Karate is the father of all Martial Arts Stylesand it is now known around the world as an Olympic sport. Karate, the Japanese word for "Empty hands", was born in the Okinawan Islands as a form of Self-Defense, at a time when weapons were banned by invading Japanese forces. It began as "Te" (hand), a fighting style used by the natives of the Ryukyu Islands. Very little is known of the exact origins of Karate before it appeared in Okinawa, but one popular theory states that it came from India over a thousand years ago, brought to China by a Buddhist monk called Bodhidarma.