Japanese for 'empty hand' — originally written as 'Chinese hand,' reflecting the art's Chinese martial roots.
A Japanese martial art emphasising striking techniques using punches, kicks, knee strikes, and open-hand techniques.
From Japanese '空手' (karate), a compound of '空' (kara, 'empty') and '手' (te, 'hand'). The art originated in the Ryūkyū Kingdom (modern Okinawa) and was originally called '唐手' (also pronounced 'karate'), meaning 'Chinese hand,' reflecting the influence of Chinese martial arts. In 1935, Okinawan masters officially changed the first character to '空' (empty) to distance the art from its Chinese associations and to express the Zen
The character swap from '唐手' (Chinese hand) to '空手' (empty hand) in 1935 was partly political — Japan's rising nationalism made a Chinese-derived name undesirable — but also philosophical. Gichin Funakoshi, who brought karate from Okinawa to mainland Japan, argued that '空' (kū/kara) evoked the Buddhist concept of śūnyatā (emptiness), making the practitioner an 'empty vessel' ready to be filled with skill.