Most people take karate as a curious hobby. Something they want to do and only 1% of Total 360 karate students actually make it to a black belt. For those that do they recognize something that is truly missing in today’s world of sports. Karate is a life long journey. In the beginning we want to learn the fancy kicks, how to be stronger, be the best at tournaments. These are all normal things that occur during the life span of a karate student. As you grow in karate you realize that there is an entirely different side to karate that is just as rewarding. Building karate up for the life is the discussion of this blog.
Karate is an art that can shape and transform many facets of your life if you allow it to grow and give the nourishment it needs. Once you get past the fancy moves. Learning the history of the art. In particular your chosen style of karate becomes a key point in your progress. Just like a family tree, knowing where your karate came from, who the masters were and how they made the art where it is today helps shape you as a person and where you take the art. Some move onto refinement of technique. Not all techniques need to be flashy. There are so many hidden moves within karate that if you speed time just working on one or two moves, this can take you years to master. The simplicity of hidden moves profoundly make karate grow exponentially.
You can take the patience in karate and apply it to the day to day actives. As with karate and the amount of years it took to get to a black belt, patience in life is just the same. Continue to work the patience angle in your daily life from karate.
Karate makes your body stronger in the physical application and allows you to continue to be stronger longer and healthier as you age. The mastery of karate never occurs, it’s the continued training and seeking knowledge which continues to build your karate training. Karate can change physically as you age and you add in elements of fitness and less reliance of muscle and more on the mind.
The continued building of your practice continues to keep your mind, body and heart sharp as you advance in your journey. Find the other elements in karate to deepen your journey. Hajime.