23｜Conclusion — Living “Karate” as a Question

🏁Scope of this chapter. This is the conclusion of the series. It draws together the twenty-two lines of argument developed so far and offers a provisional summing-up of the question “What is Karate (カラテ)?” What follows, however, is not an answer but a map of the question’s structure. As promised at the very start of the series, we make no value judgments, no ungrounded assertions, and no ruling on “which side is right.”

1. Looking Back on the Series

Across five parts and twenty-three chapters, this series has examined the question “What is Karate?” from many angles.

Part I — The Structure of the Question (Ch. 01–02): the introduction and the history of how the word has been written.
Part II — Historical Depth (Ch. 03–08): the transplantation of karate from Okinawa to mainland Japan, its relationship with Kanō Jigorō (the founder of judo), university club culture, the social class of prewar university students, and the renaming from tōde (唐手) to karate-dō (空手道).
Part III — Dissecting the Concept (Ch. 09–14): the conceptual history of budō (武道, “martial way”); the boundaries between budō, kakutōgi (格闘技, “combat sports”), and bujutsu (武術, “martial arts/technique”); the myth of the “empty-handed” art; sport versus budō; comparisons with Muay Thai and kickboxing; and karate and religion.
Part IV — Culture, Society, Body (Ch. 15–21): the history of kata (型, the choreographed “forms”); the endless proliferation of styles and a “Japanese food” analogy; the origins of the uniform and belt; karate as popular entertainment; karate as a children’s lesson and an adult hobby; the history of scholarship; and the benefits of karate and the idea of “the way.”
Part V — Where We Stand Now, and the Conclusion (Ch. 22–23): twenty-first-century KARATE, and this closing essay.

These threads may look independent, yet they are connected by a single undercurrent: the definition of the word “karate” never settles.

2. Why the Definition of “Karate” Never Settles

Why does the definition of “karate” refuse to settle? Over the course of the series, several reasons have come into view.

2.1 The Layered Nature of Its History

Karate is a composite formed where many lineages cross: the Okinawan te (手, “hand”; the indigenous fighting methods), southern Chinese martial arts, mainland Japanese martial traditions, modern physical education, the world’s combat sports, and popular culture. It cannot be reduced to any single origin.

2.2 The Absence of a Unifying Authority

Karate has no strong symbolic center comparable to the Kōdōkan in judo, nor a single international competitive federation that governs the whole. Multiple organizations and styles coexist, each calling its own practice “karate” and each practicing it differently.

2.3 Many Layers of Practice

Karate exists simultaneously as budō, as martial art, as combat sport, as competitive sport, as education, as fitness, and as self-defense. Emphasize a different layer, and karate’s face changes.

2.4 Cultural Diffusion

Karate spread across the world and developed independently in each place. The World Karate Federation (WKF) listed 200 national and regional members as of 2024. Japanese karate, American karate, and European karate differ considerably in both content and ideals.

2.5 The Modernity of the Concept

The word “karate” is itself a twentieth-century construct. From te (手) and tōde (唐手) to karate (空手) and karate-dō (空手道), both the notation and the meaning have shifted over time.

For all these reasons, the definition of “karate” is, in essence, unfixable.

3. The Positive Meaning of “Not Knowing”

Throughout the series we have repeatedly written “we don’t know” and “there is no single answer.” This is not resignation or helplessness. On the contrary, “not knowing” carries a positive meaning.

3.1 The Meaning of Being Open

That karate’s definition never settles means karate is an open practice. Precisely because no single person monopolizes its definition, people all over the world can engage with karate, each in their own way.

3.2 The Meaning of Being Dynamic

That the definition never settles means karate is a dynamic system. It is not a fixed tradition but is constantly rebuilt. New interpretations, new styles, and new practices keep emerging.

3.3 The Meaning of Tolerating Diversity

That the definition never settles means that many positions are tolerated. Traditionalists, sport-oriented practitioners, full-contact schools, educators, women’s karate (joshi karate), senior karate — all can coexist under the single name “karate.”

