Karate, my main martial art. My background in karate started with Goju-ryu, however as time went on, I was exposed to many more styles of karate, mainly Kyokushin and Shotokan. Like on my intro page, I largely consider myself to be a karateka, however I don't feel constrained by this definition. The characters that comprise karate mean empty and hand. Or as some people say, void and hand. To me, this leaves karate as a martial art that can comprise of many different things. There's no constraint on what can or cannot be done, it is an all encompassing martial art.
Now of course, to say that karate is an all inclusive martial art would be controversial or even wrong to many people. Karate has a clear style and has stylistic elements that differentiate it from other martial arts. The nukite or spear hand, the tegana, or knife hand, hard blocks, all different elements that form the look of karate. However I say that these are merely that, stylish things that give karate a distinctive look. However if you look under the hood of the style, you'll find that these elements do not define the style or even make up a large component of the style. These are merely the hood ornaments that appear to differentiate the martial art from others, but truthfully, the metaphorical engine is exactly the same.
I believe that karate should be a martial art for everyone, and that it has the greatest allowance of self expression. To me, the art is important in martial arts. The ability to express yourself in fighting is key. Whether you choose to specialize in a certain strike, whether you are light on your feet, adherent to sticking and moving, all styles are beautiful and in training everyone should be looking to develop their own style, one that suits their personality. I find that karatekas are some of the most creative strikers on the planet, many kicks and strikes that were once left by the wayside have found new life through karatekas. Crescent strikes to the liver, done by Giga Chikadze, heel kicks to the thigh done by many Japanese karatekas turned kickboxers like Yuki Yoza, these are all strikes that were not common until a karateka picked them up, dusted them off and put good use to them. The art of martial arts is found in these kinds of developments, where people use techniques that they love and put them to good use. Another good example would be Andy Hug's variety of kicks, such as the Hug Tornado, the axe kick, all kicks that were rejected by kickboxing as a whole, put to good use by Andy Hug.
My ideal karate style is truthfully something similar to Kudo. In taking up Kudo I still consider myself a karateka, however it combines a lot of elements that I find to be necessary in making a martial art combat effective. There needs to be clinching, there needs to be wrestling, there needs to be some form of groundwork. I don't find that any of these elements contradict the definition of karate.
Some karateka that I'm personally a fan of are: