Karate is about discovering a path between Self-Protection and Self-Perfection”.
Why should one learn karate?
There are several reasons and various qualities inculcated in a person who purses Karate-do:- Self Discipline, Improving Focus and concentration, Sharpening the Memory, Working as a Team, Control and Patience, Physical Fitness, Developing Physical, Mental and Emotional Balance, Coordination of the mind and body, Etiquette and Manners, Self Defense.
1. SELF DEFENSE:
“Karate“, a Japanese word, meaning “empty” (Kara) and “hand” (Te). It is a system of attack and defense that used all parts of the body (hands, feet, elbows, fingers, etc.) to kick, punch, chop, but or any other move that is effective in defending yourself. Many of the movements have been analyzed and geometrically calculated so that wherever the action, a block or a punch, it is the maximum the human body can achieve. One quickly learns that it is not the size and strength alone that are the deciding factors in who will emerge victorious in physical combat. True Karate is a physical Art, a technique if self-defense and a sport.There are a number of reasons you might want to learn Martial Arts. The most obvious, of course, is that you want to be prepared to defend yourself or your family if you’re ever in immediate danger. This isn’t a paranoid assessment – there are real criminals and real dangers in society. And while it is, hopefully, rare to run into someone who may want to cause you harm, having no plan for how to deal with that situation leaves you exceptionally vulnerable. In a study conducted by the Department of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it was determined that 1 in 6 women had experienced a sexual assault or an attempted sexual assault. For men, the numbers were 1 in 33. No attack is ever the victim’s fault and not all attacks are preventable. But we do know that self-defense training can help victims to stop or escape their attackers. Karate buils confidence, strength and conditions a person to defend themselves when such situations arise. Learning Karate might probably save your life someday.
2. FITNESS:
Fitness is the second most frequent reason for practicing karate. Karate training can be intense however the beauty is that each student can advance at their own pace. While karate is not considered an aerobic exercise since by definition this means raising your heart rate to 70-80% capacity for 20 minutes or more, it is intense. It is a rare case that you leave the Dojo with drenching your gi (karate dress). Sparring is very aerobic and many of the warm-up exercises are considered aerobic also. Most karate students augment their training with aerobic exercises like jumping rope, running and swimming. Karate is similar to swimming in that it exercises your entire body allowing you to find muscles you didn’t know you had.
Karate training will improve your stamina, strength, speed and flexibility. Because of the intensity of the training karate will improve your overall fitness and body awareness. Karate training will strengthen and develop almost every muscle in your body. Through proper dedicated training you can expect to reduce your resting heart rate and feel healthier. The question always comes up, how long will it take to…? The answer is the same regardless of the topic, it depends on how much time you put into it. Everyone’s motivation and needs are different, this is true for your training program too. One thing is certain, karate will get you physically fit and feeling great about yourself.
3. DISCIPLINE:
To achieve success and to learn in anything in life one requires great discipline and consistency for without it, it’s not possible to learn or progress in life or in any art. Children’s reaction to discipline in the beginning is little difficult but if they are encouraged then later they start developing self-discipline. Being self disciplined helps the child to develop an ability to focus their mind on a task given which results in improving concentration. Many of our student’s parents can see an improvement in their children’s power of concentration. We also take our students Camping twice a year, where we cover over 6 months of training along with their grading exam (Change of Kyu/Dan belt) and provide international level of training seminar with a span of four Days or more.
4. RESPECT:
Karate Teaches Respect
Karate to the common man may only be a ritual of self-defense and fighting techniques. However, the intricacies of learning karate go much deeper than this superficial belief. Karate is known to teach its students much more than just a fighting style. Martial arts training programs have a great number of varied, unifying and underlying principles that are also taught to students.
A few of these values that are imparted to students in a martial arts program include self-discipline, courtesy, greater self-confidence, larger self-esteem and strength of mind. However, one of the most important fundamental principles that underlie a karate training program is the principle of respect.
Value of respect
Respect is a value that everyone understands the need and importance of. Respect needs to be both given and received. One of the aspects of respect that is commonly looked over is self-respect. Having self-respect is one of the most important stepping stones to being able to respect others and develop as a person. However, even though respect holds such importance, it is not commonly seen today especially in the youth.
How martial arts training can develop respect?
Martial arts training programs are specifically designed to imbibe a sense of respect into students both on and off the mat. The environment at a karate training center helps students to not only develop respect for their seniors and instructors, but also for their peers. As a student develops and learns karate he understands that the best way forward is through perseverance and self-belief. It is natural for a student to subsequently develop a sense of self-respect as well. Many parents have observed that their children have developed a greater sense of respect not only for the people at their training classes but also in all other crucial areas of their lives.
5. IMPORTANCE OF KARATE FOR GIRLS:
Girls are considered weak in strength as compared to boys, so when girls are becoming capable of defending themselves and fending off the physical attacks. It changes the mindset of people and promotes gender equality between girls and boys.
People have set up an image of women that they have weak strength, and they have to leave under the protection of men. This belief should be abolished as Girls are also capable of defending themselves. Girls should be trained in a martial art so that they can give a stringent action back to her eve-teasers. They should also be given training of martial art as they become more independent and self-confident.
The toughest part of Karate-Do training for children. To develop each skill the students need to practice one skill per class to make it better. Hence each skill is taught using various drills which make their training more fun and motivational.These drills are easy to follow and help the students to develop their basic which leads to excellence as a martial artist.
The toughest part of Karate training is “ENDLESS REPETITION”. Without it the training is not possible and sometimes this can be a boring part of karate training. But due to this type of training a student learns to be patient and develops an attitude working on each and every technique properly, which can be used in further day to day life. Remember there is no shortcut to progress, so work with all your heart, mind and spirit.
The below mentioned key points of Karate techniques helps in the progress of a Karate student:-
DACHI and WAZA – Stances and Techniques.
BALANCE – Control of self and mind while moving or stable.
COORDINATION – Correct movement of the body in rhythm.
CORRECT FORM – Performing your techniques correctly.
SPEED – Execution of the karate techniques without loss of form.
POWER – Developing and enhancing muscular, rhythmic and internal strength.
REFLEXES – Develop an ability to react appropriate in time of need.
INTERNAL STRENGTH – Efforts with whole mind and body.
Training or trying to learn in a hurry and rushing from one technique to another will never results in a fine martial artist. It will look like you are progressing faster in the beginning but later in long run you shall be very poor in basic skills. Mastery in Basics is the key foundation of a successful Karateka. Karate is very beneficial and anyone can achieve its numerous benefits but it is only achieved through hard, long, sincere and disciplined training.