3.4 The Meaning of Prompting Thought

That the definition never settles prompts thought. “What is karate to me?” “Why do I practice it?” “What do I seek in it?” — these questions are put to every practitioner.

4. The “Facts” the Series Could Confirm

The series promised not to hand down an “answer.” Even so, a number of “facts” can be organized within the limits of what the historical record supports.

In late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Okinawa, empty-hand fighting methods called te (ティー) and tōde (トーディー) existed.
In the course of their transplantation to the mainland (the 1920s–30s), these came to be written as karate (空手) and reconceived as karate-dō (空手道).
University club culture and Kanō Jigorō’s judo model played a decisive role in karate’s “mainlandization.”
Prewar karate spread primarily as the culture of an elite male university student class.
After the war, karate branched into full-contact, traditional, and competitive streams, and spread across the world.
Twenty-first-century KARATE is practiced worldwide and unfolds in diverse forms. In the competitive sphere, the WKF holds up 200 nations and regions as its membership units.

These are historical facts that can be shared across positions. The series does not adopt any stance that denies them.

5. “Questions” That Can Be Shared Across Positions

There are also several “questions” that can be shared regardless of one’s position.

Is “karate” a technique, a culture, or a philosophy?
What is the relationship between “karate” and other combat disciplines (Muay Thai, kickboxing, taekwondo, and so on)?
As “karate” spreads across the world, what is gained and what is lost?
How should the balance between tradition and innovation in “karate” be struck?
What is the contemporary meaning of training in “karate”?

The series offered no answers to these questions. Rather, it argues that to keep asking them is itself one way of engaging with karate.

📘For readers outside Japan: the four “audiences” addressed below. The remaining sections speak in turn to four groups of readers. In the Japanese education system, chūgakusei (中学生) are junior-high students (roughly ages 12–15) and kōkōsei (高校生) are senior-high students (roughly ages 15–18). The essay also distinguishes kishūsha (既修者) — those who already train in karate (“practitioners”) — from mishūsha (未修者) — those who do not yet practice (“newcomers” or “non-practitioners”). The four short addresses that follow are tailored to each of these audiences.

6. To Junior- and Senior-High-School Readers

This series has developed arguments at a scholarly level in plain language. To younger readers, we would like to leave a few messages.

6.1 Don’t Fear “Not Knowing”

Some questions in the world have clear answers; others do not. “What is karate?” is a question without a clear answer. But the absence of a clear answer does not make thinking pointless. On the contrary, it is precisely because there is no fixed answer that the question is worth thinking about deeply.

6.2 Don’t Cling to a Single Position

Clinging to one position — “this is real karate” — blinds you to karate’s richness. Understanding several positions, and weighing the grounds and the limits of each, builds the power to think.

6.3 The Value of Tracing History

Tracing when and how “something we now take for granted” came into being trains the ability to relativize that “given.” Realizing that much of today’s karate uniform, belt-ranking system, and dojo culture is not “ancient tradition” as such, but includes parts shaped in the modern era, is good training in critical thinking.

6.4 Hold Your Own Question

The series has offered many questions about karate. From among them — or apart from them — we hope you will frame a question of your own. To hold a question is the starting point of learning.

7. To Readers Who Already Practice

The series also carries several messages for karate practitioners.

7.1 The Courage to Admit “I Don’t Know”

When asked as a karateka “What is karate?”, you need not be ashamed of being unable to answer clearly. Admitting “I don’t know” is, rather, the starting point of thought.

7.2 Relativize Your Own Style

Accepting that your style is not the sole truth of karate cultivates tolerance toward other styles. At the same time, it helps you understand the distinctiveness and value of your own style more deeply.

7.3 The Balance of Tradition and Innovation

Guarding tradition and adapting to the present are not opposites. Pursuing both at once is what keeps a tradition alive.

