Studying Karate as an Academic Subject — An Introduction to Research for Undergraduate and Graduate Students

About this article. This piece is written for mejiro.info. Intended readers: undergraduate and graduate students at universities in Japan and abroad, in any discipline across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Purpose: to offer a map for approaching karate as a subject of serious academic research.

A note on names and terms. Japanese personal names are given in the traditional order, family name first (e.g., Funakoshi Gichin), as is conventional in Japanese studies. Long vowels are marked with macrons where helpful (e.g., karate-dō, jūdō). Key Japanese terms are explained on first use, and a short glossary appears at the end of the article. Where a concept may be unfamiliar to non-Japanese readers, a brief explanation has been added in brackets.

Introduction: Why “Karate Studies”?

Since the early twentieth century, karate has become one of the most widely practiced unarmed martial arts in the world. As of 2026, the World Karate Federation (WKF) counts roughly 200 member federations (the WKF’s own website lists 201), and estimates of the number of competitors and recreational practitioners range widely — from around 50 million (in introductory pieces such as those carried by the Web Japan network) to more than 100 million (a figure citing a KPMG study referenced by the WKF). Note that surveys such as those by Nielsen Sports measure the size of the audience interested in karate in major markets, rather than the number of active practitioners, and the two should be kept distinct.

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (held in August 2021 after being postponed because of COVID-19), karate appeared as an additional sport proposed by the host nation and was formally contested at the Nippon Budōkan. It was not, however, selected for the official program of Paris 2024 or Los Angeles 2028, and its status as an Olympic discipline therefore remains unsettled.

Despite this global reach, karate has not been especially well developed as an object of academic study. Originating in Okinawa and then spreading to mainland Japan and onward to the rest of the world, it fractured into a profusion of styles, organizations, and competitive formats, leaving its historical sources, concepts, and even its naming tangled and inconsistent.

This article is intended for undergraduate and graduate students who wish to study karate as a scholarly subject, and aims to provide a map for where such research might begin. Karate can be approached from both the human/social sciences and the natural sciences — through history, anthropology, kinesiology, sociology, business studies, education, area studies, and more. The article is structured to help readers connect their own field of specialization to the study of karate.

Chapter 1. What Does It Mean to “Study” Karate? — Disciplinary Angles

“Studying karate” can mean many different things. A useful first step is to separate the object of study (karate itself) from the method or perspective brought to bear on it. Below are some representative approaches.

1-1. The Historical Approach

This means reconstructing — from primary sources, newspapers and magazines, photographs, and oral testimony — the long process by which a body of physical technique once called te (“hand,” in the Okinawan reading tī) in Okinawa was fixed in writing from the late Meiji period as tōde / karate (唐手); was adopted into Okinawan school physical education through the efforts of figures such as Itosu Ankō; was then transmitted to mainland Japan in the early twentieth century; and finally underwent postwar organization and internationalization. It connects to the history of mainland Japan, the history of the Ryūkyū Kingdom and Okinawa, colonial history, postwar history, media history, and the history of emigration.

1-2. The Anthropological and Sociological Approach

Through fieldwork and interviews, this approach observes the dōjō (training hall) as a community, along with teacher–student relationships, ritual, the transmission of bodily technique, and questions of gender, generation, ethnicity, and religious outlook. It also connects to research on the globalization and localization of martial arts.

1-3. The Kinesiology and Sports-Science Approach

From motion analysis of strikes, kicks, blocks, and body movement, to competitive performance, injury prevention, training science, the health benefits of karate as a lifelong sport, and even neuroscientific observation — this is the domain that can be treated with the methods of the natural sciences.

1-4. The Educational Approach

This examines karate’s place within school physical education, extracurricular activities, after-school lessons, social education, and lifelong learning, as well as its relationship to character formation and moral education. One promising angle is to compare the introduction of martial arts in Japanese junior-high, high-school, and university physical education with that in schools overseas.

1-5. Business and Management Studies

This covers the organizational theory of dōjō, styles, and governing bodies; the running of a dōjō as a membership business; the promotion and broadcasting rights of combat-sports organizations; and licensing, governance, and branding.

1-6. Philosophy and Intellectual History

This treats martial-arts thought; connections with Zen and Shintō; modern theories of budō (the martial “Way”; see glossary) developed by figures such as Kanō Jigorō (founder of jūdō) and Funakoshi Gichin; postwar spiritualism; and the overseas reception of concepts such as “Bushidō” and “the Way.” Note that 船越 is the written form of his surname that the same individual adopted after moving to mainland Japan (his name had earlier been written 富名腰, likewise read “Funakoshi”); in this article both writings of his name are given on first mention, and thereafter used as the context requires.

1-7. Area Studies and Transnational Studies

Karate is a richly cross-regional research material: Okinawan studies; Japanese studies; the history of karate’s diffusion to North America, South America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa; migration and diaspora; and points of contact between Cold War military culture and karate (transmission via U.S. military bases).

1-8. Representation and Media Studies

This overlaps with the study of how karate is represented in film, manga, television, video games, documentaries, and social media; with images held by audiences; with the linkage to national identity; and with the study of Orientalism.

