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Research in Dance and Physical Activity - Vol. 6 , No. 2
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[ Article ]
Research in Dance and Physical Activity - Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 33-49
ISSN: 2586-1034 (Online)
Print publication date 31 Aug 2022
Received 30 Jun 2022 Revised 21 Jul 2022 Accepted 10 Aug 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26584/RDPA.2022.08.6.2.33

The Development of Karate in China: Using Literature Review to Explore Karate from the Perspective of Chinese
Jinwen Xie1 ; Kyungwon Jung2, * ; Yuanyuan Cao3 ; Chang Liu4
1Waseda University, Japan, Ph.D. Candidate
2Waseda University, Japan, Research Fellow
3Waseda University, Japan, Ph.D. Candidate
4Waseda University, Japan, Assistant Professor

Correspondence to : *Email address: starcreate@naver.com

Abstract

Karate is growing rapidly in China. As of 2021, 21 provinces, cities, and autonomous regions in China have established karate associations, and there are around 300,000-400,000 karate practitioners in China. However, little research has been done on the understanding and discussion of karate among the Chinese. This paper used literature review to reveal the Chinese perspectives on karate. The “karate” was used as a keyword to search relevant newspapers and articles in the People’s Daily and CNKI databases. Besides, books about karate from the National Library of China were compiled. The results showed that since the 1980s, the debate on karate has gradually emerged in China. From the 1980s to the 1990s, the Chinese have always held the understanding that karate originated from the Chinese martial arts of the Tang Dynasty. This understanding may have been brought into China by the Chinese who had been to Japan. However, this understanding is unreliable, and many Chinese martial art researchers accept this theory uncritically. Since 2010, with the introduction of karate majors in some Chinese universities, research on karate has increased rapidly. Chinese researchers have put forward a wide range of theories on the historical origin of karate by using the documents of China and Japan, such as Theory of the Thirty-six families from Min (久米三十六姓輸入説), Theory of development from Okinawan dance and so forth.

Keywords: China, Martial arts, sports culture, Japanese Budo, Karate, 2020 Tokyo Olympics
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