Of course, the claimed history of many older martial arts are quite hard to verify historically, but basically modern Karate derives from Okinawans creating and teaching themselves a martial style to resist occupation by the Japanese.

Okinawa was once an independent island with its own traditions and government, until it was basically colonized / vassalized by the Satsuma Domain, under the Tokugawa shogunate, in 1609.

It is thus fairly ironic that one of the most well-known 'Japanese' martial arts lineages actually has its origin in what was once an independent state and people resisting Japanese control.

But this Togakure Ryu... apparently goes much further back, at least to the Sengoku period, about 200 years before Tokugawa, and is basically a branch of ninjutsu, with much more emphasis on swords, escape and evasion, and basically being a scout/spy.

I can see how that would be pretty applicable to a street mobster haha.

Karate was more designed as a means of a farming village resisting raids from much better armed and armored bands of Samurai and their underlings, either without weapons, or using their farming implements as weapons such as sai, bo staffs and kana, as the Japanese had banned the Okinawans from owning katanas.

A ninjutsu style would be much more apt for a mobster looking to occasionally rough up (or murder) people and then flee, as well as keep tabs on his domain hahah.