7.4 Passing It On

When you transmit karate to the next generation, conveying not only technique and ideals but also the value of “not knowing” keeps karate alive as a living practice.

8. To Readers Who Do Not Practice

The series carries messages for readers who do not practice karate as well.

8.1 Relativize the Image of “Budō”

The word budō is often mystified as “a uniquely Japanese spiritual culture.” The series has shown that budō is a modern construct, and that the history of that construction can be reconstructed. To understand budō, it helps to trace the history of how it was built.

8.2 Relativize the Idea of a Single “Japanese Culture”

“Japanese culture” is likewise a composite built up in the modern period. Through the case of karate, one can grasp the modernity and the layered complexity of “Japanese culture.”

8.3 Relativize the “East versus West” Binary

Karate does not fit within an “East versus West” binary. It is a composite where southern Chinese martial arts, Japanese budō, and Western sport all intersect. Karate reveals the limits of viewing the world through such simple categories as “East” and “West.”

9. A Provisional Answer to “What Is Karate?”

Some readers who have come this far may still want to ask, “So in the end, what is karate?”

The series withholds an “answer” to the very end. But if we were to attempt a provisional formulation, it would run like this:

“Karate is an open, collective body of practice — one that diverse people across the world live out, each in their own historical, cultural, and bodily way, under the single name ‘karate.'”

This formulation carries several implications.

“Karate” cannot be reduced to a single origin or a fixed essence.
“Karate” is lived by diverse people all over the world.
“Karate” possesses a historical, cultural, and bodily multiplicity.
“Karate” is an open practice, ceaselessly changing.
“Karate” is a collective body, not a single practice.

We do not claim this formulation is “correct.” It is merely one provisional formulation arrived at through the series. Readers are free to hold a different one.

10. Closing: To Live the Question

At the very end of the series, let us repeat once more: “What is karate?” is not a question meant to be answered. It is, rather, a question meant to be kept.

To keep asking is itself one way of engaging with karate. Training as a karateka, researching as a scholar, spectating as an enthusiast, writing as an author — each is its own way of living the question “What is karate?”

This series is one such attempt to live the question. We hope it can serve as one piece of material for readers to keep thinking about “karate.”

Karate will go on changing. Within that change, we keep asking after it. The question does not end. And it is exactly because it does not end that karate is alive.

📝A message to readers.　Thank you for reading this far. This series was written not to deliver answers but to think through a question together. Whether you already practice karate or have never trained at all, we hope this series becomes an occasion for you to keep asking, in your own way, “What is karate?”

This English edition is translated from the Japanese original. In translating, we preserve the series’ basic stance — making no value judgments, and confining ourselves to presenting differences and questions. We would be glad to share this question with readers around the world.

“What is karate?” It is a question we will go on engaging with, without end.

Principal References (Series Summary)

The core works cited repeatedly throughout the series are listed once more below. For Japanese-language sources, the romanized and original Japanese title is given together with an English rendering of the title and publisher.

Primary Sources and Practitioner Writings

Itosu Ankō (1908), “Tōde Kokoroe Jūkajō” (唐手心得十ヶ条, “Ten Precepts of Karate”), commonly known as the “Itosu Ten Lessons” (糸洲十訓).
Tominakoshi (Funakoshi) Gichin (1922), Ryūkyū Kenpō: Tōde (琉球拳法唐手, “Ryukyu Kenpō: Karate”), Bukyōsha.
Motobu Chōki (1932), Watashi no Tōdejutsu (私の唐手術, “My Art of Karate”), Tōkyō Tōde Fukyūkai (Tokyo Karate Dissemination Society).
Funakoshi Gichin (1935), Karatedō Kyōhan (空手道教範, “Karate-dō: The Master Text”), Ōkura Kōbundō.
Mabuni Kenwa & Nakasone Genwa (1938), Kōbō Kenpō: Karatedō Nyūmon (攻防拳法空手道入門, “Offense and Defense Kenpō: Introduction to Karate-dō”), Kyōbunsha Shoten.
Funakoshi Gichin (1956), Karatedō Ichiro (空手道一路, “Karate-dō: My Way of Life”), Sangyō Keizai Shinbunsha.
Ōyama Masutatsu (1969), Hyakuman-nin no Karate (100万人の空手, “Karate for the Millions”), Tōto Shobō.

