Karate

Karate is often considered a Japanese martial art, but to be more accurate its origins lie within a neighboring island called Okinawa. Okinawa, formerly called the Ryukyu Islands by the Japanese, had citizens that trained in a martial art style called "Te" meaning "hand." Exposure from China during the late 1300s brought along with it the exposure of Chinese fighting styles, namely the "White Crane" style from Fujian. With time the native Te style combined with Chinese styles formed into 3 main branches of Okinawan martial arts called Naha Te, Shuri Te and Tomari Te, each named for the province in which it was practiced. Okinawan martial arts used each piece of the body as a weapon, and were concerned with self-protection over flashiness or competition. The emphasis was on barehanded fighting, due to the use of weapons becoming more of a legal issue at the time.

Many impressive, innovative and (eventually) famous practitioners were birthed from these lineages. at the turn of the century (1800-1900) these styles found their way to Japan, largely due to Gichin Funakoshi (founder of Shotokan), and this introduction led to what is considered "modern Karate." After introduction into mainland Japan, the systems were reorganized in a sense (the Japanese love efficiency/organization) and curriculums, belt rankings (inspired by Judo), and organizations began to emerge.  The name "Karate" originally meant "Chinese Hand," but wanting to keep it more Japanese it was to then forth to be translated as "empty hand" as in...no weapons needed, the body is a weapon. Originally Karate was all about self-defense, but modern Karate training has become a blend of "Kata" (forms), "Kihon" (fundamentals) and "Kumite" (sparring). 

Karate in our modern times is a broad term that can refer to any of many different styles with different training philosophies. The spectrum ranges from "Sport" styles that focus on competition, tending to favor speed and explosiveness used in a point-scoring setting to "Hard" styles that use old-school methods to make the body into something that resembles iron. Regardless, a true Karateka is always someone to respect, as their discipline and skill is likely to be top notch.