What to look for and how to prepare yourself, so you can confidently walk into a
karate school and not only know what to expect, but know what to do!
People have practiced martial arts for thousands of years. There are many
reasons why people practice martial arts and the reasons have changed and
evolved over the years.
In times of war, it was the fighting skills learned from karate that were the
main reason to train, in times of peace, health and character development took
precedence and now we have the competition side of karate, which is huge!
Master Gichin Funakoshi, who was the founder of Shotokan karate, believed the
development of character was the most important part of the martial arts. He
believed and passed on the philosophy of, no first attack in karate.
It seems modern day martial arts go into one, or a combination of four
directions,
1.Self defense.
2.Fitness.
3.Health and character development.
4.Competition training.
The self defense aspect of karate is plain to see, but if the karateka (someone
who practices karate), doesn't train with the correct attitude, it doesn't
matter how many moves they learn, or for how long they train, they WILL be
ineffective in a street situation.
Fitness The physical gains seen by practicing karate are obvious. Karate is very
anaerobic, short explosive bursts. Many sensei (karate teacher), will advise
their students to compliment their karate with aerobic exercises such as,
running, cycling, swimming, or even walking. A lot of karate dojo (training
hall), have the philosophy that you should not practice karate for fitness,
instead, you should be fit to practice karate! This is a very confusing
philosophy for someone new to karate, but as time goes by, the karateka will
understand this philosophy.
Master Gichin Funakoshi said, ' karate begins and ends with respect' Respect,
discipline, courtesy, effort, dedication, humility, achievement, perseverance,
etc, etc, all these positive human attributes are encouraged and taught in most
karate schools.
Competition arenas are a great place to test your karate skill without causing
injury to yourself, or others. Important areas of karate are tested in
competition (shiai), speed, timing, distance, balance, spirit, reactions, etc,
etc.
Some karateka do not agree with competition, they believe if someone has a bad
character, competition can only make things worse, some karateka will show
disrespect to their opponents, instructors and referees, but I believe this to
be very rare and the majority of karateka at competition show respect and
humility whether they win or lose.
Chose The Right Karate Dojo For You!It's important to know what you want from
karate, if it's self defence, you will need to find a karate school that place
emphasise on street self defence training. If it's fitness, you may not want
sparring or kata (forms), but lots of stamina training. For competition training
you need to find a dojo that concentrate on the competition side of karate. If
you are looking for health and character development, it may be a karate dojo
that practice kata (forms), kihon (basic karate moves) and kumite (sparring), a
majority of the time. The majority of karate schools practice a mixture of the
above areas, but check before you start training and be sure it's what you're
looking for.
Karate's Three K's
Kata (forms). The best way to describe kata, is a sequence of karate strikes,
blocks, kicks and manoeuvres, put together to form a pattern, similar to a
gymnastic floor display with emphasise during the kata being placed on
technique, fighting spirit, relaxation, speed and power.
Kumite (sparring). Where two karateka partner each other and attack and defend
against eachother, karate kumite starts with very basic moves, eg. Attacker
steps in with a single punch and the defender blocks with a single block and
counter strike. Over time the karate sparring develops into free sparring, where
anything goes.
Many karate dojo teach the philosophy of, 'Ikken Hisatsu' or to 'finish with one
blow'.
Kihon (basics). Practice of the basic strikes, blocks, kicks and stances is a
fundamental part of karate training, whether it's competition, self defense or
regular training, the karate techniques need to be practiced until they become
second nature and when needed, just happen as opposed to consciously thinking
about which move to use.

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