Chapter 2. What Is “Karate”? — The Diversity of Styles, Lineages, and Competitive Formats

The first thing to grasp before beginning research is this: even though they are all called “karate,” the actual content of training and the underlying values differ completely from one style, organization, and competitive format to another. Defining what one’s chosen “karate” actually refers to is the very first task of research design.

2-1. A Broad Classification

Okinawan karate (Okinawan traditional karate): Rooted in the three great lineages of Naha-te, Shuri-te, and Tomari-te. Includes Gōjū-ryū, Uechi-ryū, Kobayashi-ryū, Matsubayashi-ryū, Shitō-ryū, Motobu-ryū, and others. Characterized by training centered on kata (prearranged forms), prearranged sparring, the preservation of striking, joint-locking, and throwing techniques, and an integral relationship with weaponry (Okinawan kobudō).
Mainland traditional-style karate: Lineages such as Shōtōkan, Wadō-ryū, Shitō-ryū, and Gōjū-ryū, developed on the mainland by figures such as Funakoshi Gichin, Mabuni Kenwa, and Ōtsuka Hironori. Internationalized as a sport based on sundome (“point-stop” — controlled, non-contact striking; see glossary) under the Japan Karatedo Federation (JKF) and the World Karate Federation (WKF).
Full-contact karate: Beginning with the Kyokushin Kaikan founded by Ōyama Masutatsu, this gave rise to many lineages — Shinkyokushin, Ashihara, Enshin, Satō-juku, Seidō, Byakuren, Seidōkan, and more. Competition uses direct striking (punches to the face are generally prohibited).
Bōgu (protective-gear) karate and face-contact competitive styles: Lineages adopting rules that include strikes to the face while wearing protective equipment, such as kōshiki (hard-style) karate and bōgu karate. Note that Nippon Kenpō (founded by Sawayama Muneomi, 1932) and Daidō-juku Kūdō (founded by Azuma Takashi in 1981 and established as an independent budō under the name “Kūdō” in 2001) are adjacent to karate, but their own organizations position them as martial arts independent of karate; for research purposes it is reasonable to treat them as separate categories.
Karate adjacent to kickboxing and MMA: Lineages such as Seidōkaikan, Satō-juku, and Shidōkan, which share personnel with the combat-sports entertainment industry while still calling themselves “karate.”
Non-competitive and “martial” karate: Lineages such as those of Ushiro Kenji, Aragaki Kiyoshi, and Motobu Udundī, which eschew a competitive orientation and focus on the study of technical principles, body mechanics, and classical transmission.

Even when these are all called “the same karate,” their training content, rules, values, organizational forms, business models, media exposure, and social positioning often differ greatly. Researchers must avoid leaving the object vague and should explicitly specify the style, organization, region, and period under study.

2-2. The Historicity of the Terminology

The very word “karate” is a historical concept established in the modern era, as Okinawan tōde (唐手, “Tang/Chinese hand”) was renamed karate (空手, “empty hand”) and the term took hold through karate’s transmission to the mainland and its incorporation into Japan’s national physical-education and competitive-sport system. Several milestones make this an important subject for conceptual and organizational history:

In 1924 the Keiō University Karate Study Group was founded (with Funakoshi Gichin invited as its instructor), regarded as the origin of the first university karate club in Japan.
At its fifth-anniversary event in 1929, this group changed the writing of karate from 唐手 to 空手 and proclaimed “karate-dō” both within Japan and abroad.
On 25 October 1936, at a roundtable on tōde hosted by the Ryūkyū Shinpō newspaper (held at the Shōwa Kaikan in Naha), agreement was reached on standardizing the written form from 唐手 to 空手.
The Japan Karatedo Federation (JKF / Zen Nihon Karate-dō Renmei) was formed in 1964.
The World Union of Karate-do Organizations (WUKO, established 1970) was renamed the World Karate Federation (WKF) in December 1992.
The IOC granted official recognition in 1999.
And in August 2016 an IOC session approved karate as an additional sport for Tokyo 2020 (contested in 2021).

Chapter 3. The Current State of Karate Research

Here we survey ongoing karate research by field, noting in each case the key debates, the questions that remain, and the room for newcomers to contribute.

3-1. Karate History

The history of karate is one of the more difficult areas in terms of source availability. Because Okinawa has passed through successive political regimes — the Ryūkyū Kingdom, mainland Japan, U.S. military administration, and reversion to Japan — the sources are scattered and the reliance on oral tradition is high. The main debates include:

