Karate products

Karate (English /kəˈrɑːtiː/; Japanese pronunciation: [kaɽate] ( listen); Okinawan pronunciation: IPA: [kaɽati]) is amartial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous martial arts of Ryukyu Islands (called te(手^?), literally "hand"; tii in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fujian White Crane.^[1][2] Karate is now predominantly a striking art using punching, kicking, knee strikes, elbow strikes and open hand techniques such as knife-hands, spear-hands, and palm-heel strikes. Historically, and in some modern styles,grappling, throws, joint locks, restraints, and vital point strikes are also taught.^[3] A karate practitioner is called a karateka

Karate developed on the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was brought to the Japanese mainland in the early 20th century during a time of cultural exchanges between the Japanese and the Chinese. It was systematically taught in Japan after the Taisho era.^[4] In 1922 the Japanese Ministry of Education invited Gichin Funakoshi to Tokyo to give a karate demonstration. In 1924 Keio University established the first university karate club in mainland Japan and by 1932, major Japanese universities had karate clubs.^[5] In this era of escalating Japanese militarism,^[6] the name was changed from 唐手 ("Chinese hand" or "Tang hand")^[7] to 空手 ("empty hand") – both of which are pronounced karate – to indicate that the Japanese wished to develop the combat form in Japanese style.^[8] After World War II, Okinawa became an important United States military site and karate became popular among servicemen stationed there.