Karate or karate-do was introduced to the Japanese main islands from Okinawa in 1922. Karate emphasizes striking techniques (i.e. punching and kicking, knee/elbow strikes and open hand techniques) however, grappling, joint manipulations, throwing and vital point striking are inherent in the finer points of the kata.

Generally, karate training can be divided into three major areas; kihon, kata and kumite. Kihon is the study of the fundamental moves - the basic components, required to perform the art.

Kata means 'form' and is a series of movements and techniques, linked together by the principles that the kata expresses, represented as a fixed sequence of moves.

Kumite is 'sparring' and develops from well-defined kata to open sparring.