Entering the Karate world. Review on Karate

When I was 12 years old at Shillong , in Don Bosco , St Anthony's school I came to know who was Brucelee through some of my classmates who resembled him.That was the time when I first heard of this game/sport and found it very interesting as apart from the game it provided you the art of defending yourself when in need. At that age one is also very much influenced by movies Dhishoom Dhishoom etc. and thus arose the interest. soon we started betting with each other as to who hits the wall harder with his fist and I remember how hard we used to hit and hide the pain so that no one is able to read the expression on our faces in order to win the bet. Then there used to be challenges made wherein a neutral person used to open his hand and place it in a shake hand position with a single hand between two of rivals and one rival used to punch that hand and then the second one used to punch that hand from the other side which meant that the challenge has been accepted and decision to fight after the class was deemed to be taken.Then of course a fight after the class trying to use all the stunts learnt in due courses of discussions used to be applied finally resulting into punishments by the teachers on being caught. This continued till higher classes but the frequency of fights reduced but not the discussions.

Unfortunately I could not get an opportunity to attend the class except for boxing for a few days which I did not like as I could not use my leg or the kicks as it is not in the game so I left it till the time I entered the engineering college where usage of this came in handy when being bullied by some hooligans in the college.However the emphasis of a good student from a decent middle classfamily is supposed to be on the studies and could not take risk of getting involved in such activities unless forced to do so. Time passed by and I finally joined army where also emphasis was on building up of physical fitness and studies and not on Karate techniques.One who is a civilian always thinks that in army you do not have to study and only fire with a rifle on the border.It is not so .The amount of studies you have to do in army is unlimited and more educated you are higher you go up the ladder , of course with good reports also side by side which is a different subject altogether.

Anyway time went by still no chance came to learn it as life of a sapper officer in the army is very busy in the units including the various appointments I did in my various tenures.Finally I got married and now I have two children .I now realise that the time has gone so fast that my children have reached that age from where I started and heard of Brucelee first in my Don Bosco days. But luckily today I am posted at such a place where I can give my kids the coaching which unfortunately I could not get for myself. So here I made the start for my kids in giving them coaching for this game by a qualified person. I soon realised that that they have started to pick up this sport very quickly and properly . The child in me also wanted to come out and join them in learning but was it too late .I always accompanied my children during their classes and watch them learning.I gave a thought day and night for joining at this age and questions like as to what will the people think if I learn it at this age , the instructors are younger to me in age and whether it suits an army officer to learn such a thing from the civilian , will my ego get hurted, Will not the youngsters make fun of me etc etc started flashing in my mind but against all odds I finally made up my mind and decided to join the classes with my children as it is never too late to start to learn a new thing . Hence after so many years I am into it now.

The first thing is that you have to make up your mind then half the battle is won.I joined to give company and encouragement to my kids in addition to my own interest which was lying dormant for the last so many years so that I can discuss the subject with them day and night and understand the language as one learns more quickly in the company of friends and interest in the game is kept live.

The scope of this game has many stages starting from white belt to yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown1, brown2, brown3 and then black(from 1 to 10 dan) and syllabus of each category is well defined.You have to practice each for a fixed period of 3 to 6 months and then give a test which is taken by a senior karate qualified person(a black belt) and on clearing the same you get the next higher belt. The game rules have been suitably modified so that one does not get hurt and at the same time learns the art.There are many associations affiliated to the govt of India and one must join only those. Although not much funding is given by the govt at present but it is an upcoming sport which our govt must encourage as being done by the Japanese govt where it is a part of curriculum in all the schools.