Did Bruce Lee Invent Sparring Armor?
In 1967, at Ed Parker’s Long Beach International Karate Championship, Bruce Lee made his second appearance (his appearance was at the 1964 Internationals in Long Beach,) where he showcased more of his unique form of martial arts and also introduced full-contact sparring (Kickboxing).
What was especially unique about the sparring was the use of body armor. Headgear with face cage, chest protector, gloves, and shin protection.
This was the first time this type of sparring gear was introduced to the masses, and it’s clear Bruce Lee was ahead of his time in using them.
During this time period, most of the Karate type sparring was similar to early Japanese sundome (寸止め) style kumite, semi-contact sparring, without gear. Bruce Lee maintained that this was unrealistic and with proper gear you are able to properly and safely train more realistically with more contact. Hence the introduction of this gear.
But was Bruce Lee the inventor of the style of sparring armor used at the Internationals?
Not by a long-shot.
First some ancient history...
The recorded use of hand protection, were used by the boxers in Ancient Greece during the Olympics in 688 B.C. And were simple leather wraps. More substantial hand protection were seen in mosaics prior to 400 B.C.
Kendo armor, which influenced some of the design of the protective armor, was first introduced in the Shotoku-era in Japan (1711-1715), and evolved into an iron masked head gear and bamboo body armor in the Horeki era (1751 - 1764). As a side note, Western Fencing gear was invented in the mid-1850s.
Since we're speaking of Kendo and Fencing armor, I should mention the baseball catcher's gear, since it may have influenced some of the full contact training armor. The first baseball face guard was invented (and patented) by Fred Thayer in 1878 which was a modified fencing mask; and the body armor worn outside of uniforms was first introduced in 1883. The early shin guards were thought to have been introduced in the late 1890s.
I think it would be remiss to not mention gear used in modern Western Boxing. The first padded boxing glove called "mufflers", akin to the ones we still wear, was introduced in 1743 and was only used during training. The boxing head gear was invented by the great Jack Dempsey in 1917.
The first time full contact sparring gear, similar to the one Bruce Lee showcased at the Internationals, was around 1927 at Tokyo Imperial University Karate Club (now called Tokyo University, and often shortened to Todai) headed by Bō Hideo, Miki Jisaburō and Mutsu Mizuho (Takada Mizuho).
This style of sparring is called “Bōgu Kumite” (防具組手) or bōgu-tsuki kumite (防具付組手).
It is thought that the idea for the sparring gear came from Miki Jisaburo after a trip to Okinawa in the late 1920s to re-learn kata he had learned on the mainland (Japan). During this time he had interactions and training with a famous Karate master Yabu Kentsu and Kyan Chotoku among others.
During a famous discussion in 1936, Yabu Kentsu had mentioned Miki Jisaburo’s visit and said that the protective gear used in sparring at the Todai University was his idea, and also taught him (Miki Jisaburo) techniques for fighting in kumite.
Kyan Chotoku, a famed Karate teacher in Okinawa, wrote that practitioners ought to use protective gear during matches; and ought to wear similar equipment to Kendo (he called it gekkenjutsu – an old term for Kendo), with body armor and gloves. (The article by Kyan Chotoku was published in “Introduction to Kenpo” by Miki Jisaburō and Mutsu Mizuho.)
Two individuals sparring at the Todai Karate festival (May, 1930 – combatants being Iwasaki (a medical student) and Hirayama (a law student) | source: Kenpo Gaisetsu by Miki Jisaburo).
Some Kenpo Karate History...
As Kenpo Karate practitioner, it’s interesting to note that Yabu Kentsu and Mitsu Mizuho were instrumental in propagating Karate in Hawaii. Yabu Kentsu was the first of the “famous” instructors to visit Hawaii in 1927; and Mizuho visited Hawaii in 1933.
Mizuho also introduced his book “Karate Kenpo” to the karate community on the islands during this trip, which was the first time Karate and Kenpo was used together, and it’s thought that this is where Chow got the idea of calling his art “Kenpo Karate”.
Sections from Mizuho’s book “Karate Kenpo” was later copied and appeared in James Mitose’s book “What is Self-Defense”.
The advent of commercial sparring armor
In 1954, the first commercially available “made for Karate” sparring gear was sold, called the “karatekutā" (カラテクター).
The first and currently the longest running karate tournament in Japan, “National Karate Championship” (Zenkoku Karate-dō Senshuken Taikai) was held using this style of armor. This tournament is for black belts with no age or weight divisions.
The gear was again based on Kendo gear and the early gear developed by Miki Jisaburō and Mutsu Mizuho. It was made of cloth and leather.
Since then there have been several revisions to the gear and is still being used in the “Naitonal Karate Championship”.
Bogu Karate Today:
There are many systems of Karate using armor in sparring today.
Some of the more famous variants are:
- Shorinji ryu / Koshiki Karate
- Nippon Kenpo - refer to their sparring as: "bōgu renshū" (防具練習)
- Ryukyu Kenpo - The history of bogu kumite in Okinawa began in the 50’s when Shigeru Nakamura formed the Okinawa Kempo League
- Shorinji Kempo - Bogu Randori practice
- Goju ryu irikumi kumite
- Kudo - Daidojuku
The latter two do not wear body armor, only headgear and shinguards.
Reality of combat and getting rid of cultural formalities
Bruce Lee is rightly known as a pioneer in modern martial arts history. And being able to train his techniques fully against a resisting opponent was at the forefront of his training.
When I’ve brought the arguments above as to why Bruce Lee was not necessarily a pioneer to JKD practitioners, the arguments always turn to the idea that karate sparring is caught up in cultural dogma, rituals and formalities, wearing uniforms and training barefoot etc. and are not concerned with realism.
“Because,” they say: “Bruce Lee’s art of JKD is concerned with combat effectiveness, realism, and shedding cultural customs.”
And of course Bruce Lee was known to have been in quite a few fights, including the famed Beimo, rooftop matches, in Hong Kong.
I’m all for testing your skills…
It’s fascinating the creators of Bogu Kumite, Miki Jisaburo and Mitsu Mizuho, were also both concerned with realism. In “The Sixty Year History of the Karate Club of the University of Tokyo: Kenpō-kai Journal” it is described that they frequently engaged in fistfights with the Yakuza in the streets of Tokyo to test what they were training during their bogu karate matches at the dojo.
As far as cultural dogma and bogu kumite. These events happened before there were many westerners in Japan. Had Japan been in the west I am sure they would have worn shoes. Japan is a homogenous country, and to to this day is full of rituals and customs in day to day life. Those of you who’ve visited Japan have probably noticed this. They never wear shoes indoors… hence no shoes in Karate.
As a side note, it’s curious to me that so many Jeet Kune Do practitioners I’ve encountered think they are free of cultural trappings. Last time I checked there are a ton of these guys using the Chinese salute… calling each other Sifu and even wearing a “kung fu uniform”… so have formalities really fully left JKD?
Anyway, here in the west we tend to obscure or dismiss things happening elsewhere. It was refreshing to see how forward thinking and concerned of realism the progenitors of Bogu Karate were while researching this essay.