Karate is a fighting style which is practiced by SpongeBob and Sandy in the series, and once by Patrick and Squidward in "Karate Star" and "Squid Defense" respectively. It is first practiced in the episode "Tea at the Treedome."

There is a specific gear worn in the series whenever it is performed.

Early history[]

Karate is a martial art developed in Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called te and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands, the karate chop. Grappling, locks, restraints, throws, and vital point strikes are taught in some styles. A karate practitioner is called a karateka.

The way it is pronounced as "Kah Rah Tay" in the series (usually by SpongeBob) is rather accurate to how it is actually pronounced ("Kah-Rah-Teh").

Practitioners[]

SpongeBob SquarePants[]

SpongeBob likes karate and is quite skilled at it, but Sandy has shown herself to have more skill. SpongeBob wears red gear, consisting of headgear and gloves, and it appears as an attack for SpongeBob in all of the Nicktoons games except SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom. He usually pronounces it as "Kah-rah-tay." Because his gear is red, it shows that he has high experience with martial arts but acts as an easy target for Sandy.

Sandy Cheeks[]

Sandy knew karate before moving to Bikini Bottom.

She happens to know when SpongeBob is about to surprise her, and attacks him before he has a chance to attack. This shows that Sandy is much better at karate than SpongeBob. Ironically, she is defeated by him on two occasions in the episode "Karate Choppers." Sandy has been shown to have equal skill to SpongeBob in early seasons. She has since gotten better.

Her karate gear is - depending on the episode - either green or pink and consists of only a pair of gloves. During the events of "Karate Island," SpongeBob is invited to visit Karate island, while Sandy is not, but her karate is much better than his. Sandy decides to tag along. When SpongeBob is chained to his throne, Sandy is forced to use her karate skills and save SpongeBob. Her gear is also an attack that is used in Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island.

Patrick Star[]

Patrick has only done karate in "Karate Star," but apparently, he is very good at it. He can chop a cinder block, a ship, and many other things in Bikini Bottom. However, the karate gets to his head, which causes him to chop everything in sight, so he quit doing the sport. His gear is blue, and consists of a headgear and gloves. Since his gear is blue, it shows that he lacks discipline.

Squidward Tentacles[]

In the episode "Squid Defense," Squidward asks SpongeBob to teach him karate after he is chased off by a stranger. However, he is an extremely poor learner and struggles. When he does learn karate, he uses it for revenge, which Sandy advises against. Squidward is the only person so far who does not wear any karate gear.

Udon[]

Udon is a martial artist and the main antagonist of the episode "Karate Island." His karate skills are impressive, as he is able to match Sandy. However, he is eventually defeated. Udon is most notable for being the only fish to practice karate.

Fuzzy Acorns[]

Fuzzy Acorns is Sandy's karate master who appears in the episode "The Way of the Sponge." It is revealed that he is the one who teaches Sandy everything about karate, but he does not think SpongeBob is all good.

However, Acorns is "defeated" by SpongeBob after getting beat up by his cooking skills. Fuzzy Acorns also issues karate belts to those who are worthy to hold it, with the clear belt being the lowest to the blacker belt being the highest.

SpongeBot SteelPants[]

SpongeBob SteelPants is shown to wear the same karate gear as SpongeBob himself in the video games Battle for Bikini Bottom and Battle for Bikini Bottom: Rehydrated. He is known to do arm spin and smack attacks during the final boss battle and uses the syllables of the "karate" pronunciation as weapons.

Karate Island[]

Karate Island is a place where the supposed "King of Karate" is destined to arrive at. When SpongeBob and Sandy arrive, it is revealed to be a hoax which the proprietor, Udon, forces others to buy real estates. It seems that they randomly choose people to be forced into buying the estates as SpongeBob and Squidward are scammed with the title of whatever their "specialty" is.

Episode appearances[]

• "Tea at the Treedome"
• "Karate Choppers"
• "Texas"
• "Christmas Who?"
• "Procrastination"
• "Sandy, SpongeBob, and the Worm"
• "No Weenies Allowed"
• "Karate Island"
• "Best Day Ever"
• "Waiting"
• "To Love a Patty"
• "A Flea in Her Dome"
• "Pest of the West"
• "Karate Star"
• "The Way of the Sponge"
• "Squid Defense"
• "Sandy's Nutmare"
• "Feral Friends"
• "Shopping List"
• "Surf N' Turf"
• "Squirrel Jelly"
• "Biddy Sitting"
• "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout"
• "C.H.U.M.S"
• "Sandy, Help Us!"
• "Single-Celled Defense"
• "Pat's A Li'l Sinker"
• "Hill-Fu"

Video game appearances[]

• SuperSponge
• Revenge of the Flying Dutchman
• Battle for Bikini Bottom
• Kah Rah Tay Contest
• The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie video game
• Nicktoons Unite!
• Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island
• Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots
• SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom (seen as a power up)
• Battle for Bikini Bottom: Rehydrated
• The Cosmic Shake
• SpongeBob Simulator

This list is incomplete, but you can help Encyclopedia SpongeBobia by expanding it.

Trivia[]

• "Tea at the Treedome" is the only episode to feature karate but not include the associated gear.
• While karate doesn't appear in the episode, Plankton mentions in "Walking Small" that SpongeBob knows karate.
• According to the "No Weenies Allowed" pop-up trivia facts on The Complete 3rd Season, Complete Third Season, 2-Season TV Pack, and The Third & Fourth Seasons DVDs, SpongeBob and Sandy's karate fighting skills were inspired by Inspector Clouseau and Cato's Karate fighting skills from The Pink Panther movies.
• Season 6 is the only season where karate doesn't appear.
• "Karate Star" is the only karate-themed episode in which Sandy does not appear.

Gallery[]

See also[]

• Karate gear

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