Author: Bret Gordon
Okinawan Newspaper Featuring Karate Day Awhile back, Jesse Enkamp put out a video called "Why ALL Karate Styles Are Fake" detailing how the numerous styles of Okinawan and Japanese karate came to exist. To summarize, in 1927 when Kano Jigoro visited Okinawa and the local martial artists put on a demonstration, in order to hide any connection to China during this highly nationalistic era they decided not to say this was a demonstration of Tode 唐手 (Chinese Hand) and instead referred to their respective demonstrations by the region of Okinawa the individual practitioner was from (Naha, Tomari and Shuri).
However up until this point, it was considered all the same art with different flavors based on individual teachers. One can argue that's all a style is anyway, but is that enough to formalize it as an independent martial art? Unlike Japanese martial arts, which have been divided into formalized styles as early as the 15th century, Okinawan martial artists all traveled and cross-trained to pursue their personal growth as practitioners. Even today, there is a spirit of unity among karate practitioners, culminating in the annual Karate Day celebration (commemorating the 1936 meeting when prominent Okinawan masters came together and officially adopted the term Karate 空手 to describe their art, along with the adoption of the kyu/dan rank system, shogo titles and competition format to conform it into a Japanese martial art).
However up until this point, it was considered all the same art with different flavors based on individual teachers. One can argue that's all a style is anyway, but is that enough to formalize it as an independent martial art? Unlike Japanese martial arts, which have been divided into formalized styles as early as the 15th century, Okinawan martial artists all traveled and cross-trained to pursue their personal growth as practitioners. Even today, there is a spirit of unity among karate practitioners, culminating in the annual Karate Day celebration (commemorating the 1936 meeting when prominent Okinawan masters came together and officially adopted the term Karate 空手 to describe their art, along with the adoption of the kyu/dan rank system, shogo titles and competition format to conform it into a Japanese martial art).
 1937 Commemorative Meeting |  Multi-Style Karate Parade |
Following the 1927 demonstration for Kano, stylization of Karate took another large step when the art was introduced to mainland Japan, as the Japanese are obsessed with organization and classifications. The naming of styles was largely arbitrary. Goju Ryu 剛柔流, for example, was named in 1930 after Jin'an Shinzato gave a demonstration in Tokyo at the celebration of Crown Prince Hirohito's succession to the throne. When asked what style he represented, he was unsure what to answer and quickly stated Hanko Ryu (half hard style). Upon returning to Okinawa and informing Miyagi about this event, Miyagi kept the spirit of the name and chose the name Goju Ryu (hard and soft style) after a line in the poem "Kempo Hakku" from the Bubishi. The line ho goju donto translates as "The way of inhaling and exhaling is hardness and softness."
The naming of other Karate styles were also not necessarily deliberate, and often were named for the dojo of the founder, such as the case for Shotokan 松濤館 (under Funakoshi Gichin) and Shudokan 修道館 (under Toyama Kanken). Even though the classification of Karate into different styles was becoming commonplace, it wasn't something the founders of these styles even believed in. Both Funakoshi and Toyama stated they were not teaching a specific style, and yet their legacies are referred to as such.
This brings up a rather interesting discussion. In the internet age, one can hardly go a single day without a new video or article being shared of "fake martial artists" being exposed, or people bashing modern-day founders for "making up their own styles." The statement that a style is made-up implies it's somehow of less value and authenticity as a traditional martial art, but those who make those accusations often study arts founded in the last 150 years.
While many Japanese ryuha often attach mystical origins to the founding of their art, such as being derived from a kami or tengu (which is why many scrolls feature them, like the one below from Shinkage Ryu), the simple truth is that every codified style of martial arts from all over the world originated with an individual. Someone accumulated a set of fighting techniques and gave it a name. To imply that someone of Asian descent is more qualified to do this than a Westerner is nothing more than a self-inflicted inferiority complex.
This brings up a rather interesting discussion. In the internet age, one can hardly go a single day without a new video or article being shared of "fake martial artists" being exposed, or people bashing modern-day founders for "making up their own styles." The statement that a style is made-up implies it's somehow of less value and authenticity as a traditional martial art, but those who make those accusations often study arts founded in the last 150 years.
While many Japanese ryuha often attach mystical origins to the founding of their art, such as being derived from a kami or tengu (which is why many scrolls feature them, like the one below from Shinkage Ryu), the simple truth is that every codified style of martial arts from all over the world originated with an individual. Someone accumulated a set of fighting techniques and gave it a name. To imply that someone of Asian descent is more qualified to do this than a Westerner is nothing more than a self-inflicted inferiority complex.
So that begs the question of what defines a "legitimate" martial art. Is it the credentials of the founder? Does it have to be recognized by a specific organization? Do you need to produce a certain number of black belts? While no one questioned the founders of the traditional Okinawan styles I described above and they were simply accepted by the community (since the Okinawans didn't believe in styles anyway and it was just something to appease the Japanese), there are some Japanese traditions and customs to establishing your own system.
Yagi Meitoku First and foremost, if an art stands the test of time it is considered established. This means the founder has passed away or retired, and the art succeeds into the next generation. The next way is to register the art with a government organization (or at least one with government recognition). In Japan, that would be an organization the Dai Nippon Butokukai, the Kokusai Budoin, the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, etc. As a Westerner, this is not always possible but there are progressive organizations, such as the All Japan Budo Association, that have recognized arts founded by foreigners.
The last way is to be certified as a founder, but this is one of the trickiest methods. A foundership certificate cannot be issued by just anyone. It must be awarded by a legitimate Soke, the inheriting headmaster of an established martial art style. Founders cannot recognize founders, and no number of grandmaster signatures is enough. What defines any legitimate certification is the authority of the person signing it. Of course, founders can give their students permission to open their own independent branches of an art (such as when Miyagi Chojun authorized Yagi Meitoku to start the Meibukan), but that is not the same as creating a style.
So is there such a thing as a "made up style?" Not really. There are, of course, fraudulent martial artists who lie about their credentials, but when someone says a style is "made up," they are insulting the very instructors and founders of the arts they study, because the style wouldn't exist unless someone made it up.
The last way is to be certified as a founder, but this is one of the trickiest methods. A foundership certificate cannot be issued by just anyone. It must be awarded by a legitimate Soke, the inheriting headmaster of an established martial art style. Founders cannot recognize founders, and no number of grandmaster signatures is enough. What defines any legitimate certification is the authority of the person signing it. Of course, founders can give their students permission to open their own independent branches of an art (such as when Miyagi Chojun authorized Yagi Meitoku to start the Meibukan), but that is not the same as creating a style.
So is there such a thing as a "made up style?" Not really. There are, of course, fraudulent martial artists who lie about their credentials, but when someone says a style is "made up," they are insulting the very instructors and founders of the arts they study, because the style wouldn't exist unless someone made it up.
EDIT (January 9, 2022) - Another example of a "made up" martial art is Taekwondo. In the 1950s following the Japanese occupation, nine kwans (schools) of Korean Karate were in existence. They all used either Tang Soo Do (Tode-Do 唐手道), Kong Soo Do (Karatedo 空手道) or Kwon Bup (Kempo 拳法) to describe their respective styles. The Korean government, wanting to regulate martial arts, ordered the kwans to unify and come up with a new name for what they taught to remove the connection to Japanese and Okinawan martial arts, and so the name "Taekwondo" was coined and they formed the Korea Taekwondo Association. They created the Palgwe and KTA yudanja forms to separate themselves from their predecessors, and later replaced the Palgwe series with the Taegeuk forms simply because they still looked "too Japanese."
