After World War II, Okinawa became (1945) an important United States military site and karate became popular among servicemen stationed there.
In this era of escalating Japanese militarism, the name was changed from 唐手 ("Chinese hand" or " Tang hand") to 空手 ("empty hand") – both of which are pronounced karate in Japanese – to indicate that the Japanese wished to develop the combat form in Japanese style. In 1924, Keio University established the first university karate club in mainland Japan, and by 1932 major Japanese universities had karate clubs. In 1922, the Japanese Ministry of Education invited Gichin Funakoshi to Tokyo to give a karate demonstration. It was systematically taught in Japan after the Taishō era of 1912–1926. Karate came to mainland Japan in the early 20th century during a time of migration as Ryukyuans, especially from Okinawa, looked for work in the main islands of Japan. The Empire of Japan annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879. A karate practitioner is called a karateka ( 空手家).
Historically, and in some modern styles, grappling, throws, joint locks, restraints and vital-point strikes are also taught. Karate is now predominantly a striking art using punching, kicking, knee strikes, elbow strikes and open-hand techniques such as knife-hands, spear-hands and palm-heel strikes. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called te ( 手), "hand" tii in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fujian White Crane.
Karate ( 空手) ( / k ə ˈ r ɑː t i/ Japanese pronunciation: ( listen) Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom.