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karate

a Japanese martial art using striking techniques with hands and feet

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Where does the word "karate" come from? It comes from Japanese kara + te, and was adopted directly into English (1950s-1960s).

Read the full story

Where does the word "karate" come from? It comes from Japanese kara + te, and was adopted directly into English (1950s-1960s).

Karate’s story begins in Japanese: kara + te meant “empty hand.” Combining "kara" (empty) and "te" (hand). It reached English by 1950s-1960s as karate. Japanese 'empty hand'; developed in Okinawa and brought to mainland Japan by Gichin Funakoshi in 1922. Today, karate means a Japanese martial art using striking techniques with hands and feet.

  1. Stage 1 · Japanese · medieval kara + te "empty hand", combining "kara" (empty) and "te" (hand).
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1950s-1960s karate "an unarmed striking martial art", Japanese 'empty hand'; developed in Okinawa and brought to mainland Japan by Gichin Funakoshi in 1922.

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