Karate

Ch’uan-Fa migrated to Okinawa during the T’ang Dynasty (618-906). In 1609, the Satsuma Clan of Japan invaded Okinawa. The Okinawans defended themselves using the power aspect of Ch’uan-Fa. This new art became known as Kara-te (Chinese hand). It was then blended with the indigenous fighting method of Okinawan Te (Okinawan hand). This blending gave birth to such systems as Shurin-Ryu, Shuri-te, Wado Ryu, Naha-te and Goju Ryu. This later influenced the Korean systems of Tang Soo Do, and Tae Kwon Do.

In 1917, Gichin "Shoto" Funakoshi started publicly teaching Te in Japan. His club was called Shoto’s Kan (Shoto’s house). The Japanese would not allow him to call his instruction Okinawan Te nor Kara-te, so he was forced to change the name to Karate (empty hand, meaning weaponless). With time, the Shotokan Karate system was exploited so that today all martial arts are referred to as "Karate".