Karate is a martial art or fighting sport.
Karate is a way for a person to protect themselves.
Hitting, punching and kicking movements are used in karate.
Karate was invented in Japan.
Adult men and women, as well as girls and boys learn karate.
Karate is used for self-defence.
Karate is an ancient form of self-defence which uses blocking, hitting, punching and kicking techniques. It was invented in Japan, influenced by Chinese Kung Fu and a martial art developed on the island of Okinawa.
It was introduced as an Olympic competition at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.
Karate broadly has two parts, or disciplines: kata (forms) and kumite (sparring).
Kata is a Japanese word that means form. The kata are the movements used in karate. Kata are practised alone or in groups, over and over again, to train the muscles needed in karate. By doing the same movements repeatedly, the brain remembers how to link together all the turns and moves that are used in defence against an opponent.
Kumite is the part of karate in which a person trains, or competes, against an opponent. The partners use all the techniques, including punches, kicks and blocking moves, learned from the kata.
Watch a video to see how to practise kata.
Clothing
When people practice Karate, they wear special clothes called a karategi. The karategi is made up of a white jacket and white pants. People who practice karate also wear a coloured belt, which tells other people how long they have trained at the sport. The colours range from white (a beginner) to the highest level, the black belt.
Kumite is sparring against an opponent in karate competition. ©iStock
At the Olympics 2020
Karate was a part of Olympic competition at the Tokyo Games in Japan. Karate will be making its Olympic debut in 2020. The sparring competition is broken down by weight class — three each for men and women. There is just one forms competition, in which athletes display their ability to perform the movements of karate, with events for men and women.