Tode is an alternative reading of the characters for karate as they were at the beginning of the 20th century. The first character, pronounced "toh", is the kanji for T'ang representing the Chinese T'ang dynasty which had a profound influence in Japan and throughout the Ryukyu islands. An alternative pronounciation of this character is "kara" (and hence karate). The second character is pronounced "te" in Japan, and "de" in Okinawa. So together they read "tode" meaning "T'ang hand" or "Chinese Fist".
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