Know In Details : KARATE-DO

In my last blog we discussed on Martial Arts in details, different types of Martial Arts, how and where to start learning Martial arts.

Here we will discuss one of the most popular Unarmed Martial Art ‘KARATE-DO’ and its different styles.

So, let’s start our discussion.

What is Unarmed Martial Arts?

As we discussed earlier, these type of Martial Arts focus to use different body parts as weapons like hand, leg, fingers, knuckle, elbow, knee etc. Practitioners have to train every parts of the body to make enough strong to use as weapons. The techniques involve explosive moves such as kicks, punches, and throws.

Some of the popular Unarmed Martial arts are Karate, Taekwondo, Boxing, Kick-Boxing, Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Judo, Wrestling, jujitsu, Aikido, Hapkido, Krav Maga and so many.

KARATE DO:

Karate-do is considered as one of the most popular martial art. Its birthplace is Japan and focused mainly on self-defense and self-discipline. Learners are taught how to control, deflect and disable attacks (BLOCKING) instead of attacking first. It mostly involving kicks, punches, and open-handed strikes.

 KARATE DO means “Way of Empty Hand Fighting”.    

There are there are Three main components of Karate-Do:

KIHON: Basic or fundamental techniques like Punches, Kicks, Blocks, etc.

KATA: It is the combination of Karate techniques, stances with movement in all direction. We can say it’s a case study of fighting. We imagine certain situation then protect us with defensive techniques then move forward with some offensive techniques.

KUMITE: It is also called sparring. We practice our fighting skill with a partner without hurting each other. To practice this, we must use all protective gears.

PRINCIPLES OF KARATE-DO:

1. Karate-do begins and ends with RESPECT (Bow,          Good Manners, Courtesy).

2. No first ATTACK in Karate

3. Know yourself first, before knowing others. 

4. Think of your body parts as Weapons.

5. Always RELAX your mind.

6. Karate can be trained outside of the Dojo.

7. It is like boiling water. If not given heat, it will go cold.

8. Victory depends on your ability to point out vulnerable points from invulnerable ones.

9. The outcome of a fight depends on how you handle weaknesses and strengths.

10. Spirit is more important than Technique.

 KARATE STYLES:

There are so many styles and Sub-styles in Karate. The styles are the outcome of the historical development of a martial art. Different Grand Masters from different parts of the world tried to contribute to the art and developed it in a specific way which turned into an individual style and followed by different organizations.

Even though there are different styles in Karate, they aren’t separate arts. They are just different variations of the basic rules with some new techniques and concepts. 

The four main karate styles are

·         Shotokan 

·         Wado-ryu

·         Shito-ryu

·         Goju-ryu

 There are so many other karate sub-styles derived from the four main styles like

·         Budokan                 ·         Chito-ryu            ·         Gosoku-ryu            ·         Isshin-ryu

·            Kyokushin            ·         Shukokai             ·         Shindo jinen-ryu    ·         Shorin-ryu

·         Shuri-ryu                ·         Uechi-ryu            ·         Yoshukai                 and so on

KARATE BASIC:

Even though there are so many styles and sub-styles, the basic for all are same. The basic which includes Punches, Blocks, Kicks, Chops etc are the building blocks of  everything what you want to do. Lets discuss some of them quickly.

Punch: It is the 1st technique to learn KARATE. We use our Knuckles of our fist as a weapon. To throw a powerful punch we must make our knuckles strong. For this we have to practice with sand bag or heavy punching bag. 

Block: There is no first attack in Karate. Blocks are used to protect ourselves from any kind of attack. We use our arm, palm and legs for this. Skillfully applied Karate blocks will stop or deflect any direct attack no matter how quick or powerful it is.

Kick: 

...to be continued

Thank You So Much for your time and interest for reading my blog.

--Kunal--