What is Karate?

Karate do, Breaking the word down, is kara-te-do.
Kara (empty), Te (hand) and Do (the way). Once you put it into one word, you will get, the way of the empty hand.
The techniques used in Karate are a combination of kicks, strikes as well as (blocks). The reason that I have put blocks in brackets is that in truth, there is not such thing as blocking in karate, only strikes, though that for some might be too compliciated to think about at this point. Though very difficult, one should never just block a technique, but move out the way first, then block. If one had to get technical you could break it down even further, but lets leave that out for now. Also very important thing in any Martial Art, not just Karate, is something called 'grounding'. What grounding means is making sure you are standing firm on the ground, with the whole foot gripping the floor, using not just the 'ball' (top of foot) and 'heel', but also the five toes and outside of the foot. At first this as done very exaggerated, with a definite step first, then block/strike, what ever it is that you choose to do, and as you progress in training so that gap gets smaller and smaller. Even though it seems like there is no stopping, there is always the land first, then execute the technique.
Karate uses mostly ballistic techniques, involving some throws and locks. Sport Karate practices from far away when it comes to sparring, with lots of bouncing and pulling punches, but in reality, things are alot more close and personal, then you would normaly feel comfortable with. This is unfortunately the reality of  what you will have to practice doing if you really want what you learn to work and ultimately save your life, if needs be.
 Having said this, it is not always the case, lots of schools also have Kobudo (weapons) added into the curriculum. these weapons are the Bo or staff, the Tonpha used today by alot of police officers, nun-chuka, and the sai. All of these weapons were originally used as farming impliments by the okinawa population, and adapted into self defense weaponry as they were not allowed to carry weapons of their own, only the Samurai were allowed to own in those times, seemingly  actuall weapons.
Though one sometimes gets to learn how to use these weapons in what ever style it is you are learning under, you generally will not be carrying these weapons around on your person when you are busy in your day to day life.
Why learn how to use these weapons then?
Well the benifit in learning how to use these weapons is that, like the Okinawa population, improvising...
You might not find a pair of nun chuka, you might rather see two pieces of pipe welded together by a piece of chain, infact the Europeans had a very similary tool used for beating wheat allowing the grain to fall, where the nun chuka were used for beating rice in the rice fields. You might find a piece of pipe lying around, perfect for a bo, etc. This shows the Martial Artists capability to improvise, adepting to what you can find in the modern world.
Having said this, don't be fooled and rely completely on weapon training expecting to always find something lying around, empty hand training is always recommended as you will always have your hand and legs. In fact alot of weapons arts make you do a mimimum training period of emty hand training before even touching a weapon and for good reason, as a weapon in essence is only an extention of the body.
What I am saying though is that it is a good idea to keep your options open, as having more choices in how you defend yourself, will immediately give you a higher footing when it comes to defending yourself in the street.