Do = way, and implies a philosophical/spiritual element. It was used to denote that the arts focus had shifted to self perfection and really had nothing to do with sport. This was done because Koryo arts had fallen out of favor with the new government in the late ninteenth century.
I wrote all these posts about Do vs. Jutsu but I can't seem to find them.
'Do' was added to 'karate' by Funakoshi in order to get his Karate into the Japanese school system, but there was no sportive element at that point.
That's not what GM LEE Won Kuk said. He said Funakoshi Sensei (as opposed to "Funakoshi") wanted to model his art after Judo. that is why he adopted the uniform, the belt rank system. Kano Sensei was all about sport, because he was enamored with the Olympic movement and was even successful in getting the Olympic Games to Tokyo in 1940. It was during that 1938 when he died I believe.
And Do was added to Karate at the same time that the character of "empty" was added. Previously the art in Okinawa was known as Toudejutsu, pronounced karatejutsu in japanese. or tangsoo sool in korean. When the character for tang was changed to empty, the character for jutsu was changed to do.
Kendo did not begin as a sport either, nor was it called kendo until the thirties. The shinai and bogu were developed well before kendo and before the nineteenth century as a means of allowing samurai to practice killing blows without crippling each other. Until the thirties, it was called gekkiken, not kendo.
that is interesting but in his interview book, Nakayama Sensei speaks about how the karate students at the time wanted more competition orientedness in karate because of how they learned kendo and judo, with their competition focus.
Judo was called judo for a variety of reasons, but the do was also not directly related to sport. Sport and competition were, however viewed as means of self improvement, and so a sportive element did segue with the 'do' designation.
the point is that do arts were seen less for its combative element more so its self development and self discovery aspects. Of course you can use the techniques for self defense in do arts if you wanted to, but this is an entirely different thing than saying a do art such as judo, kendo or taekwondo is first and foremost a self defense oriented combat art where your goal is to destroy your enemy. If you want that, go for a jutsu art.
Plenty of 'do' arts have no sportive element whatsoever. Aikido is a do art due to Ueshiba's religious views. Hapkido, Aikido's Korean cousin, is a 'do' art that traditionally has no sportive element either.
From an old post I wrote back in 2001:
> I also think that other arts also changed from Jutsu to Do arts but
> did not adopt the original sport mentality that Kano Sensei advocated,
> and this muddied the picture so to speak. Aikido, for example, did
> not have a sporting aspect, at least not one advocated or approved
> of by the founder, Ueshiba Sensei, and yet it is a Do art. The
> similarity with Judo or Kendo though was that Aikido at that point
> was no longer to be considered a "combat" or battlefield martial art,
> like its predecessor, Daito Ryu Aikijujitsu, but rather was a vehicle
> for self discovery and self enlightenment. However, Ueshiba Sensei
> chose to do this through a quasi religious or religious vehicle, rather
> than through sport, due to his involvement and participation in the Omoto
> religion.
>
> And in doing so, Ueshiba Sensei broadened and changed the
> definition of Do martial arts, to include non-sport oriented practices.
> Prior to Aikido, Do martial arts were sport martial arts, Judo, Kendo
> and Karate Do included. In a sense, he was riding the wave of the
> popularity of Do arts or the era, but at the same time, changed the
> rules a little, like all visionaries tend to do.
Hapkido, at least according to GM JI Han Jae, is not an art in which you ever hurt your opponent. We never break joints for example, or cause someone to be permanently injured. the reason GM Ji gives is that we do not want someone out there who 40 years down the road is dealing with an arthritic joint and remembering that we were the cause of that. So in that regard, Hapkido also has a philosophical basis that removes it from the combat or warfare oriented jutsu arts, which are really meant to kill your opponent.
Sports oriented martial arts are, with the exception of judo and kendo, more of a post war development.
well, so is taekwondo.
Over and above all of this is a point that some people tend to forget, and that is that Japan and Korea are relatively safe countries such that the need for self defense skills is almost non-existent. I remember going to Japan for the first time seeing five year old children riding the bullet train by themselves, without fear that someone would kidnap them or do them harm. This was a while ago, and maybe things have changed. Also in Korea, I never ever feel like there would ever be a situation where I would have to defend myself.
