,
Yoshitaka Funakoshi…), but unknown karate instructors also, made a huge contribution to the
practice of karate at Japanese Military Services and/or Secret Services (i.e. at Nakano Spy School -
Rikugun Nakano Gakko). The military training, indeed, is oriented to make a soldier well prepared
because of a wealth of effective techniques available (already verified on the battlefield or in
operational environment) to face different missions and different tactical situations. There was a time
in which, among western countries, spreaded the idea that the “modern long range technological
war” would have completely eradicated the hand to hand fighting: nothing more wrong! The new
types of threats and the new types of military intervention and military/constabulary operations
strongly require the “hand to hand combat capabilities” of troops (disarming techniques included).
Generally speaking, in most Armed Forces and Police Forces of western nations, karate still
represents a strong pillar of a wide number of military combat systems in which are generally
included also other forms of combat techniques got from other fighting disciplines (i.e. western
Boxe, Tae-Kwon-Do, Judo, Brazilian Ju-Jitsu, Muay Lert Rit, Mixed Martial Arts, Krav Maga, Kali
Escrimia): strange to say, but not always the choice depends from a standardization but just from the
combat drill instructor own professional experience and from the operational employment of the
military unit of belonging. Furthermore a so-called “hand to hand combat system” (CQC – Close
Quarter Combat), always involves the use of “cold weapons” (or “cold-arms”/“white arms”) as
bayonets, tactical daggers, fighting knives, tactical batons, axes, machete, tonfa, bladed
knucledusters. Indeed for centuries, before the advent of firearms (“fire-arms”), mastering the close
combat techniques meant to be able to strike, to wrestle and to handle one or more cold weapons.
Anyway karate remains a reference point and the solid platform on which to build the architecture of
an effective combat system. Techniques have to be adapted to tactical circumstances taking into
account that the “real world fighting environment” could be extremely demanding as for the bad
weather conditions (rain, wind, low visibility…), for the environment itself (dark night, snow, sand,
uneven terrain, mobile bearing surface, narrow or confined spaces…) and for the combat gear worn
(outfit and equipment, boots, harnesses, rucksack, helmet, weapons….) that could restrict the body
movements. These are the prerogatives of a military combat system, but we must not forget that all
depends on a mental attitude of maximum alertness and the correct perception of the surrounding
environment, the perception of movements, the correct distance estimation, the speed of action or
reaction and the perfect timing…all things that karate teaches. An old karate instructor of the
Imperial Japanese Navy used to say: “Soul made steel: it depends on you. You have to decide if you
are a sharp dagger or just a paperknife…. but you have to know that only daggers are being forged in
this place”.
By Sensei Bandioli WKKO Italia
Over the years a huge amount of books and articles have been written on Karate concerning its
historical origins, lineage, techniques as well as its various aspects as a martial art, as a fighting sport
or a self-defence discipline. But very little indeed, if not almost nothing, has been written about its
lethal nature, its military development and its employment on the battlefield. In this perspective, to
fully understand karate also from a military point of view, it is however useful to make a brief
historical hint to focus its remote origin defining the specific military evolution that has taken place
over time. Its birthplace on the island of Okinawa, in the context of a rural and peasant society, is
certainly the best known aspect but indeed it represents only a limited period, albeit very significant,
of the historical evolution of karate itself. The complete history is very complex, sometimes
undetermined, contradictory and it is often difficult to focus its evolution in a linear way, even by
numerous historians and scholars of the subject. Indeed circumstances, events, dates and places are
not always certain ... mainly due to the lack of official documents, precise references, reliable
testimonies, accurate translations and, perhaps, also due to the desire not to disclose information
outside a specific and restricted context. The island of Okinawa (Uchinaa, which in the native
language means “the rope in sight”, as seen from the sea it resembles a piece of rope floating on the
water surface) is the main island of the Ryukyu Islands archipelago, an archipelago located south-
west of Japan and consisting of more than a hundred islands. The history of the Ryukyu Kingdom
(kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands:1400-1800), whose capital was the city of Shuri (in Okinawa),
developed with alternate events, from a period of great opulence and warfighting power (Gosoku –
the period of the 300 castles) to a period of a partial decline when, at the beginning of 1600, the
Kingdom suffered the Japanese invasion as the result of which it essentially became, until 1800, a
partially independent fiefdom. Only in 1879 Okinawa, and its archipelago, officially became a
Japanese Prefecture (Prefecture of Okinawa). Anyway, for many years the aristocratic and refined
Ryukyu Kingdom was a centre of attention in the spotlight of wide and different interests for many
countries of the Far East, as it proved to be an excellent place for commercial intermediation and
cultural development. Therefore, for a long period of time, transited or settled there lots of
merchants, diplomats, men of culture, artists, writers, warriors, sailors and fishermen mainly coming
from Japan, China, Formosa (Taiwan), Korea, Siam (Thailand), Dai-Viet (Vietnam) and Indonesia.
