Karate is a sport event to be held in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It will be the first appearance of karate at the Summer Olympics.
Karate, like Chinese Wushu, is a kind of martial—art. It developed in East Asia over centuries, becoming systematized in Okinawa in the 17th century. It was brought into Japan in the 1920 s. After about fifty—year development, it became an international sport event. Generally speaking, karate competition includes two types— kata （forms） and kumite （sparring）.
Kata are demonstrations of attacking and defensive movements of one person against a imaginary opponent. Competitors choose the kata to demonstrate from 102 kata that are recognized by the World Karate Federation. Competitors are not allowed to demonstrate the same Kata twice during the competition. Its stage is an 8 m x 8 m square. Lined up outside the square, seven judges judge the competition. And the scores given by three of them are added to decide who the winner is. What the score is depends on the strength, speed, rhythm, balance and power of strikes and kicks and so on.
In kumite, two competitors spar with each other. A head judge with four side judges observe their sparring. Attacks with good form, power and control gQt between one and three points.
•One point — "Yuko" —is given for a closed hand punch to the head, neck, stomach, side or back of the opponent.
•Two points — "Waza—ari" — are given for a middle kick to the body.
•Three points— "Ippon" — are scored for a high kick to the head.
A competitor wins by having eight points more than their opponent within three minutes. In a tie, the competitor who scores the first point is the winner. In a scoreless competition, the winner will be decided by the judges.