The origins of tōde: Its relationship to southern Chinese boxing (nanquan, e.g., from Quanzhou in Fujian Province); the legend of the Satsuma invasion and the “weapons-ban policy”; and the transmission of te among the shizoku (the former warrior/gentry class).
The validity of the “three-lineage theory”: The Naha-te / Shuri-te / Tomari-te classification is a modern systematization, and in terms of transmission there are aspects in which the lineages are continuous rather than sharply divided.
The process of transmission to the mainland: Funakoshi Gichin’s (富名腰義珍 / 船越義珍) first official mainland demonstration in May 1922 at the First Physical Education Exhibition sponsored by the Ministry of Education, his demonstration at the Kōdōkan at the invitation of Kanō Jigorō, the publication that same year of Ryūkyū Kenpō: Karate, the activities of Motobu Chōki, the move to Tokyo by figures such as Mabuni Kenwa, Miyagi Chōjun, and Tōyama Kanken, and the founding and expansion of university karate clubs.
Postwar recovery and internationalization: U.S. military bases and the export of karate overseas, the role of emigrant karateka, Kyokushin’s world tournaments and the “hundred-man kumite,” the organization of the JKF and WKF, and the path toward becoming an Olympic sport.
The relationship to the concept of “budō”: Modern theories of budō by Kanō Jigorō and others, wartime control of the martial arts (the Dai Nippon Butokukai — the state-affiliated martial-arts body of the prewar period — and karate’s incorporation into it), and the postwar shift toward physical education and sport.

3-2. The Study of Kata

Kata (written 型 in the Okinawan lineages and tending to be written 形 in the mainland/JKF tradition) is the core form of technical transmission in karate. Kata research connects to comparative studies across styles, the reconstruction of transmission lineages, the interpretation of techniques (bunkai, the “breaking down” and application of kata movements), theories of body mechanics, and dance-studies or representation-theory approaches.

Comparative morphology: Analyzing how kata of the same name (Naihanchi / Tekki, Passai / Bassai, Kūshankū / Kankū, Seisan, Sanchin, Sēpai, and others) have diverged from style to style.
Bunkai research: Translating the movements of a kata into their combative meaning. Figures such as Iwai Sakuo, Aragaki Kiyoshi, Ushiro Kenji, and Patrick McCarthy have written on this.
Notation and preservation: Video analysis and the creation of kata databases using motion capture. Documentation is advancing, centered on Okinawa Prefecture and the Okinawa Karate Kaikan.

3-3. The Study of Technique — Biomechanics and Kinesiology

This is a research area approached through sports science and kinesiology. As a movement that generates impact over a short distance, the karate strike is an object for exercise physiology, mechanics, and neuroscience.

Measuring punching and kicking force: Measurement using force plates, accelerometers, and force sensors — peak force, rate of force development, efficiency.
Analysis of competitive movement: Three-dimensional motion capture, surface electromyography (EMG), and gaze analysis — prediction, reaction, and distance management in sparring.
Training science: Power, speed, agility, and conditioning; the sport-specificity of energy metabolism.
Injury epidemiology: Head trauma, the risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and the incidence of upper- and lower-limb injuries — especially important in full-contact styles.

Internationally, karate-related papers appear scattered across journals such as the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Sports Biomechanics, the Journal of Sports Sciences, Archives of Budo, and the International Journal of Sports Medicine.

3-4. The Study of Organizations and Styles

A striking feature of karate worldwide is the coexistence of an astonishing number of organizations — styles, federations, governing bodies, and promotional organizations. Studying these organizations from the perspectives of organizational theory, management, and sociology offers valuable case studies in governance, schism, branding, licensing, and the politics of power.

Examples: the JKF and the Japanese Olympic Committee; the WKF and the IOC; the splintering of the Kyokushin Kaikan after the death of Ōyama Masutatsu in 1994 (the principal fragments being the Matsui Shōkei faction / the present-day Kyokushin Kaikan; the Shinkyokushin-kai, rooted in the former Branch Chiefs’ Council [the Sanpei faction, later led by Midori Kenji]; Royama Hatsuo’s Kyokushin-kan; and the Kyokushin Rengōkai co-founded by figures including Shichinohe Yasuhiro); Okinawan international bodies such as the IOGKF and IKGA; and overseas karate organizations (USKF, JKA International, and others). Note that Satō Katsuaki’s Satō-juku and Ashihara Hideyuki’s Ashihara Kaikan are both lineages that became independent during Ōyama’s lifetime (Satō-juku in 1977, Ashihara Kaikan in 1980), and should be distinguished from the post-1994 schism.

3-5. The Study of Karateka — Biography and Oral History

Biographical research and oral history focused on particular individuals is also a suitable entry point into karate research. The list of possible subjects is endless: Itosu Ankō, Higaonna Kanryō, Funakoshi Gichin, Motobu Chōki, Miyagi Chōjun, Mabuni Kenwa, Chibana Chōshin, Ōtsuka Hironori, Tōyama Kanken, Ōyama Masutatsu, Nakamura Hideo, Ashihara Hideyuki, Satō Katsuaki, Royama Hatsuo, Matsui Shōkei, Soeno Yoshiji, and many more.

The central challenge of biographical research is separating heroic legend from historical fact. For example, discrepancies have been pointed out between Ōyama Masutatsu’s own writings and verifiable sources regarding his career, and recent scholarship calls for more cautious treatment.

3-6. The Study of Equipment

The history of karate equipment — the dōgi (uniform), the belt, protective gear, the makiwara (striking post), sandbags, mitts, sparring gear, training aids, and weapons (the sai, tonfa, nunchaku, bō, and tinbe of Okinawan kobudō) — constitutes an independent subject for the study of material culture.

