1) Japan's influence on the martial arts world is substantial. Karate originally developed in Okinawa, made its way to mainland Japan very early on but was only officially accepted in 1921. Kyudo, the way of the bow, is one of Japan's earliest known martial art. Kyudo is an archery form developed well over 2000 years ago and still very much alive today.
2) Kyokushin Karate is known as 'The strongest karate', was founded in Japan by Korean born Masutatsu Oyama. He trained with Gichin Funakoshi (father of Shotokan karate) and along with his training in Kung Fu with So Nei Chu, developed his own style. His physical power became legendary. He would break rocks from the river to strengthen his hands, punch tree trunks to condition his knuckles and train up to 12 hours a day.
Some of Mas Oyama's legendary exploits include fighting and killing over 50 bulls with his bare hands. His favorite party trick was to chop the horns off a bull with a single knife hand (shuto) strike.
3) The word "Karate NOW means "empty hand". But it did not always! In original Japanese writing, the character for "kara" actually meant "China". But somewhere along the way, (maybe not wanting to be directly linked to Chinese martial arts) the translation of the character was changed to mean "empty".
4) There are many different forms of martial arts, each has its own unique beginnings. And from a global perspective, certain culture practices had a tremendous impact on the evolution of martial arts. Contemporary martial arts' history is often attributed to the Asian cultures but in fact there were forms of martial arts in practice on nearly every continent of the globe for thousands of years.
5) The early Greek culture practiced a martial art known as Pankration, the art of complete strength. The art itself is comprised of a mix of combative styles including wrestling, grappling, and throws as well as boxing techniques. Records place the art of Pankration being practiced around 700 BC, but stories and legend indicate that this fighting style had most likely been in use for a long time before that, and it is still practiced to this day.