So you are thinking of taking up Karate as a sport, Karate is a good choice for physical fitness and spiritual well being.

Karate is the art of defending oneself against an armed or unarmed attacker.
Karate has a very long history like most martial arts and most methods have been proved in real battle.

We are going to look at what happens in a Japanese Karate class, many classes are different in many ways but we will try to give you a good idea what you would be getting yourself into Karate is a great sport and a great way to protect yourself and those people you love, your family.

Many Karate classes will allow you to go to a few free classes and watch or even ‘jump in’ and “have a go”.
This is a good idea and I strongly suggest that you do have a go, this is a great way for you to get the feel of what is required of you and what you have to do.

The advantages to you are tremendous, here is a list of some of these advantages:

● You will get fitter.
● You will be more “in tune” with your body.
● You will be able to protect yourself and others.
● Respect.
● More self confidence.
● You will learn about goal setting (belts and grading).

The person who teaches the students in a Karate class is called a Sensei .
We will use the Japanese names throughout this article.

The Sensei is there to teach you what you need to know to protect yourself.

Tip: If the Sensei appears to be arrogant then it is best to not attend those classes.
A good idea is to ask the current students after class what they think of the class and do they like the Sensei .
A bad or arrogant Sensei can teach you wrong and you or other class members could get hurt or the Sensei could hurt you.

Use the internet or phone books to find out if the Karate schools actually exist and maybe even ring the school to see if they have heard of the Sensei that you may be training under.

You should show respect to the Sensei and be open minded and you will learn easily.

A Dojo (Karate hall or room) can be any room that has lots of room for many students to move around in, a wooden floor is helpful because it is springy and helps harden the souls of the feet. Often you will find that a town hall or school hall is rented for Karate classes.

You are to remove all foot ware before you enter the Dojo, this is a custom and you should obey it.
If you do not then the Sensei will have to ask you to remove your foot ware, so do so before you enter the Dojo.

As most people know you are trying to go up the ranks and get a higher belt.
The Karate belt is called Obi and is used to show people the rank you currently hold in Karate.
Going for a higher Karate belt is a great way to show children how to set goals and achieve them, and it won’t do adults any harm either.
You are never to old to learn Karate and disabled people have learnt the martial arts even from a wheel chair.

Each time you go up a belt ranking it is a great achievement for you and the entire class will be pleased that you made it this far.
It takes time to reach the Black Belt rank but it is really worth it.

When the class starts you may be asked to face the front of the Dojo or face the Sensei and go down to your knees and then bow to the Karate masters and students that learnt Karate before you. This may be described another way, I suppose it depends on the form of Karate that you are learning and the Sensei.

A Sempai is a Karate student that has a higher grade (rank) than you.
One of the main aims in Karate is for the entire class to help each other learn and support each other.

Many classes start with warm ups and/or games to get you warmed up for the karate exercises.
A good Sensi will get the class to do stretches as well.

If you are already active in other sports you will find Karate easier than someone who is overweight and not currently doing a sport. It really doesn’t matter in the end though because unfit people are just as welcome in a Karate class and the Sensei will be more than pleased to see you get fitter as each class is completed and you will do your Sensei proud when you pass each rank.

Once the warm ups are over you are ready for the start of the karate exercises, your Sensei should explain what each move is and its purpose.

I will mention some to help you throughout this introduction to Karate.

The basic idea is to get you fit and teach you how to protect yourself against one or more attackers, these attackers may be armed with weapons so you must learn to fight the attacker off hopefully without getting hurt yourself.

If you watch karate or martial arts movies then you will get an idea of what physical moves you may be expected to learn, but beware Hollywood can really add mental garbage to any art so movies are not to be trusted as a reliable place to get information.

Some actors are very good at martial arts like Chuck Norris who was the undefeated six times world champion of Karate or Bruce Lee.
Both of these actors were (are in the case of Chuck Norris who is still alive at the time of this writing) very fit and trained heavily.

Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee started the ball rolling and many new martial arts actors have emerged onto the Hollywood scene.
Many of these new movies have a lot of “hype” and don’t really impress real martial arts students.