Examples: changes in dōgi materials (cotton, blends, lightweight fabrics); corporate history, including the market entry of Tōkyōdō, Kusakura, Mizuno, ISAMI, Tōkaidō, and Adidas Karate; the standardization and safety of protective gear; and glove standards and measures to prevent knockouts.

3-7. Sports and Health Science

The effects of karate on health promotion, rehabilitation, exercise for the elderly, children’s motor development, and mental health constitute a rapidly growing area. Because karate can be prescribed as a sustainable form of exercise even at once or twice a week, verification is also advancing from a public-health standpoint.

Examples: fall-prevention interventions for the elderly; children’s coordinated-movement development (connecting to research on Developmental Coordination Disorder, DCD); exercise interventions for children with ADHD; and research on martial-arts interventions for depression and PTSD.

3-8. Karate as an After-School Activity and Lifelong Learning

Karate’s place across the life course — neighborhood dōjō, the children’s lessons market, adult clubs, and classes for seniors — is a subject for education, sociology, and leisure studies. How Japanese regional youth martial-arts clubs, PTA sports clubs, and overseas YMCAs, community centers, and university clubs have received and developed karate makes an excellent case for comparative study.

Chapter 4. Adjacent Fields and Their Connections

Karate research is never self-contained; it acquires academic value only when grounded in the accumulated work of adjacent fields.

4-1. Budō Studies and Theories of Budō

Budō research, centered on the Japanese Academy of Budo, treats budō in general — the larger category of which karate is a part. Comparison with jūdō, kendō, kyūdō, aikidō, naginata, sumō, and the classical martial arts (kobudō) is indispensable. The modern budō-history research of Nakajima Tetsuya, Uozumi Takashi, Sōgawa Tsuneo, Alexander Bennett, and Andreas Niehaus offers a vantage point from which to relativize the history of karate.

4-2. The Study of Contact Sports and Combat Sports

Comparison with research on boxing, Muay Thai, kickboxing, taekwondo, sambo, wrestling, jiu-jitsu (BJJ), and mixed martial arts (MMA) provides reference axes for theorizing karate as a competitive sport and as an embodied practice. Loïc Wacquant’s Body & Soul (an ethnography of boxing), Greg Downey’s work on capoeira, and Joseph Alter’s study of North Indian wrestling (kushti) are also methodologically instructive.

4-3. Combat-Sports Promotion and Sports Business

Research on promotional organizations such as K-1, PRIDE, RIZIN, UFC, ONE Championship, and Glory, along with broadcasting-rights business, athlete management, and fandom studies, is important for understanding the career paths of karateka. The lineages of fighters such as Satake Masaaki, Kakuda Nobuaki, Musashi, and Andy Hug (Seidōkaikan → K-1); Francisco Filho and Masuda Akira (both Kyokushin → K-1); and Semmy Schilt (Ashihara Kaikan → K-1 → MMA) symbolize the intersection of karate and combat-sports entertainment. Figures who did not come from karate but who likewise crossed into the combat-sports business — such as the original Tiger Mask, Sayama Satoru (founder of Shooto), and the kickboxer Fujiwara Toshio — also serve as reference points when discussing career trajectories from adjacent fields.

4-4. The Study of Dōjō Management and Membership Business

A dōjō is a classic subscription-based membership business. It is methodologically close to research on fitness clubs, Pilates and yoga studios, and the cram-school and after-school-lesson market. Lifetime Value (LTV), churn rate, local siting, brand chains, and certified-instructor systems are all subjects for management studies.

4-5. Ryūkyū and Okinawan Cultural History

Karate is a cultural heritage of Okinawa, and there has even been discussion of it as a candidate for UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status. It cannot be separated from the history of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, the Satsuma invasion and the investiture (tributary) system, the Meiji-era “Ryūkyū Disposition” (the annexation of the kingdom into Japan), U.S. military administration, reversion to Japan, and the identity politics of contemporary Okinawa. Okinawa Prefecture has built the “Okinawa Karate Kaikan” and is working to make it an international hub for Okinawan karate.

4-6. The Study of School Extracurricular and Club Activities

Japan’s university karate clubs were important agents in the history of karate. The formation of clubs at institutions such as Keiō (1924), Tokyo Imperial University, Takushoku, Waseda (1931), Ritsumeikan (1935), and Kansai University (1938) is closely tied to karate’s transmission to the mainland. Since the introduction of compulsory martial-arts education in junior high schools (2012), karate too has been discussed as an option, making this a point of contact with research on school physical education.

Chapter 5. Essential Reading

Here are the principal works to consult when beginning research, organized into Japanese-language and English-language sources. These are entry points — gateways from which to expand, one reference leading to another, within each theme. (For Japanese-language titles, a romanized title is followed by an English gloss in brackets.)

