Introduction
Karate-do is a
martial art originated in Okinawa, modified
and transformed into a way of life by Master Gichin Funakoshi. Until before
these modifications, it was just a group of techniques that permitted
self-defense without weapons other than our hands and feet. Though there was
some Chinese influence, the development was Okinawan, and later mainland
Japanese. Master Funakoshi, inspired by traditional martial arts from the main
Japanese islands (kyudo, kendo, judo for example) modified Karate, that until
that moment could have been called Karate-jutsu, a fighting art, and emphasized
the philosophical aspects. This way all that was learnt could be extrapolated
to the daily life of the student. This is why Karate is a way of life:
Karate-do (do, means way or road). Gichin Funakoshi, thus, combined Karate
techniques with traditional Budo (the martial way), inserting the essence of
Budo in the heart of Karate.
The word Karate
is also formed by two characters, the first one kara (empty) and the other te (hand), the first one having many ways of
defining it. The first definition is the least subtle and the most
straightforward, through the practice of karate, self defense techniques are
learnt, where no weapons are needed, other than hands, feet or other parts of
the body. The second one, and in the words of Master Funakoshi: "Just as
it is the clear mirror that reflects without distortion, or the quiet valley
that echoes a sound, so must one who would study Karate-do purge himself of
selfish and evil thoughts, for only with a clear mind and conscience can he
[she] understand that which he [she] receives. This is another meaning of the
element kara in Karate-do." Another meaning given by the Master is
that of always striving to be inwardly humble and outwardly gentle, thus
meaning an internal emptiness of egoism and acting gently and moderately.
Finally he talks about the elemental form of the Universe, which is emptiness (kara,
ku), "and thus, emptiness is form itself. The kara of Karate-do
has this meaning." After what's been said, it is clear that Karate-do and Karate Budo are much, much more than mere
self-defense techniques, actually, such a definition is a far shot from the
real essence of Karate as a philosophy, which strives to develop the inner
qualities of a human being and the search of perfection of your character,
through strenuous training in the do and budo martial arts.
Goals
The true
objective of practice explain how to practice the body to clean the spirit. It
is believed that Karate-do was born from this view point. Through practice
problems that have recently appeared can be solved: the vital energy
deterioration in the newer generations and the superficiality of human
relationships. It is a natural phenomenon to strive to be strong both physically
and spiritually. Merely practicing we’ll become strong. But the purpose of
practicing is not to show off. Humans because of their very nature cannot live
alone. Thus one desires personal peace and at the same time for all others.
Being able to take care of others, think and act as if in the place of other
beings, building what is marvellous in the human being: that is practice. Viewing
deeply into the essential and fundamental element, we construct our own view of
life and understand the origin of the human being.
Technical Characteristics
The basic and
fundamental concept in Shotokai is that the body must be relaxed, the
movements must be soft and project the energy further than oneself. The mind
must be clear, clean and receptive. The techniques will be done in a natural
way, avoiding rigidity and tension.
One must be careful not to confuse softness with
slowness, the movement must be soft when it begins and maintain itself that way
during all the trajectory, without roughness. This type of movement is done,
either slowly or very rapidly.
One of the objectives to strive for is attaining
maximum speed in the movements even though the practice can also search for
softness in slow movements. Softness and fluidity can be united; this consists
in not blocking the techniques, uniting us in a continuous manner with the next
technique. When executing the techniques, the arm movements begin and end
together with the rest of the body. Attack and defense techniques are not
stopped when we supposedly have reached the objective, rather the movement
prolongs itself to the limit of their possibilities.
In Kata, these characteristics are applied to
attain a fluid execution. Movements follow each other in a continuous way,
accommodating them to the logical rhythm of the Kata. It is also a common
practice, as a method of enhancing the fluidity, to avoid the use of kiai
during the Kata.
In Kumite as the blows are not
stopped, all the training is oriented towards the art of evasion and avoiding the
partners attacks. In Shotokai the is no sports combat nor sports oriented
practice. All the emphasis is placed on the practice of Yakuzoku Ippon Kumite
and Ju Ippon Kumite.
Duration
Classes can last from one hour (15 min. warm-up; 45 min.
Karate) to three hours. We are not required to stay all the training hours, as
long as we state this before the training starts. The best amount to begin with
is three to six hours a week. As our physical and mental conditioning get
better, we can begin increasing the hours we train a week. Have in mind the
true fact that too many hours increase your exposure to injuries, mainly due to
fatigue and lack of recovery time both for our muscles and for our body as a
whole.
No. of Participants
There is
actually two trainee at one game. Sometime it depends on the instructor, we are
very hard to control and teach, unless there is a special vocational quality in
the instructor (I do not have it...). It is also important that the instructor
has special knowledge with respect to characteristics that make children
vulnerable, our undeveloped bones, and equivalents require a special type of
training, to avoid injuries. How young should we be to start learning Karate is
really no age limit. It will require a little more time to relax and attain a
certain level of flexibility, but there is no need to worry. Training will be
modified with respect to our age.
Warm-up
How often do people
get injured in Karate? Very often we will become a bit bruised, but this will
become less and less a problem due to two factors, first our arms will grow
stronger and more resistant to being hit and secondly because we opponents will
become more dexterous in blocking, learning to guide the strikes rather than
striking them to deviate them. Other common injuries are blisters from fast
movements on hard surfaces. Another problem is sore fingers due to accidentally
hitting elbows, or other hard areas with the fist not well done.
Skill Practice
We have to
practice to become an expert all our life and maybe more. No, truly, we really
believe that asking this question will prove to be useless and ridiculous as we
advance in our training. Begin our training and we will see.
Weight lifting
or running help us get in shape also depends on what we are looking for. In
Shotokai, due to it's objectives, bodies tend to become long and thin, as a
general rule, never bulky and full of puffed up muscles. If we are to train weight
lifting, we need to be guided by a physical trainer more in the direction of long
distance runners or any person involved in exercises that require movement for
a long period of time. In general, we have noticed that Shotokai training tends
to generate long strong muscles and flexible bodies.
Break boards
That is an old
tradition. It is no longer practiced in Shotokai on a regular basis. It can be
used from time to time as a specific test, but is largely avoided and sometimes
sneered at. Unfortunately most people have ended thinking that's Karate,
remember to read Master Funakoshi's words in Karate-do Nyumon (Kodansha
International) on this subject: "Karate-do is a noble martial art, and the
reader can rest assured that those who take pride in breaking boards or
smashing tiles, or who boast of being able to perform outlandish feats, like
stripping flesh or plucking out ribs, really know nothing about karate. We are
playing around in the leaves and branches of a great tree, without the
slightest concept of the trunk".
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