You may start learning front kicks or stances at the start of your class.
You can use a front kick (Mae Geri) when someone is moving toward you to attack you, this technique is very effective.

Ashi Barai is the foot sweep, this is to sweep a persons feet out from under them.
Kin Geri is a groin kick.
Mawashi Geri is the popular roundhouse kick.
Tobi Geri is a jumping kick.
Nidan Geri is the double jumping kick.
Migazuki Geri is the crescent kick.
Fumikomi Geri, the stamping kick.
Ushiro Geri, the back kick.
Yoko Geri, the famous side kick.

Footwork in Karate teaches you a new way to balance your entire weight and get off an effective kick that could stop your attacker in his or her tracks.
Karate kicks are very effective and have been used in many real life situations with great results.
They are very helpful when your hands are occupied or tied up and you need another way to defend yourself.

Unlike boxing where you have to obey rules and not hit below the belt martial arts is for real life situations,
I would never believe that a good boxer would ever win a fight against a good martial arts person.
Boxing has its place but it doesn’t come anywhere near as effective as the martial arts for protection.

One of the things I always found very impressive is the blocks used in martial arts.
A block is a strike to an attacker when they are punching or kicking you.
If an attacker throws a punch at me I will use my hand, leg or arm to block the punch or deflect it away so that the punch does not hit me.

You don’t just block a kick, punch or strike in Karate, the blocks are worked out in such a way that you are hitting pressure points on your opponent everytime you block.
So effectively you are attacking with each strike, kick, punch and block.

A pressure point is a point on a person’s body that is effected by you striking it.
I read that the human body has over 2000 pressure points on it but the pressure points used in Karate amount to a few hundred.
Pressure points are normally only taught to Karate students who have been training for a long time.

It has been said that hitting a “special” pressure point can kill a person or make them very ill.
I have seen and used pressure point strikes and they are very useful for hurting an opponent and disabling the arms or legs for a short period of time and in some cases weeks.

This is why boxers will not win fights in real life with a good martial arts student, I find it frustrating watching boxing on television because the boxers are very limited in what they can do with just there fists. A real fighter uses all that they can and this includes the entire body if it is needed.

In fact the so-called best fighter in the world Muhammad Ali was supposed to fight Chuck Norris in a major fighting event until Ali’s wife, who is a black belt herself, told Ali he would be beaten by Norris and Ali pulled out of the fight. Chuck Norris was very keen to have a go.

You are expected to behave in a Karate class.
You are not allowed to:

i. Use bad language.
ii. Abuse anyone.
iii. Start fights.
iv. Be disrespectful to the Sensi.
v. Laugh at anyone in a way that hurts their feelings.
vi. Be arrogant.
vii. Hurt anyone.
viii. Eat in the Dojo.

Some people seem to have a serious problem with arrogance and if you mix that with a good karate student it can be a real bad mix.

I remember when I first started training in Karate we had a young Maori student who was about 15 years old, and this young man had a real attitude problem.
His Father was the Sensi.
This young man loved to show off and be the center of attention especially when his Father was not watching, this boy could have been a very good Karate instructor.
The last I heard about him he was in a gang doing bad things.

When I started Karate I was overweight and unfit and this young man took great joy in trying to show me up all the time.
Mostly it never worked out in his favour.
After the first class where I ran out of breath often I decided that this young man would never get the better of me in class and for me it was lots of fun trying to keep up with a junior black belt who was much fitter than myself.
But whenever I equaled or beat him at something he would always get angry and it showed on his face, I ignored this and had a great time learning Karate with the other students.
I was also popular in class and I worked very hard.
A person like him made the class a bit sour and he put a few people off the classes and this was sad because the classes were good and we all enjoyed the learning process.

Some Kata’s that you may learn:

● Bassai To penetrate a fortress.
● Empi Flying Swallow.
● Gankaku Crane on a rock.
● Hangetsu Half Moon.
● Heian Peaceful Mind.
● Jion Jion-Ji – Buddhist Temple.
● Jutte Ten Hands.
● Kwanku To look at the sky.
● Taikyoko First Cause.
● Tekki Horse Riding.

