I knew a little Karate growing up.  I can't believe it's been around since the early 20th century, by Ryukyuans from Okinawa.
ooo cool! how many belts are there officially in karate?
I believe there are 9 or 10 belt levels if I'm not mistaken.
awesome. what else can you tell me about karate?
Well the name was changed to karate during the Japanese militarism era.  Karate translates to "empty hand" in Japanese.
nice. thats a good fit. is it similar to other fithing styles?
It may be similar to Yun Mu Kwan, which was a Korean karate that came about during World War II, which mimicked Japanese styles.