kung pow owww!! (Karate)

Name: pheobe_halliwell

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Product:	Karate
Date:	14.05.03 (82 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good for fitness, good friends

Disadvantages: need to find the right place for you

Karate was established on 1st May 1934 by founder Hironori Ohtsuka. Translated to English, the word ?Karate? means empty handed, meaning that traditionally we don?t use weapons (Although you could try telling this to my students who are determined to bring swords to every lesson!).

The style of Karate I practice is Wado-Ryu, which means ?way of peace and harmony? (no really it does!).

Now on to my review. I started Karate through my dad?s constant nagging that I should take up some kind of martial art. I didn?t want to join a club as such because to be honest, I didn?t have that much confidence. Anyway my dad found a poster in a sports centre that advertised a club which was about to open. Anyway, me being as daft as I am, I didn?t thought the club would be full of beginners so I wouldn?t feel out of place.

It got to Tuesday night, my dad dropped me off, and I walked into the hall (a challenge in itself!). When the lesson started I found myself surrounded by ?high? grades?. All of which were male. Lucky me I hear you say? Well no, really. I was the only female in that club at the time, I was the youngest and I was the only beginner.

We went through a basic warm up, consisting of running, jumping and stretching. Then went on to do some basic punching and kicking. This was all fine and fairly enjoyable. Then it got bad. We had to find partners so we could practice some ?sparring?. I got put with a man who had a blue belt (mid level). He proceeded to ?spar? with me, giving me no help, and bruised shins. Needless to say I didn?t want to go back after this lesson!!.

Anyway skipping forward a bit before you back away from the computer with speed!. The club that I joined has about 3 clubs in my local area. I decided to try one of these instead. Again the club was male dominated, but they were much more encouraging. One man in particular had a daughter in the club who was roughly the same age as me, so he tended to look after
me a bit more and go through anything I didn?t understand.

8 years and lots of hard work later and I now have my own club within the organisation. Now I find that clubs are largely ?child? dominated. I have about 30 people in my club, 2 of which are adults.

I tend to teach a variety of different things. My lesson usually consists of a basic warm up, followed by some basic techniques and either sparring or Kata (a set sequence of moves which in theory could be used against an attacker). Because my club is largely child dominated I also try to include some ?fun? activities such as a ball game to improve co-ordination.

I have paid visits to other clubs in the area and found them to be quite strict, also I found that the instructor doesn?t really like people watching the lessons (even parents). This may be a good way to discipline the children, but I feel that parents should be allowed to watch their children if they want and also the club shouldn?t be ?so? strict that you make your students cry on a regular basis (yes I have seen it happen!).

Over the years I think that Karate has been watered down in the way that it is taught and the knowledge of students. However, for me it is more important that the students enjoy coming to the club, are more confident and can protect themselves against potential danger.

The best thing about being an instructor for me is seeing a student do well on their grading, and their faces when they get their next belt. The best thing about a student was being involved in a friendly organisation and being fit.

Don?t get me wrong Karate has given me more confidence, but I don?t go around thinking ?bring it on!?. I think a lot of people get the wrong idea about the benefits practising a martial art will give them. Karate does not make you ?invincible? or ?unbeatable?. If you are unfortunate enough to get into a fighting situation, then more than likely you are going to get hit. In my opini
on, Karate teaches you to ?not be there? through self-awareness more than developing attacking techniques.

My advice is to know what to expect if you are thinking of joining a club. You are not going to come out and put Bruce Lee to shame, and you are not going to work your way up the grades within a week. It takes hard work and time. Also as mentioned before, it is not going to make you invincible, so don?t try kidding yourself and taking unnecessary risks.

Below are a few pointers for finding the right club:

1/ Try and find out a bit about the organisation, who is it run by? How long has it been running?
2/ Have a chat to the instructor, find out what?s involved in lessons and gradings, how much will it all cost and is there a contract to sign?
3/ see if you can sit in on one of the lessons to see what they do.
4/ INSURANCE. Make sure you are insured for your training.
5/ Keep an eye out for the ?big heads? in the group. Yes there will probably be one, yes they are annoying and no you cant trip them up as they pass!.
6/ most of all don?t be forced into doing something you don?t want to do. It is YOUR training. Don?t be bullied be other students or your instructor.
7/ finally, like with most things shop around. Clubs and their attitudes vary A LOT. If one style of teaching is not for you, try somewhere else.

Hope this helps you a little!.

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