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Female Karate Fighters
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More Female Karate
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Women's Karate - A Modern History
- 1946 – Robert Trias established the first karate school on the Mainland in the U.S. and his daughter, Roberta Jane, was one of the first women to attain a black belts in the U.S.
- 1959 – Bruce Lee began teaching to men and women in Seattle
- 1960 – In Tacoma, Washington Steve Armstrong introduced Isshin-ryu. One day a women asked him how her sweat and money were different from men and from that day on he accepted women
- 1965 – Paula and Pauline Short created the Karate School for Women in Portland, Oregon
- 1965 - In Kalamazoo, Michigan Katherine Keith started her training in Uechi-ryu
- 1966 – Kay Tsuroka becomes the first Canadian woman to receive a black belt from the All-Japan Karate-do Association
- 1968 – In LA, California LaVerne Bates starts a women’s Ch’uan Fa class
- 1971 – Py Bateman established a Feminist Karate Union in Seattle
- 1974 – The first all-women’s karate tournament was held in Seattle
- 1978 – For the first time women’s sparring events were allowed in Japanese Tournament Karate
- 1991 – Karate Aerobics become extremely popular in NYC and California
- 2001 – Michele Yeoh, actor and pioneer women’s martial arts expert displayed her ability in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
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History of Karate
Around the beginning of the 15th century some Chinese migrated to the islands of what is now known as Okinawa and took with them this early form of Karate. It caught on and the native Okinawans further developed the art. As weapons were banned hand-to-hand fighting styles gained prominence and spread through the islands quickly. The new style of fighting was called Karate or "empty hand".
Karate was introduced to the Okinawan school system in the early 1900's by Gichin Funakoshi and the first public demonstration of Karate was held in Japan in 1921. In 1922 the founder of Judo, Dr. Jano Kano, asked Mr. Funakoshi to come to Japan to teach Karate. The Japanese tweaked the Okinawan form so that it could be considered a true Japanes art.
Many top karate experts in Japan were killed or simply stopped training during World War II. After the war some of the remaining Karate experts met in order to standardize the instructional methods of karate. Soon thereafter the Japan Karate Association (JKA) was formed and Mr. Funakoshi was the chief instructor.
Karate's international popularity rose quickly in the 1950’s and 60's as many different styles and organizations took root worldwide. Today many different forms of karate are practiced by a wide variety of cultures.
Other Women's Fighting Styles
MMA I
Muay Thai I
Boxing I
Kickboxing I
Taekwondo I
Jiu-Jitsu |
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