Styles of Karate

There are four main karate styles that were founded in the early years of the 20th century. These four traditional styles include Shotokan, Goju-ryu, Shito-Ryu and Wado-ryu. These karate styles were developed from different self-defense techniques and vary primarily on emphasis.

Shotokan focuses on rigid and powerful linear techniques and deep strong stances. This style was founded by Gichin Funakoshi, who is also considered as the Father of Modern Karate.

Goju-ryu, also known as ‘the hard soft way’ is characterized by soft circular blocking techniques combined with rapid succession of quick strong counter attacks. Founded by Chojun Miyagi in 1930, Goju-ryu is a style that was developed out of the Naha-te technique.

Founded by Kenwa Mabuni, Shito-ryu puts more emphasis on executing the techniques with power. The Naha-te and the Shuri-te techniques are the direct influences of Shito-ryu.

Wado-ryu is a style that was developed from two different martial arts techniques, jujitsu and karate. This style uses the basic jujitsu movements with evasion techniques and putting strong focus on softness and spiritual discipline, a reason why it is also known as the ‘way of harmony’.

Karate is not limited to these four styles as several other styles of karate have evolved through the years. The Kyokushin, for example, was founded in 1964 by Masutatsu Oyama and is considered the most challenging and probably the hardest of all karate styles as it emphasizes on combat effectiveness. Other karate styles include Uechi-Ryu, Shotokai, Shorinjiryu and Genseiryu, just to name a few.