The word Karate-Do 空手道 means ‘Kara’ Empty, ‘Te’ hands, and ‘Do’ signified the philosophical way. Indigenous Okinawa fighting art ‘TODE’ also had Chinese influence hence it was also called as ‘Kara’ Chinese ‘Te’ Hands or ‘Chinese hands.

Master Gichin Funakoshi a student of Yasutsune Itosu travelled to mainland Japan from Okinawa to propagate and develop ‘Karate’ and thus represented the art for acceptance as a formal martial art in Japan’s leading government-sanctioned martial arts body Dai Nippon Butoku Kai between 1925 and 1927.

DNBK rejected the Kanji represented as a Chinese hand later it was introduced as ‘Kara’ Empty and ‘Te’ as hands and was eventually accepted as a member. Thus, the word Karate was formulated, and Gichin Funakoshi was known as the father of modern Karate in Japan.

The Kanji of ‘KARA-TE’, meaning ‘Empty-HAND’. The reading of the Kanji was not widely accepted, especially in Okinawa, until much later in 1936-1937.