The Way Of Empty Hands. Review on Karate

If we know somebody learning Karate just ask their parents the reason why they sent their children for learning Karate. Of course as we all have a different point of view these parents will also have a different point of view about this. There mainly five reasons that I have noticed that parents often give when this is asked:-

§ To have their children thinner if they are fat.

§ For their children to have time pass.

§ If the parents are working or the child is the only child they have they sent them here so that they don’t feel lonely.

§ If the child is a girl to let them learn as a self defense.

§ Just for the child to learn a skill.

I am girl learning Karate for more that 21/2 years and according to me it is a great thing to learn Karate. Yeah! It does help you reduce your weight or you learn a self defense or you learn a skill but more than al that it helps you get confidence, sharp mind and concentration which are really needed in your daily life. The true meaning of Karate-do is ‘The Way Of Empty Hands. The founder of modern Shotokan Karate-do is Gichin Funakoshi. In general, modern karate training is divided into three major areas: basics (“kihon” in Japanese), forms ("kata" in Japanese), and sparring ("kumite" in Japanese). They are patterns of movements and techniques that demonstrate physical values related to fighting. Kata may be thought of as a collection of fixed sequences of movement that address various types of attack. They are patterns of movements and techniques that demonstrate physical values related to fighting. Kata may be thought of as a collection of fixed sequences of movement that address various types of attack.

Karate Sparring:-

There are two common ways of scoring matches: Sanbon, and Ippon. In Sanbon fighting (3 point fighting), the matches usually last until time, unless the tournament has a mercy rule in place. Kicks to the head are worth 3 points, kicks to the body worth 2, and hand techniques worth 1. A sweep followed by a technique that lands is worth 3 points. In Ippon(point/half point fighting), the fights last until one person scores a point.

Belt Colours:-

When you start Karate you are a person who does not know Karate at all so you start of with white belts. Then after the test if you pass you get the next belt. Till the Brown Belt if you fail in any test you are given a re-test and if you fail again you will remain in the same belt but when you are a Brown Belt if you fail in any of the test you go back to White belt. This is because Brown Belt is a senior belt and you must know and understand everything quickly. The belts go like this:-

§ White Belt

§ Yellow Belt

§ Orange Belt

§ Green Belt

§ Blue Belt

§ Purple Belt

§ Brown belt ( First Brown 5, then Brown 4, Brown 3, Brown 2 and last Brown 1)

§ Black belt ( There are actually 10 Black Belts after which you get Red Belt)

§ Red Belt

Note: - It is not necessary to take the whole 10 belts of black. My Karate Instructor say that when you get your Black Belt it is equivalent of getting white belt because if you are continuing for the rest it is very different from what you learned earlier.

Karate is a martial art which is easy to learn if you put your heart and soul into it. And I think it will be useful in our life in certain times especially for girls. There are people who say “Oh! Are you breeding your girl to grow up like a boy?” to your parents if you are a girl learning Karate but I am against all this and I think it is important to learn skills like this. I hope you agree to this.