Fitness and cardio
Karate is one of the most beneficial exercises for overall fitness and cardio. As a master personal trainer, the use of bodyweight exercises is one of the best ways to build necessary muscles to sustain your body's muscular needs. These exercises are designed to be basic. They teach you how to squat, use your core and chest muscles to get off the ground.
As we age, our body forgets how to do simple things, and it is the continued exercise that serves as a reminder. Bodyweight exercises keep our minds fresh. These exercises can be done in a space no bigger than an eight by eight room. The excuses go out the window when all you need is 8 by 8 and your body to do these exercises. You will find from working your fitness level in karate that your weight training gets better, you are stronger, you are faster because the body is prepared for motion. Come see what it is like to train your body for motion.
Karate is meant to be done at a very high intensity. What does that mean?
Karate is meant to be practiced the way you would use it. There is no halfway in karate. They are no half blocks or half punches. There were days that I would be in class, and from just the punches or blocks, I would be sweating to the point of exhaustion. It is not uncommon in karate for classes to go three hours, and students can not stand anymore. While these classes do have a point, our classes will push you to your limit and help you go past it. Imagine doing 1000 kicks before we can move onto kata work. You must challenge yourself. We all have that moment during class, where I don't know if I can do another movement. Take that moment, and live in it.
The system was designed by Okinawans as a way to protect themselves from both imperial rule, and attack from another village. Karate is designed to stop the attack as striking art. With this in mind, every punch should be as hard as it can be. The uniform should snap, the gi pants should snap, the kiai’s should scare people in another room. This representation is a part of the art. Like anything that is being learned the technique is vitally important.
Once you have learned something works, then apply intensity. Intensity could indeed be different for each person. The art will take you past what you think you can do and show you a whole new side. If karate is done correctly, it is one of the highest calorie-burning exercises per exercise and time. With that said practices, will get your heart rate up. The class will make you breathe heavy and make you sweat. It will be the people next to you that keep you going. It will be your drive that helps you when it is hard. The challenge now is how to make this a steady-state aerobic class. Karate will strengthen your cardio and endurance and takes you right to the edge of a proper cardio workout. With that in mind, come to take a ride and push yourself to new limits.
MAR