karate

/kəˈrɑdi/

/kəˈrɑteɪ/

Karate is a Japanese martial art, or a sport of hand-to-hand combat. When you learn karate, you practice kicks and blows against an opponent.

Karate practitioners use their palms, heels, knees, and elbows to strike their opponents' weak spots, and they block blows to their own bodies. When you do karate, you wear a white belted uniform called a gi, with the color of the belt corresponding to your level of expertise. A black belt signifies the highest level of karate practice. In Japanese, karate means "empty hand."

Definitions of karate

1. noun

   a traditional Japanese system of unarmed combat; sharp blows and kicks are given to pressure-sensitive points on the body of the opponent
   type of:

   martial art

   any of several East Asian arts of weaponless self-defense; usually practiced as a sport