December, 2016

Karate (空手^?) (English /kəˈrɑːtiː/; Japanese pronunciation: [kaɽate] ( listen); Okinawan pronunciation: IPA: [kaɽati]) is a martial 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 (空手家^?).

Kenpō (拳法?) is the name of several Japanese martial arts. The word kenpō is a Japanese translation of the Chinese word "quán fǎ". This term is often informally transliterated as "kempo", as a result of applying Traditional Hepburn romanization, but failing to use a macron to indicate the long vowel. The generic nature of the term combined with its widespread, cross-cultural adoption in the martial arts community has led to many divergent definitions.