Most accounts of the origins of oriental martial arts begin with an India Buddhist priest called Bodhidharma (also known as Daruma in Japan, and Ta-Mo in China).

Legend has it that Bodhidharma walked from India to China in the early 6th Century to teach Zen Buddism. Following a fruitless meeting with Emperor Wu, he travelled through China eventually reaching the Shaolin temple in what is now Honan province. There he found the monks in poor shape physically so he introduced a set of exercises to strengthen mind and body. These exercises allegedly marked the beginning of Shaolin style temple boxing – a martial art now known commonly as Kung Fu or, more correctly, as Wu Shu.

Okinawa is a small island which is part of modern day Japan. It is the main island in the chain of Ryukyu Islands which lie between Japan and Taiwan. Okinawa is approximately 10 km (6 miles) wide and about 110 km (68 miles) long. It is situated 740 km (460 miles) east of China, about half way (550 km or 340 miles) between mainland Japan and Taiwan. Being at the crossroads of major trading routes, it developed as a centre for Southeast Asian trade with, amongst others, Japan and China.

In its earliest stages, the martial art now known as "karate" was a form of closed fist fighting which was developed in Okinawa and called Te, or "hand". Weapons bans, imposed on the Okinawans at various points in their history, encouraged the development of empty-hand self-defence techniques which had to be practiced in secret. Further refinement came with the influence of other martial arts, including Chinese kung fu, brought to the island by visitors and by Okinawans travelling overseas.

Te developed primarily in three Okinawan towns: Shuri, Naha and Tomari. Each of these towns was associated with slightly different forms of self-defence which became known as Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te. Collectively they were called Okinawa-Te or Tode, "Chinese hand". Gradually, the arts became divided into two main groups: Shorin-ryu which developed around Shuri and Tomari, and Shorei-ryu which came from the Naha area. (Note, however, that the towns of Shuri, Tomari and Naha were not far apart, and that the differences between their arts were minor.) Gichin Funakoshi suggests that the two styles developed based on different physical characteristics. Shorin-ryu was quick and linear with natural breathing while Shorei-ryu emphasized steady, rooted movements with breathing in time with each movement.

To	Te
Chinese	Hand

In Okinawa, the art was usually referred to merely as te or bushi no te, "warrior’s hand(s)" and only occasionally as "karate", the "kara" in this case being an alternative pronunciation for the character used to write To, "Chinese".

Kara	Te	Do
Empty	Hand	Way

There is another word in Japanese pronounced kara, but written with a different character, which means "empty". In 1929, while in Tokyo, Gichin Funakoshi proposed renaming the art Dai Nippon Kempo Karate-do, "Great Japan Fist-method Empty Hands Way", using the character for "empty" instead of that for "Chinese". Despite strong initial opposition from many in Okinawa the change became accepted and today karate is almost always written using the character for empty and translated as "empty hand(s)".

Tsuen-Mo-Luen, the style taught by Somerset Karate, comes from Hong Kong where it was formulated by Grandmaster Mr Lam Wun Sun. Mr Lam began learning martial arts at the age of 8. He has had more than 10 instructors of various martial arts, including karate, kung fu, judo and aikido. In 1972 he founded the "World Martial Arts Federation" (WMAF) to teach Tsuen-Mo-Luen. Since then WMAF has had branches in Australia, India, Nepal, Britain and the USA.

Our style incorporates elements from the many martial arts studied by Grandmaster Lam. The foundation of the style comes from Seigokan, an offshoot of Goju Ryu. It also includes techniques from Chinese martial arts (Shaolin, Wing Chun, Praying Mantis) as well as Shotokan karate, Judo and Aikido.

Tsuen-Mo-Luen was first introduced to Britain by Mr Ian Stoddern. Mr Stoddern learned the style from Mr Lam whilst serving in Hong Kong with the Royal Navy. He returned to Britain, as a 1st Dan black belt, in 1981 and opened his first Tsuen-Mo-Luen club in Ilchester, Somerset. Over the next 21 years WMAF(GB) had clubs in Yeovil, Taunton, Beaminster, Radstock, Shepton Mallet, South Petherton and Hambridge.

Following the departure of Mr Stoddern (by that time a 6th Dan with the title Shihan) for the USA in 2001 and the break up a year later of WMAF(GB), Somerset Karate was founded in November 2002 by Kevin Parkes, Mike Scoble and Sue Coleman with clubs in Yeovil, Beaminster and Radstock.