Unlike kung fu, karate exists as its own form of martial art; kung fu, as previously mentioned, refers to a number of different forms of martial arts and can even be used to describe a number of other achievements or activities.

Japan officially recognized karate as a martial art only 86 years ago. And its origins are not in mainland Japan at all: It was born in the archipelago of Okinawa, a long-independent kingdom whose culture was heavily influenced by China and which maintains its own identity today.

Gen. Choi Hong Hi, widely acknowledged as the founder of tae kwon do, a martial art that began in Korea and spread rapidly to community centers and storefronts around the United States, died on June 15 in Pyongyang, North Korea. He was 83 and lived in Mississauga, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto.

In Japanese, karate means "empty hand." Definitions of karate. a traditional Japanese system of unarmed combat; sharp blows and kicks are given to pressure-sensitive points on the body of the opponent. type of: martial art. any of several East Asian arts of weaponless self-defense; usually practiced as a sport.