Monday, May 4, 2015

What It Takes To Master Karate

By Stella Gay


Fighting without weapons started sometimes back in different cultures. Karate falls under unarmed martial art. It comprises of open hand techniques like knife-hands, spear-hands, and palm-hand, and and strikes like knee strikes, punching, elbow strikes, and kicking. Hybrid techniques like joint locks, grappling, vital point strikes, throws, and restraints have been accepted into the first original tactics. A student is known as a karateka.

Creativity, self-discipline, and hard training are required for a karateka to master the various techniques. Research shows that most individuals undertake training in this martial art for self-defense because it improves their fighting skills. It is good to understand that moves depicted by mass media are highly exaggerated. Most moves captured in movies are computer generated so viewers should beware of this. Such deadly moves should never be attempted for safety reasons.

This type of unarmed combat system can be practiced by every individual regardless of gender, age or fitness level. Most countries have numerous training centers where services can be obtained. Interested individuals may enter these facilities as private students or teams. A private student learns and develops at their own pace as they get assigned an instructor to train them. This martial art may boost confidence, focus, character, and inner security of trainees.

Training is broken down into sparring, forms, and basics or fundamentals. Different styles attach varying importance to the basics. Katas or forms refer to a series of maneuvers depicting a wide range of defensive postures and offensive stances. Stances are found on idealized combat application. During coaching instructors demonstrate how each tactic is applied while repelling an opponent.

Every kata is understood best when learned through demonstration. Every level has its unique required katas that a karateka must show competence in during demonstration performance in order to attain a formal rank. Schools have varied requirements for examinations, though most of them use Japanese terminologies for ranks or grades. Some type of ranking systems begin with larger numbers and progress to smaller numbers while some use colored belts to mark ranks.

Kumite also known as sparring is practiced as self-defense training or a sport. Contact levels when sparring differs a lot. There are many types of full contact, semi contact or light contact version. Structured sparring involves performance of choreographed sequence of tactics by two participants, one strikes whereas the other blocks.

Free sparring is carried out in enclosed areas and people taking part in it are free to use only permitted techniques. Permitted techniques and level of contact can be predetermined by style organization policies or sport, but may be changed as per rank, sex, and age of participants. Under light or semi contact kumite contestants are rewarded as per sporting attitude, correct distance, good timing, good form, and awareness amongst other considerations.

To conclude, people who train for competitions can enter tournaments as a term or individual. Evaluation of skills is done by panels of judges or head referees with assistant referees. Fixtures are made basing on experience, gender, age, and weight. Tournaments can be for participants of specific style or open to martial artists with any style but confined to certain rules.




About the Author:



0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home