Numerous experts from various combat disciplines, samurai and sailors included, passing by the
Ruykyu Islands provided a notable contribution to the development of those local, ancient and pre-
existing fighting systems, whose techniques were initially and secretly transmitted only within the
Ryukyu aristocracies and subsequently elaborated by those same nobles who decayed and then
became peasants. The prolonged contacts with Chinese people, including those Chinese who
permanently settled on the island of Okinawa, as well as the prohibitions on carrying any kind of
weapons, greatly influenced the further development of various styles and techniques of unarmed
combat. Chinese fighting influences came mainly from the monks’ school of Shaolin temple and
from the Wushu-Wutang school: two different schools that greatly influenced that martial art firstly
defined as Okinawa-te (“Hand of Okinawa”), then redefined as Tote (“Chinese Hand”) and finally
defined as Karate-Do (“Art of the Empty Hand”…or naked or disarmed hand). Although karate was
already known and practiced in Japan, in 1922, by invitation of Shihan Jigoro Kano (founder of
“modern” Judo), the Okinawan Shihan Gichin Funakoshi (founder of “modern” Karate) went to
Japan and performed a formidable karate demonstration at the Kodokan of Tokyo in front of
numerous Japanese dignitaries and notables, following which demo it was decided that karate should
have been taught and practiced at numerous Japanese universities. Finally, in 1939 the Dai Nippon
Butokukai of Tokyo (in this case in its particular role of “Military National Training Center”)
decreed the official inscription of the “Discipline of the Karate-do” in the list of the “Japanese
Martial Arts” and sanctioned also its teaching and practice at the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces…
thus giving, in point of fact, the origin of the “Japanese Karate”. However, even though Okinawa has
been Japanese for more than a century, the many differences between “Okinawan Karate” and
“Japanese Karate” still remain in almost every style, at least in the roots. How it is handed down, in
the early Okinawan period (but this is a very argued topic!), being already itself a synthesis of many
other forms of fighting, karate provided two main currents: the Shorin current (from which have
arisen those karate styles that privilege speed and agility, despite their fairly low guard stance with
the legs quite bent to ensure greater stability) and the Shorei current (from which have arisen those
karate styles that privilege physical strength and muscular power and using relatively high guard
stance to ensure greater body mobility and lunge in attack). The question is still debated since it
would appear that the words Shorin and Shorei could be both the historically incorrect reported
pronunciation of the word Shaolin (Shorinji in Japanese language…as it is in “Shorinji-Kenpo”). But
indeed all karate styles strongly pursue the development of speed, agility, power and strength!! That
being said, from the initial few historical karate styles, through different interpretations and technical
enrichments promoted by both famous karate grandmasters and less known karate instructors, there
are now worldwide more than a hundred styles, from the most famous and widespread ones to the
less known ones, but all of them extremely good and valuable. Strength of tradition, most of them are
still influenced by their different ancient Okinawan or Japanese roots (terminology, training,
development of power, types of breathing, Kihon, Kata, Kumite, fighting techniques and combat
tactics). Now, to understand properly karate “for military purposes” is appropriate to call attention
from Budo to Bugei concept: Budo represents the practice of martial arts to achieve a balanced
lifestyle through a rigid mental discipline, rigorous training methods and intense physical
conditioning whereas Bugei represents the practice of martial arts aimed at achieving offensive and
lethal capabilities in warfighting. In this perspective, each karate style and/or school can be
“converted” for the final purpose that is fighting at war. To better set the topic, a specific imi (“the
final purpose” for which a dedicated mental and physical conditioning are always required) is senjo
(“the battlefield”): so “Senjo Karate” is, generally speaking, any karate expression (independently
from styles or schools) whose objective is just a warfighting application. The starting points are
shugyo, the “rigorous and disciplined practice” and tanren, the “discipline aimed at the training of
the warrior”: body and mind must be “forged” like a sharp blade of a dagger….being always combat
ready. Body conditioning is aimed at strengthening and parts of the body must be accustumed, as far
as possible, to being hit (shimè) [not to be confused with shime-waza, the Judo strangulation
techniques] and parts of the body must be conditioned to impact on hard targets (using makiwara,
sunabukuro or other proper tools) in order to transform own bones in weapons. Of course
tameshiwari (“trial by the wood”, but not only!), as breaking performance, remains the top
expression for demonstrating that a part of the body, if properly conditioned, can become a weapon.