5-1. Foundational Works on Karate History (Japanese)

Funakoshi Gichin (富名腰義珍), Ryūkyū Kenpō: Karate [Ryukyu Kenpo: Karate]. Bukyōsha, 1922.
Funakoshi Gichin, Rentan Goshin: Tōde-jutsu [Forging Courage and Self-Defense: The Art of Karate]. Kōbundō Shoten, 1925.
Funakoshi Gichin, Karate-dō Kyōhan [The Master Text of Karate-dō]. Ōkura Kōbundō, 1935.
Funakoshi Gichin, Karate-dō Ichiro [Karate-dō: A Single Path]. Sangyō Keizai Shinbunsha (Sankei Shinsho), 1956.
Motobu Chōki, Watashi no Tōde-jutsu [My Art of Karate]. Tōkyō Tōde Fukyūkai, 1932.
Mabuni Kenwa & Nakasone Genwa, Kōbō Kenpō: Karate-dō Nyūmon [Offense and Defense — An Introduction to Karate-dō]. 1938.
Kinjō Hiroshi, Tōde kara Karate e [From Tōde to Karate]. Nihon Budōkan, 2011.
Hokama Tetsuhiro, Karate-dō Rekishi Nenpyō [A Chronological History of Karate-dō]. Okinawa Tosho Center.
Kadekaru Tōru, Okinawa Karate no Rekishi [A History of Okinawan Karate] (a body of work based on a Waseda University doctoral dissertation).
Takamiyagi Shigeru, Shinzato Katsuhiko & Nakamoto Masahiro, Okinawa Karate Kobudō Jiten [Encyclopedia of Okinawan Karate and Kobudō]. Kashiwa Shobō, 2008.
Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education, Basic Survey Report on Okinawan Karate and Kobudō.
Okinawa Karate Kaikan (ed.), various exhibition catalogs and source collections.
Fujiwara Ryōzō, Kakutōgi no Rekishi [A History of Combat Sports]. Baseball Magazine Sha, 1990.
Organizational histories (e.g., the JKA Fifty-Year History, histories of the Kyokushin Kaikan, and lineage histories of Wadō-ryū, Gōjū-ryū, Shitō-ryū, and others).
Ōyama Masutatsu, What Is Karate; This Is Karate; Hyakuman-nin no Karate [Karate for the Millions].
Kojima Hiroshi & Tsukamoto Yoshiko, Ōyama Masutatsu Seiden [The Authentic Biography of Masutatsu Oyama]. Shinchōsha, 2006 (a source-critical biography).

5-2. English-Language Works on Karate and Martial-Arts History

Funakoshi, Gichin. Karate-Dō Kyōhan: The Master Text. Kodansha International.
Funakoshi, Gichin. Karate-Dō: My Way of Life. Kodansha International.
Motobu, Choki. Watashi no Karate-jutsu (English edition).
Bishop, Mark. Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and Secret Techniques. A&C Black, 1989.
Haines, Bruce A. Karate’s History and Traditions. Tuttle, 1968.
McCarthy, Patrick. Bubishi: The Classic Manual of Combat. Tuttle, 1995/2016.
Cook, Harry. Shotokan Karate: A Precise History. 2001.
Hokama, Tetsuhiro. History and Traditions of Okinawan Karate. Masters Publication, 2005.
Krug, Gary J. “The Feet of the Master: Three Stages in the Appropriation of Okinawan Karate into Anglo-American Culture.” Cultural Studies <-> Critical Methodologies, 2001.
Tan, Kevin S. Y. “Constructing a Martial Tradition: Rethinking a Popular History of Karate-Dou.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 2004.

5-3. Budō Theory and Martial-Arts History (General)

Kanō Jigorō, Collected Works of Kanō Jigorō.
Tomiki Kenji, Budō-ron [On Budō].
Nishiyama Matsunosuke, Iemoto no Kenkyū [A Study of the Iemoto (Headmaster) System].
Uozumi Takashi, Budō no Kenkyū [The Study of Budō] / Budō-ron (Open University of Japan textbook).
Nakajima Tetsuya, Kindai Nihon no Budō-ron [Theories of Budō in Modern Japan]. Kokusho Kankōkai, 2017.
Tomozoe Hidenori (ed.), Gendai Supōtsu no Rinri o Tou [Questioning the Ethics of Modern Sport].
Sōgawa Tsuneo, Nihon Budō to Tōyō Shisō [Japanese Budō and Eastern Thought]. Heibonsha, 2014.
Irie Kōhei (ed.), Budō Bunka no Tankyū [An Inquiry into the Culture of Budō].
Bennett, Alexander. Kendo: Culture of the Sword. UC Press, 2015.
Niehaus, Andreas (ed.). Sport, Memory and Nationhood in Japan. Routledge.
Hurst, G. Cameron. Armed Martial Arts of Japan: Swordsmanship and Archery. Yale UP, 1998.
Donohue, John J. Herding the Ox: The Martial Arts as Moral Metaphor. Tuttle.

