Why Practice Karate

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 1

Why practice Karate?

When I first stepped into a dojo I was a shy child. As the years passed, I discovered that karate
is not a sport but an art of living. He taught me to express my opinions, to respect myself and others.
Practicing karate I discovered how karates appeared what they teach you what you can learn from
them, what you can be from them
Shotokan
Karate appeared in Okinawa, Japan in 1922 as a martial art. It has its origins in the Chinese
martial arts styles (kung-fu or gong-fu, respectively kem-po in Japanese) and shaolin quang-fa practiced
by the monks of the shaolin temple. The fighting techniques used are blows with the hands and feet,
blockages, harvesting, gripping, projections. Karate training is generally divided into kihon, kata and
kumite. The founder of the Shotokan style is Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957).
Kihon It is the basis in karate representing the performance of performing in unison a certain technique
or a combination of karate techniques.
Kata (imaginary fight with several opponents) is composed of a series of movements representing
offensive or defensive positions. These positions are based on real combat applications. In order to obtain
a certain degree in karate, a karateka must prove that he masters a certain kata necessary to reach
that level.
Kumite Kumite is the branch of karate in which a person trains against an opponent using the techniques
acquired in kihon and kata.
 Gohon Kumite - In traditional Shotokan karate the type of kumite for beginners is gohon kumite.
The attacker (tori) uses 5 arm kicks. The one who defends (uke) always steps back, blocking the
attacks and after the last block counterattack.

 Sanbon kumite - executes three attacks because the defender blocks three times and then
counterattacks. The attacker announces in each round where he is attacking.

 Ippon kumite - one step attack / block

 Jiyu Kumite - advanced wrestling used in competitions that must follow certain rules being based
on a refereeing system.

Dojo The place where the karate training takes place (training room) is called the dojo.
Label in the dojo - Shoes are not allowed in the training room; Greet when you enter or leave the room;
Students are placed in formation according to degrees (advanced belts in front); Keep quiet during the
course; Address the instructor with Sensei (not by name); In order not to injure ourselves during training,
it is not allowed to chew gum or wear rings, chains, earrings, watches; Uniforms to be clean; Cleanliness
must be maintained in the training room.
Degree Following an exam after a certain training time, the practitioner is awarded degrees. The lower
grades are called kyu and are from 10 - white belt to 1 - black belt. The higher grades are called dan and
are increasing from 1 to 12. Each grade corresponds to a belt of a certain color. The color system for
Shotokan is white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, black, then for dan a number of transverse braids
corresponding to the grade

You might also like