Evolution of Karate: USA and Germany Comparison

Physiotherapist, Martial Arts teacher, & musician

Tim

May 24, 2024

Let’s compare two western Countries practicing and teaching an eastern Martial Art named Karate. Karate is one of the most famous martial arts around the world . We will discuss the cultural differences of the USA and Germany and how it impacts the way Karate is trained and organized in these countries.

History of Karate in the USA

u s a flag mounted on white steel pole — Photo by Michael Morse on Pexels.com

One of the first contacts with Karate was in 1922. Gichin Funakoshi (also known as the father of modern Karate), the founder of Shotokan Karate, travelled to Hawaii. He followed an invitation from the Hawaii Japanese language school to participate at the first All-Japan Athletic Exhibition. It was the first exhibition of Karate outside of Okinawa ,the birthplace of Karate. This event made Karate known to the USA and also helped to spark the spread all over the world. Funakoshi stayed in Hawaii until 1924.

After WW2 around 1945 the soldiers that were stationed in Okinawa during the war came back to the USA. During their time in Okinawa they came into contact with Karate. In 1947 Mas Oyama, the founder of Kyokushin Karate, opened the first permanent Karate School in the USA in Chicago. Karate’s popularity kept growing and in 1960 the United States Karate Association recognized Karate as a tournament sport.

History of Karate in Germany

germany flag in front of building — Photo by Ingo Joseph on Pexels.com

In 1957 Karate came to Germany through Jürgen Seydel. Seydel, an experienced Judoka, went to a Martial Arts Seminar in France. Here he first learned about Karate and fell in love with it.

After his return to Germany he founded the first Karate School in Germany, the Budokan Bad Homburg. For our non German readers, ‘Bad’ is translated to Bath and refers to Towns that offer Healing Baths. The German population saw Karate with great scepsis because it was deemed too violent. Even when Karate was seen as violent, it never was a forbidden Art, like in the Soviet Union.

Thanks to the continuous work of Jürgen Seydel, Theo Stemmer, Günter Siegmund and others, Karate’s popularity rose and lent to the foundation of the Deutsche Karate Bund (German Karate Association) in 1971. In 1965 Hideo Ochi followed the invitation of the German Judo Association. He started teaching Judo and Karate. Ochi later became the first Head Instructor of the German Karate Association.

Structure and Organizations

Looking at the how the USA and Germany teach Karate and how its Organizations/Schools are structured, the cultural differences will become evident.

The States Structure

The Schools in the USA are mostly run as private Schools. They can be tied to an Organization or completely independent. This independency is valued in the USA. Some schools teach exceptionally great Karate with very knowledgeable teachers, but it also opens the door for McDojos. These Mc Dojo schools sell their ranks to students and are a pure cash grab.

The German Structure

In Germany, there are far less private schools. Karate is mostly taught via broad sports clubs (kind of similar to the YMCA). To teach at such a sports club you need a teaching license, available in levels from C to A. These licenses need to be renewed every two years. Germans are very skeptical when a school is not directly tied to one of the large Organizations.

We like it organized and everything must be certified or we don´t trust it. This leads to far less McDojos but also takes away lots of freedom because the curriculum of the large Karate Associations miss a lot of potential. Its standard is high but still could do a lot better. If you move from North to South Germany and join a club that teaches the same style, your rank will be recognized almost every time because of the given standards. This uniformity will keep you from starting over when you move to a different state but also takes away a lot of diversity.

The Cost difference between Training in the States & Germany

The average monthly costs in the USA are around $50 to $100, which seems a lot higher then in Germany. But the schools have to pay their rent, teachers, insurances and so on. The average in Germany is around 30€ to 60€. The school I teach at charges 14€ a month for example. Looking at the monthly costs you will see, Germans won´t make a living out of teaching martial arts. Except the few private schools, it is more of a hobby to teach Martial Arts in Germany

So far we learned that Karate came to Germany 35 years later. The schools in the USA enjoy greater freedom in how and what they teach but also face more McDojos. Germany on the other hand has a very strict and uniformed approach to teach Karate, which might lead to a higher standard but misses out on lots of opportunities on innovation. The monthly costs are higher in the USA but due to differences in the schools structure completely understandable.