Karate
is the traditional
discipline of weaponless self-protection; it literally means "the way
of the empty hands". Traditional Karate employs mental concentration
and rigorous training to build up physical aptitudes like speed, force,
and nimbleness. Training the spirit and body conjointly leads to
multiplied benefits unlike humdrum drill routines observed in most
fitness gymnasiums.
Physical fitness and Overall wellness: Karate
practice ameliorates flexibility, force, coordination, and endurance of
the practicioner. Karate's punches, thrust, kicks, blocks, sweeps and
throws workout the entire body in an explosive and active fashion.
Stress
relief:
besides the stress reducing advantages of any physical exercise, Karate
also betters assiduity and cognizance of mental attitudes that can
induce tension.
Self-assurance: though all physical exercises
ameliorate feelings of well-being, classical Karate puts particular
emphasis on building persona, and centers on increasing assurance,
awareness, and persistence through repetitive physical and mental
drills.
Self-protection: Traditional Karate is the finest
martial art for self-protection as it revolves around genuine defense
skills instead of sport oriented methods that are found to be
impractical and ineffective in real combat situations.
What Is
Karate? "Real karate is this: that in day-to-day life one's spirit and
body be conditioned and trained in a spirit of humbleness, and that in
decisive times, one be committed completely to the cause of justice."
--Gichin Funakoshi
Karate can as well be identified as a martial
art, or combat method, calling for a mixture of techniques, including
blocks, strikes, escapes, throws, and joint manipulations. Karate training is
fractioned into three aspects: kihon (basics), kata (forms), and kumite
(sparring).
The
word karate is a
mix of two Japanese characters: kara, signifying empty, and te,
signifying hand; thus, karate translates into "empty hand." Appending
the suffix "-do" (sounded out "doe"), signifying "way," i.e.,
karate-do, connotes karate as a complete way of life that goes well
beyond the self-protection applications. In traditional karate-do, we
always keep in mind that the real adversary is oneself.
Shotokan
founder Gichin Funakoshi has said that "spirit and know-how become one
in real karate." We endeavor to make our physical techniques perfect
reflexions of our mind's intent, and to better our mind's concentration
by realizing the essence of the physical techniques. By fine-tuning our
karate practice we are fine-tuning our own mind or our own mental
capacity. For instance, doing away with feeble and indecisive moves in
our karate aids to get rid of weakness and indecisiveness in our
minds--and the other way around.
It
is in that sense
that karate turns into a way of life, as we strive to become very
strong but joyful and law-abiding people. As Tsutomu Ohshima, chief
teacher or shihan of Shotokan Karate of America, has put it, "We have
to be strong enough to convey our true spirit to any adversary,
anytime, in any condition. We have to be calm enough to behave
ourselves with humility."
About the Author
You are welcome to visit the author's website if you'd like to know how
to learn karate at home and how to learn karate on your own.
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