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Empty hand fighting is as old as man himself. Innumerable systemised forms of empty hand fighting have been developed all over the world, each reflecting a little of the national culture. That which we call Karate is one of them.
It is generally accepted that Karate comes from China and came to Japan by the way of the Ryukyu Islands.
In the early part of the 17th century, Okinawa was invaded and conquered by the Japanese. The Japanese occupied Okinawa for over 250 years and they banned the possession of weapons to prevent further resistance. This oppression forced the Okinawans to turn to unarmed combat in order to protect themselves from the thieves and the Japanese.
Karate reached a high level of development during this period, but even this had to be practised in secret and it was not until the beginning of the 20th century that Karate was openly practised
in 1922 Gichen Funakoshi, an Okinawan professor, introduced Karate to Japan. He had been invited to Japan to demonstrate karate and the Japanese were so impressed with him that they persuaded him to stay and teach them this art, which he did until his death in 1957 at the age of 88.
Funakoshi emphasised Kata, etiquette, and the philosophical side of Karate. Since his death, public knowledge of Karate has increased dramatically leading to millions of people practising the art all over the world.