5-4. Ryūkyū and Okinawan History

Takara Kurayoshi, Ryūkyū Ōkoku [The Ryūkyū Kingdom]. Iwanami Shinsho.
Takara Kurayoshi, Ryūkyū no Jidai [The Age of Ryūkyū].
Asato Susumu & Takara Kurayoshi, Ryūkyū no Ōken to Gusuku [Ryūkyūan Kingship and the Gusuku Castles].
Higa Masao, Okinawa no Shinzoku, Shinkō [Kinship and Belief in Okinawa].
Arasaki Moriteru, Okinawa Gendai-shi [A Modern History of Okinawa]. Iwanami Shinsho.
Yakabi Osamu, Okinawa-sen, Beigun Senryō-shi o Manabinaosu [Relearning the Battle of Okinawa and the History of U.S. Occupation].
Kerr, George H. Okinawa: The History of an Island People. Tuttle.
Smits, Gregory. Visions of Ryukyu. University of Hawai’i Press, 1999.
Smits, Gregory. Maritime Ryukyu, 1050–1650. University of Hawai’i Press, 2018.

5-5. Combat-Sports and Contact-Sports Studies (English)

Wacquant, Loïc. Body & Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer. Oxford UP, 2004.
Downey, Greg. Learning Capoeira: Lessons in Cunning from an Afro-Brazilian Art. Oxford UP, 2005.
Alter, Joseph S. The Wrestler’s Body: Identity and Ideology in North India. UC Press, 1992.
Sánchez García, Raúl. The Historical Sociology of Japanese Martial Arts. Routledge, 2018.
García, R. S. & Spencer, D. C. (eds.). Fighting Scholars: Habitus and Ethnographies of Martial Arts and Combat Sports. Anthem, 2013.
Channon, Alex & Matthews, Christopher R. (eds.). Global Perspectives on Women in Combat Sports. Palgrave, 2015.
Spencer, Dale C. Ultimate Fighting and Embodiment. Routledge.

5-6. Academic Journals

Budō-gaku Kenkyū [Journal of Budo] (Japanese Academy of Budo)
Taiiku-gaku Kenkyū [Japan Journal of Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences]
Okinawa Bunka Kenkyū [Okinawan Culture Studies] (Hōsei University Research Institute for Okinawan Culture)
Martial Arts Studies (Cardiff University Press, open access)
Ido Movement for Culture: Journal of Martial Arts Anthropology
Archives of Budo
Journal of Asian Martial Arts
International Journal of the History of Sport
Sport in Society
Asia Pacific Journal of Sport and Social Science

Chapter 6. Key Research from the Twenty-First Century Onward

A selection of representative scholarly works since 2000 that beginners should read at an introductory stage.

Krug, Gary J. (2001), “The Feet of the Master…” — a classic discussing the three stages by which karate was received into Anglo-American culture.
Tan, Kevin S. Y. (2004), “Constructing a Martial Tradition…” — a re-examination of the popular narrative of karate history.
Bowman, Paul. Martial Arts Studies: Disrupting Disciplinary Boundaries. Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.
Bowman, Paul (ed.). The Martial Arts Studies Reader. Rowman & Littlefield, 2018.
Wetzler, Sixt. “Martial Arts Studies as Kulturwissenschaft.” Martial Arts Studies, 2015.
Judkins, Benjamin N. & Nielson, Jon. The Creation of Wing Chun. SUNY Press, 2015 (a reference example for the methodology of martial-arts history).
Niehaus, Andreas. “‘If you want to cry, cry on the green mats of Kôdôkan’: Expressions of Japanese cultural and national identity in the movement to include judo into the Olympic programme.” International Journal of the History of Sport, 23(7), 2006 (an essay on the Olympic inclusion of jūdō, suggestive for karate’s own path to becoming an international sport).
Kadekaru Tōru, various papers on “the modern history of Okinawan karate” (Waseda University).
Nakajima Tetsuya, papers on “the formation of the concept of budō in modern Japan.”
The modern combat-sports historical research of Kudō Raisuke, Fujiwara Ryōzō, and others.
The budō-history and budō-thought research of Ōboki Teruo, Sakai Toshinobu, and others.
The budō-sociology essays of Yamaguchi Kaori, Raita Kyōko, Inoue Shun, and others.

In the course of your research, it is recommended to search across CiNii Articles / CiNii Books, J-STAGE, Google Scholar, JSTOR, Scopus, Web of Science, Project MUSE, SocINDEX, and SPORTDiscus.

Chapter 7. Research Methods

A summary of the representative methods used in karate research, with caveats for each.

7-1. Documentary Research

Primary sources: Prewar dōjō records, organizational bulletins, personal writings, reduced-facsimile editions of newspapers (the Ryūkyū Shinpō, Okinawa Times, Asahi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun), magazines (Fukushōdō’s Gekkan Karate-dō [Karate-dō Monthly] and Gekkan Full Contact KARATE — merged in July 2015 into Karate-dō & Full Contact, with the company going bankrupt in 2016; Champ’s JKFan; the Gekkan Karate-dō published by the Karate Jihōsha press, founded by Kinjō Hiroshi in 1956; the U.S. magazine Black Belt published by Active Interest Media, and its sister magazine Karate Illustrated), photographs and film, and overseas sources from emigrant karateka.
Public records: The Okinawa Prefectural Archives, the National Archives of Japan, municipal and prefectural histories, prewar records related to the Dai Nippon Butokukai, and postwar records of the Ministry of Education (later MEXT), the JOC, the JKF, and the WKF.
Secondary literature: See Chapter 5.

