Zen became an integral part of Japanese culture. Zen heavily influenced the culture of Japan, especially art. The feudal period of Japan was a very prosperous period for the samurai. They garnered the respect of many and held a significant amount of influence. They were notably influenced by Zen during the Kamakura period (around the thirteenth century). They adopted many ideologies from it, and they also contributed to the practice of Zen. Eventually their calm, humble nature was incorporated into the system. Moving forward to the seventeenth century (Tokugawa period), the samurai reached the height of their power in the Tokugawa period. At this time the samurai focused on both their intellectual studies and their physical training, which involved practicing swordsmanship. Through their studies, they created Bushido (the way of the warrior), which was a combination of kendo (the way of the sword) and butsudo (the way of the Buddha). The values of Bushido are at the core of traditional karate training.
These developments were not the only ones that were made at this time. On the Ryukyu Islands, on Okinawa, the natives created techniques that they used to defend themselves, as they were prohibited from carrying weapons. These techniques became known as "Okinawa-te" which translates to "hand techniques of Okinawa." Eventually, Sakugawa, a student of Kempo and stick fighting, formalized these techniques into a style which was called "karate-no-Sakugawa" (translates to "Chinese hand techniques of Sakugawa"). The Okinawan islands became a part of Japan in 1879. Following that, in 1916, Gichin Funakoshi and other Okinawan masters held a karate demonstration in Kyoto, Japan. Afterwards, Master Funakoshi changed the meaning of the character "kara" from meaning "Chinese" to "empty" which is reflected by the fact that Karate now means "empty hand."
(Information found in Karate: Technique and Spirit)
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