means A Japanese martial art of striking, blocking, and kicking that relies on the unarmed body rather than weapons.

from From Japanese karate, written with characters meaning 'empty' (kara) and 'hand' (te) — literally 'empty hand,' i.e. fighting without weapons. The art developed on the island of Okinawa, drawing on local fighting traditions and Chinese martial arts, before spreading to mainland Japan in the early 20th century. Curiously, kara once was written with a character meaning 'China' (so 'Chinese hand'), but it was later swapped for the homophone meaning 'empty,' giving the name its more philosophical flavor. English borrowed the word in the mid-20th century, largely after WWII brought servicemen into contact with the art.