7-2. Oral History and Interviews

Interviewing surviving senior disciples, instructors, athletes, dōjō heads, and those with experience in international competition is an extremely effective method in karate research. Approval from one’s institutional review board (IRB), informed consent, anonymization, and sensitivity to internal organizational politics are essential.

7-3. Participant Observation and Ethnography

A method of participating over a long period in dōjō, tournaments, and training camps, observing from the insider’s point of view. The methodologies of Wacquant and Downey are instructive. A crucial question is whether the researcher becomes a practitioner, and how to position oneself.

7-4. Quantitative Research

Methods that treat questionnaires, competition records, demographic statistics, and organizational finances quantitatively. In sports and health science, kinesiological and physiological measurement is central. Attention must be paid to sampling, ethics, and reproducibility.

7-5. Motion Analysis and Experiment

Measurement of body mechanics using motion capture, EMG, force plates, inertial sensors (IMUs), and ultrasound. Collaboration with a university biomechanics laboratory is a prerequisite.

7-6. Comparative Research

Comparison across multiple styles, organizations, regions, and periods is a powerful framework for karate research. Combining axes such as mainland / Okinawa / overseas, traditional / full-contact / martial karate, competitive / non-competitive, and health-oriented / combat-oriented can yield new insights.

7-7. Where the Archives Are

Okinawa Karate Kaikan (Tomigusuku City): permanent exhibitions and document access.
Okinawa Prefectural Library and Okinawa Prefectural Archives.
Waseda University Central Library (martial-arts materials).
The Budo and Sport Science Research Institute at the International Budo University.
The Nippon Budokan (publisher of the monthly Budō and other martial-arts publications — important as both a publisher and a reference source).
The Kōdōkan Jūdō Museum and Library (operated by the Kōdōkan Library and Document Division, 1-16-30 Kasuga, Bunkyō-ku; jūdō-centered but with reference materials on the martial arts generally).
Overseas: the Library of Congress, the Hawai’i Okinawa Center, the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, the University of Vienna (Universität Wien), and the libraries of Ghent University.

Chapter 8. Where to Study — Universities and Graduate Programs in Japan and Abroad

The appropriate place to study differs by research theme and method. Emphasizing that the fit between your supervisor and your research theme is the top priority, here are some candidates to consider.

8-1. Within Japan

University of Tsukuba (Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences / Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences): A center for physical education, sports science, and budō studies, with depth in budō theory, the history of physical education, and kinesiology.
Waseda University (Faculty of Sport Sciences): Sports history, budō history, sports sociology, and biomechanics; has produced researchers renowned in Okinawan karate history.
Nippon Sport Science University (Graduate School of Health and Sport Science): Competitive-sports research and budō studies; well suited to combining practice and theory.
International Budo University: A university specializing in budō, offering field-based research in budō studies, budō history, and kinesiology.
Tokai University (Department of Martial Arts, School of Physical Education): Home to an independent major in budō studies.
University of Tokyo (Graduate School of Arts and Sciences / Graduate School of Education): Sports sciences (human movement), the cultural theory of sport, and education.
University of Tokyo (Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology): Able to treat budō from Japanese history, East Asian history, religious studies, and anthropology.
Kyoto University (Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies / Graduate School of Letters): Theories of body culture, cultural anthropology, and East Asian studies.
Osaka University, Kobe University, Nagoya University: Sports sociology, anthropology, and education.
University of the Ryukyus (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences / Faculty of Global and Regional Studies / Graduate School of Education): Okinawan studies, Ryūkyūan history, area studies, and tourism/cultural policy.
Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts: Ryūkyūan performing arts and body culture (adjacent to kobudō).
Keiō University, Ritsumeikan University, Kansai University: Sports sociology, media studies, and a history of karate clubs. At Kansai University, English-language budō research can be supervised by Professor Alexander Bennett.
Takushoku University, Kokushikan University, Senshu University: Traditional strongholds of university karate, often referenced in the context of budō thought and budō science.

8-2. Abroad

Ghent University (Belgium), Department of Languages and Cultures: One of Europe’s hubs for the history of Japanese budō and sport, centered on Professor Andreas Niehaus.
Cardiff University (UK): The home of the journal Martial Arts Studies. The Martial Arts Studies Research Network, led by Paul Bowman and others, is a global hub.
University of Stirling (UK): Sports sociology and martial-arts ethnography.
Loughborough University (UK): World-class in sports science and sports sociology.
Cardiff Metropolitan University: Sports science and coaching.
University of Hawai’i at Mānoa (USA): Allows the connection of Okinawan migration studies, Pacific studies, and East Asian languages and cultures with karate research.
University of California (Berkeley / Los Angeles / San Diego): Japanese studies, anthropology, and the study of sports culture.
SOAS, University of London: Japanese studies and religious studies; access to the intellectual history of budō.
Heidelberg University (Germany): East Asian studies, with an accumulated record of research in martial-arts and sports history.
University of Vienna (Universität Wien, Austria): Japanese studies and sports science, with a tradition of martial-arts research.
École Pratique des Hautes Études (France): Approaches through religious studies and anthropology.
Macquarie University / Western Sydney University (Australia): Sports sociology and martial-arts research.