Although the names of the Kata’s and the meanings don’t seem to mean much to you as a beginner, the Kata’s are a great way of “joining” or “sticking” all the karate moves into one long movement. Kata’s are very important in Karate and other martial arts and you should learn them with enthusiasm.

The Kiai is a yell that Karate people make that comes from “deep within”, its the yell you hear on martial arts movies.
Many people think the Kiai sounds silly but it has many uses.
When a karate student is training the Kiai is a way to “get fired up” for the attack.
The Kiai can be used to scare and attacker, especially these days since most people have at least seen one or two martial arts movies.
Everyone knows that a martial art student makes that sound and this means they will be fighting a trained fighter.

Each student seems to have a different Kiai sound, it can be a sort of grunt or a loud high pitched scream.

A stance is the position that you stand in when you are either fighting or getting ready to fight.

Here are some of the stances that you may learn:

● Fudo Dachi Feet shoulder width apart.
● Hangetsu Dachi Half Moon stance.
● Heisoku Dachi The attention stance.
● Kiba Dachi The Horse Riding stance – standing like you are on a horse.
● Kokutsu Dachi Back stance.
● Neko Ashi Dachi The Cat stance.
● Sanchin Dachi Hour Glass stance.
● Tsuri Dachi The Crane stance.
● Zenkutsu Dachi The Front stance.
●
Like in all martial arts the names for the stances seem to be a bit strange to the beginner but they are named like this for a good reason.
An examples is the Horse Riding stance, Kiba Dachi.
This is where you spread your legs wide and then crouch downwards like you would if you were riding on a horses back.
This may seem awkward at first but it is really easy and it won’t take you long to get used to it.

All the stances are used for special reasons and you will find out what they are in class.
They may seem strange to westerners but they are proven in real fighting and self defence.

Many of the strange positions that you may be asked to learn in Karate are good ways of testing your body and you will be impressed by what you can do while learning Karate.
Our youngest (at the time) daughter Rachel had a serious problem with balance as a child and we worried about it often.
Rachel joined Karate as a 4-5 year old and after a couple of months she had no trouble at all balancing her body.
When she first started she tried a front kick and landed on her backside, now she is a very efficient kicker and can kick very fast in any position.
Being able to balance like this gave her a lot of confidence as a child and it was very good for her.

The confidence building in martial arts is amazing, I have watched really awkward children turn into strong confident human beings after learning karate.
As an adult I found I was much more confident after doing Karate for a few months.
Wherever I went it effected the way I handled people, I was nicer to people, I was more confident in whatever I did.

Breaking Boards: Not all Karate classes teach board or brick breaking although many people think you have to learn to do these feats in Karate.
I never learnt in any Karate class how to break anything other than an attackers bones.

What is the reason for breaking bricks and boards?
According to what I have read people break boards and bricks to show that if they were attacked then they can break an attackers bones.
If a Karate student can break a brick with his naked fist then just imagine what they could do to your face if they punched you.
It one thing to punch a person and give them a black eye and another thing to punch the attacker and break bones in the head.

The same applies to a Karate student breaking a board with his leg or foot, if he or she kicks your leg or arm what affect do you think it will have!

You are taught how to break an attackers bones in martial arts but this is meant to help stop the fight fast and disable the attacker fast so that they do you and your family no harm.

More Karate words and their meanings:
● Shomen Rei Bow.
● Yoi Ready.
● Hai Yes. Say hai when you want to say yes to the Sensi.
● Mawate Turn.
● Taiso Exercise.

Some people state that breaking peoples bones is gory and shouldn’t be allowed etc, they should tell that to the attackers.
Many people would never learn Karate if attackers were not out there in the real world ready to take your money or physically attack or hurt your family members.
Many attackers are cowards (if not most) and if they attacked a skinny weakling and the skinny weakling broke one of their arms they re-evaluate their view of skinny weaklings.

All the best from
James M Sandbrook.
Friday, ‎14 ‎May ‎2004, ‏‎6:45:48 PM