Furthermore, karate has a particular feature, common only among a few other Far-Eastern fighting
disciplines, that is the kimè (approximately the chinkuchi of the Okinawan schools), the well known
ability of a sudden contraction of all muscles and tendons of the body at the moment of impact on a
target, thus increasing the power and the devastating effect of a strike. The topic is very complex and
articulated but, in a nutshell, the kimè turns out to be also a sum of many factors including zanshin (a
state of mind of maximum concentration and permanent, continuous alertness), hakkei (the
generation of power), kiai (the expansion of internal energy compressed and forcefully conveyed by
abdominal contraction through forced breathing-ibuki), koshino-kaiten (the rotation and vibration of
the hips) and haragei (the control and orientation of the flow of energy generated from the center of
abdomen seika-tanden). The term haragei requests a further important clarification: haragei is not
only the capability to develop a coordinated strength of the entire body but also represents a
particular “state of mind” through which “is being developed the capacity to sense and/or perceive a
threat or a danger”. Before tackling other topics, as far as “lethality concept” is concerned, is
mandatory to deal with the study of Kyusho (or Kenketsu), that is to know “where” to convey the
destructive power of a strike (identifying both vital and deadly points of the human body), and the
study of the Atemi-waza (“the techniques of the strikes inflicted”- in Japanese) or of Dim-Mak (“the
touch of death”- in Chinese), that is to know “how” and “with what” to hit a target. Moreover, one of
the pillars of ancient karate but also of the current warfighting karate is: “Ichigeki hissatsu” (“single
strike, certain death”). But that doesn’t delete the great validity of the methodology of several, strong
and extremely fast and furious strikes inflicted in the shortest possible time for the immediate
breakdown/culling of an opponent (“Shunsoku no renraku”). Some of current common training
methods are directly derived from ancient military practices, as for example the Tegowai-geiko
(“tough training”), the Gasshuku (“staying together at a lodging house”) or the Uchi-deshi (“inside
student”, living and training full time in a Dojo). The maximum expression of a “full immersion
training” might take place usually twice in a year in particularly hostile climatic conditions (as it
happened commonly in the past) to strengthen both body and mind: the Kangeiko, 30 days of winter
training in the coldest month of the year in the coldest hours of the day, and the Shokugeiko, 30 days
of summer training in the hottest month of the year in the hottest hours of the day. In the military
world great importance is given to initial training because of a military unit in full tactical capability
and/or employed in operational activities has very limited amount of time to spend for all those
activities not specifically related to the assigned mission. Anyway, is mandatory to have always
guaranteed over time a high level of efficiency and a high level of lethality, despite any lack of time
for training. By the way, as far as military karate training is concerned, very famous karate
grandmasters (i.e. Masutatsu Oyama, despite his Korean origin, Seiken Shukumine, Taiji Kase,
Yoshitaka Funakoshi…), but unknown karate instructors also, made a huge contribution to the
practice of karate at Japanese Military Services and/or Secret Services (i.e. at Nakano Spy School -
Rikugun Nakano Gakko). The military training, indeed, is oriented to make a soldier well prepared
because of a wealth of effective techniques available (already verified on the battlefield or in
operational environment) to face different missions and different tactical situations. There was a time
in which, among western countries, spreaded the idea that the “modern long range technological
war” would have completely eradicated the hand to hand fighting: nothing more wrong! The new
types of threats and the new types of military intervention and military/constabulary operations
strongly require the “hand to hand combat capabilities” of troops (disarming techniques included).
Generally speaking, in most Armed Forces and Police Forces of western nations, karate still
represents a strong pillar of a wide number of military combat systems in which are generally
included also other forms of combat techniques got from other fighting disciplines (i.e. western
Boxe, Tae-Kwon-Do, Judo, Brazilian Ju-Jitsu, Muay Lert Rit, Mixed Martial Arts, Krav Maga, Kali
Escrimia): strange to say, but not always the choice depends from a standardization but just from the
combat drill instructor own professional experience and from the operational employment of the
military unit of belonging. Furthermore a so-called “hand to hand combat system” (CQC – Close
Quarter Combat), always involves the use of “cold weapons” (or “cold-arms”/“white arms”) as
bayonets, tactical daggers, fighting knives, tactical batons, axes, machete, tonfa, bladed
knucledusters. Indeed for centuries, before the advent of firearms (“fire-arms”), mastering the close
combat techniques meant to be able to strike, to wrestle and to handle one or more cold weapons.
Anyway karate remains a reference point and the solid platform on which to build the architecture of
an effective combat system. Techniques have to be adapted to tactical circumstances taking into
account that the “real world fighting environment” could be extremely demanding as for the bad
weather conditions (rain, wind, low visibility…), for the environment itself (dark night, snow, sand,
uneven terrain, mobile bearing surface, narrow or confined spaces…) and for the combat gear worn
(outfit and equipment, boots, harnesses, rucksack, helmet, weapons….) that could restrict the body
movements. These are the prerogatives of a military combat system, but we must not forget that all
depends on a mental attitude of maximum alertness and the correct perception of the surrounding
environment, the perception of movements, the correct distance estimation, the speed of action or
reaction and the perfect timing…all things that karate teaches. An old karate instructor of the
Imperial Japanese Navy used to say: “Soul made steel: it depends on you. You have to decide if you
are a sharp dagger or just a paperknife…. but you have to know that only daggers are being forged in
this place”.
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