Karate School

Karate School

Karate-Do literally means “the way of the empty hand”.  Karate school or the style of karate is the art of combat without the use of weapons.  It is popularly believed that the origins of Karate came from Okinawa, Japan.  History tells us that a law was once passed prohibiting citizens from using weapons.  Natives of Okinawa eventually developed a form of weaponless combat.  This method was fiercely kept a secret by the natives.  It is also believed that influences from Chinese martial arts might have contributed to the development of karate as a form of martial art discipline.

Masters of this discipline teach that karate is not a game of points, weight classes, belt rankings or showy demonstrations.  It is both a martial art and a way of life.  It trains a practitioner to be peaceful.  Conflict is to be avoided as much as possible but if it comes unavoidable, true karate dictates to take down an opponent with a single blow.  We must understand that any form of martial arts is founded on principles of defense, discipline, peace and harmony.  Karate is no different.  It is when unavoidable conflicts that the physical and combative characteristics of this art emerge.

Karate is a very popular sport.  The most prominent reason why people learn karate is self-defense.  Students come from all ages for both male and female.  In Karate, students learn how to develop body, mind and spirit simultaneously.  In an effort to teach karate, instructors have divided this art into five major components.  This is so structured so that a student can progress one step at a time from basic training to a level of mastery where he or she can now combine basic movements and turn them into offensive or defensive patterns.

The five major components of karate are: Kihon – basic training for beginners.  It puts emphasis on blocking, breathing, stances hand techniques and kicks.  Kata – or forms.  This pre-arranged movements and actions of Kihon.  Basic sparring – a form of training where the fundamental stances and techniques learned from basic training and pre-arranged movements are used against attacks and defenses of an opponent.  Kumite – means free sparring.

The main objective of free sparring is to allow students to freely apply what they have all learned in a controlled fighting situation.  Self-defense – students learn takedown techniques, grips, throws, locks and other defensive techniques.  These are designed to ward off, disable and in extreme cases hurt opponents.  This is one of the most attractive aspects of martial arts.

Learning karate is both an enjoyable and educational experience.  A student learns who he is, what he or she is capable of and develops self-confidence in a manner that only learning martial arts can do.  It is a great avenue to relieve stress, meet new friends and gain better appreciation of our bodies.