Academic Research

Kadekaru Tōru (2017), Okinawa Karate no Sōzō to Tenkai: Koshō no Hensen o Tegakari ni shite (沖縄空手の創造と展開：呼称の変遷を手がかりにして, “The Creation and Development of Okinawan Karate: Through the Lens of Its Changing Names”), PhD dissertation, Waseda University.
Kinjō Hiroshi (2011), Tōde kara Karate e (唐手から空手へ, “From Tōde to Karate”), Nippon Budōkan.
Nakajima Tetsuya (2017), Kindai Nihon no Budōron (近代日本の武道論, “Theories of Budō in Modern Japan”), Kokusho Kankōkai.
Tōdō Yoshiaki (2008), Jūdō no Rekishi to Bunka (柔道の歴史と文化, “The History and Culture of Judo”), Fumaidō Shuppan.
Irie Kōhei (ed.) (2003), Budō Bunka no Tankyū (武道文化の探求, “An Inquiry into Budō Culture”), Fumaidō Shuppan.
Kimura Kichiji (2002), Kindai Nihon ni okeru Taiiku no Seiritsu (近代日本における体育の成立, “The Formation of Physical Education in Modern Japan”), Fumaidō Shuppan.
Amano Ikuo (1989), Kindai Nihon Kōtō Kyōiku Kenkyū (近代日本高等教育研究, “Studies in Higher Education in Modern Japan”), Tamagawa University Press.
Takamiyagi Shigeru, Shinzato Katsuhiko & Nakamoto Masahiro (2008), Okinawa Karate Kobudō Jiten (沖縄空手古武道事典, “Encyclopedia of Okinawan Karate and Kobudō”), Kashiwa Shobō.
Ōhoki Teruo (2010), Nihon no Budō (日本の武道, “The Budō of Japan”), Shibunkaku Shuppan.

International Research

Hobsbawm, E. & Ranger, T. (eds.) (1983) The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge UP.
Bennett, A. C. (2015) Kendo: Culture of the Sword. University of California Press.
Donohue, J. (1994) Warrior Dreams: The Martial Arts and the American Imagination. Bergin & Garvey.
Inoue, S. (1998) “The Invention of the Martial Arts: Kanō Jigorō and Kōdōkan Judo.” In Stephen Vlastos (ed.), Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan. University of California Press.
McMahon, F. “The Social World of Karate-Do.”
Tan, K.S.Y. (2004) “Constructing a Martial Tradition: Rethinking a Popular History of Karate-Dou.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues 28(2).
Krug, G. (2001) “At the Feet of the Master: Three Stages in the Appropriation of Okinawan Karate Into Anglo-American Culture.” Cultural Studies, Critical Methodologies 1(4).
Friman, H.R. (1996) “Blinded by the Light: Politics and Profit in the Martial Arts.” Asian Survey 36(11).

Philosophy and Social Theory

Bourdieu, P. (1979) La Distinction. Minuit.
Koselleck, R. (1972–1997) Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe. Klett-Cotta.
Suzuki Daisetsu (D. T. Suzuki) (1938), Zen to Nihon Bunka (禅と日本文化, “Zen and Japanese Culture”), Iwanami Shoten.
Yuasa Yasuo (1977), Shintairon (身体論, “The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-Body Theory”), Sōbunsha.

Fin.

“What Is Karate?” — A multidimensional inquiry through thought, history, and sociology.

“What Is Karate?” — A Multidimensional Inquiry Through Thought, History, and Sociology