The word Karate, pronounced Ka-ra-te, is a form of fighting born out of a need to defend and protect oneself. Karate is a combination of two Japanese characters: kara, meaning empty, and te, meaning hand; thus karate means “empty hand.”
Like most martial arts, Karate has been defined as a weapon-less means of defence with a goal to teach you how to fight. Adding the suffix “-do”, meaning “way,” i.e., karate-do, implies karate as a total way of life that goes well beyond the self-defense applications taught in most martial arts schools.
The physical methods of karate teach a student how to become a more efficient and effective fighter, allowing them to better defend themselves. It develops and conditions the whole body by turning every part of it into a weapon.
Budo is the Martial Way or Path. It is a lifelong pursuit of spiritual self improvement that, amongst many things, allows us to be more aware and in control of self to effectively help others.
Karate in the hands of people, without these ideals, becomes nothing more than a effective tool to hurt people with. The aim of training then is to not only polish the skill of karate but to polish our spirit, and attitude; To shed the ego and strive towards the goal of character perfection.
© 2024 coursetakers.com All Rights Reserved. Terms and Conditions of use | Privacy Policy