From China, Kempo spread north to Mongolia, east to Korea and south-east to Okinawa. Eventually it reached Japan, where it became extremely popular after the Kamakure era (about AD 1200). The soldier class, the Samurai, in particular welcomed both the combat forms and the Zen philosophy. The morality and mysticism of Zen Buddhism appealed to their sensibilities, but the real attraction was the way it provided them with a discipline which made them capable of great endurance and excellence in fighting, by giving them the special skills and insights into both themselves and their opponents.

At various times in history - for instance in 1400 and again in 1609, in Okinawa- the authorities forbade the populace to use arms. As a means of protection against the bandits, and sometimes against the authorities, unarmed combat became widely taught. The schools, themselves usually confined to the temples, were nevertheless kept secret, because if discovered they would have been immediately wiped out by those in power.

It was not until 1901 that Karate, as we now know it, was brought out of secret study and taught openly in Okinawa. In 1916, Master Gichin Funakoshi came from Okinawa to Tokyo and pioneered the modern system of Karate in Japan. Born from many origins, there are today many Schools of Karate, each with its own merits and perhaps its own faults.

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