8-3. Practical Notes on Applying

The quality of the research proposal matters most. Read the papers of your prospective supervisor and demonstrate that a dialogue is possible.
Language: For English-speaking countries, IELTS / TOEFL (the same applies to English-medium programs in Japan); Japanese-medium programs require the graduate entrance examination (language, specialty, and research plan).
Funding: MEXT scholarships (for international students), JASSO (for Japanese studying abroad), JSPS Research Fellowships (DC1 / DC2 / PD), foundation grants (the Yoshida Scholarship Foundation, the Murata Science Foundation, the Matsushita Konosuke Memorial Foundation, and others), and Fulbright, Chevening, DAAD, and Erasmus Mundus.
Ethics review, field permissions, and access to styles and organizations: It is advisable to have a provisional plan in place even before applying.

Chapter 9. For Those About to Begin Research — Practical Advice

9-1. Be Able to Articulate “Your Object” Clearly

Whether or not the researcher is themselves an experienced practitioner, it is important to be able to state clearly what the “karate” under study refers to, along the axes of style, lineage, organization, region, and period. The work of delimiting one’s object at the start of an academic paper begins here.

9-2. Make a Habit of Going to Primary Sources

“What people say online,” “what I heard from fellow disciples,” and “what my teacher said” can serve as starting points for research, but they are not themselves sources. From the very beginning, cultivate the habit of consulting magazines, newspapers, photographs, film, books, public records, and organizational bulletins, and of citing your sources explicitly.

9-3. Be Voracious About Adjacent Fields

Karate research is adjacent to many areas — budō studies, physical education, sports sociology, cultural anthropology, Okinawan studies, Japanese history, East Asian studies, global history, theories of bodily technique, management studies, and more. Studying one adjacent field in addition to your main one will noticeably strengthen the persuasiveness of your work.

9-4. Reach International Research Communities Early

Participating in international scholarly societies helps prevent isolation and keeps your research at world standard. Examples include the Martial Arts Studies Association (an international society centered on the journal Martial Arts Studies, published by Cardiff University Press; succeeding the earlier Martial Arts Studies Research Network, with a membership system and annual conference taking shape as of 2026); the International Martial Arts and Combat Sports Scientific Society (IMACSSS, founded in Rzeszów in 2010, holding an annual international conference); and the International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport (ISHPES, established in 1989 through the merger of ICOSH and HISPA, and a member of ICSSPE).

9-5. Attend to Ethics and Politics

Karate is deeply entangled with inter-style politics, inter-organizational politics, and international politics (such as the debate over becoming an Olympic sport). As a researcher, you are asked to avoid over-identifying with any particular organization and to maintain a neutrality grounded in sources and analysis. At the same time, building a relationship of trust with your research subjects requires a respectful manner of engagement.

9-6. Start Your Research Plan Small

Even a 100,000-character doctoral dissertation begins with a small question.

“A fifty-year history of one dōjō’s monthly fees”
“How a particular sequence of a particular kata has changed from style to style”
“The image of karate in the articles of a particular magazine in a particular era”
“The correlation between dōjō location and demographic change in a particular region”

Starting from a limited scope and gradually enlarging the question is the realistic and productive path.

Closing

Karate research is a treasure trove of material not yet sorted out. As it spread from Okinawa to mainland Japan and onward to the world, its styles, organizations, competitive formats, philosophies, and bodily techniques branched apart and influenced one another. It is my hope that this article may serve as a first map for the young researchers who take on that vast subject.

Behind each and every movement practiced in the dōjō lie a long history and the accumulated choices of many people. I hope that, through their research, readers will help pass the depth of that history on to the next generation.

A Short Glossary of Key Terms

Te / tī (手): “Hand”; the older Okinawan name for the indigenous fighting techniques that preceded the term “karate.”
Tōde (唐手): “Tang/Chinese hand”; an early written form of “karate” reflecting a perceived Chinese influence. Later replaced by 空手.
Karate (空手): “Empty hand”; the standardized modern writing, adopted in the 1920s–30s.
Karate-dō (空手道): “The way of the empty hand”; karate understood as a dō (a “Way” of self-cultivation), paralleling jūdō and kendō.
Kata (型 / 形): Prearranged solo forms encoding techniques; the core method of transmission.
Bunkai (分解): The analysis and combative application of kata movements.
Kumite (組手): Sparring, ranging from prearranged to free.
Sundome (寸止め): “Stopping an inch short”; controlled, non-contact competition striking, characteristic of traditional WKF-style karate.
Full contact: Competition with actual impact; punches to the face are generally prohibited (Kyokushin and its offshoots).
Budō (武道): The Japanese martial “Ways” (jūdō, kendō, karate-dō, etc.), emphasizing self-cultivation alongside technique.
Bujutsu (武術): The older “martial techniques,” emphasizing practical combat skill.
Kobudō (古武道): In the Okinawan context, the classical weapons arts (sai, tonfa, nunchaku, bō, etc.) practiced alongside karate.
Dōjō (道場): The training hall, and by extension the community that trains there.
Karateka (空手家): A karate practitioner.