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Karate is a type of martial arts which was developed in Japan, particularly in the Ryukyu Islands, which is now known as Okinawa. It was influenced by the Chinese martial arts, particularly Fujian White Crane.

Karate uses punching, kicking, knee strikes, elbow strikes, and some open-hand techniques like knife-hands, spear-hands, and palm-heel strikes. A person who practices karate is called a karateka. Karate can be done as an art, a combat sport, or for self-defense. The training for karate is divided into basic or fundamentals, forms, and sparring.

There were no competitions for Karate before World War II. Now, the competitions for karate are divided into style organizations. Some of these organizations are AAKF, AOK, TKL, AKA, WKF, NWUKO, WUKFC, and WKC. These organizations organize competitions from local to international level. The tournaments are created to match the members of opposing styles or schools. Some of these competitions are separated by age, rank, and gender. There are different rules for each of these categories.

Karate made its debut appearance at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, with two karate events, Kumite and Kata. It was the only appearance at the Olympics.

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Similar Sports

• Taekwondo — a Korean martial art focused on high, fast kicks, dynamic footwork, and self-discipline.
• Kickboxing — variations include Pradal Serey (Cambodia), Sanda (China), Savate (France), Sikaran (Philippines)
• Muay Thai — a full-contact fighting sport in which fighters try to defeat their opponents by using different techniques that make use of fists, elbows, knees, and shins.
• Breaking — the act of breaking solid objects like wood, bricks, and ice using strikes

Related Pages

• Karate is part of Budo, which refers to all styles of modern Japanese martial arts.
• More about Martial Arts
• Complete list of sports
• Karate at the Olympic Games
• Karate, a discontinued Olympic sport
• The Encyclopedia of Sports
• About sport in Japan