Karate is many things to many people. To some people they are there for the fitness or for the sport competition side, others to learn self- defence and to others they are there to enjoy the camaraderie of training with like-minded people. However, whatever way you wish to spin it the essence of karate is and should always be the ability to understand how to fight and defend yourself effectively. But like all things in life you can’t just cherry pick who is there training often the students who have to really work at their craft make the best students.
Karate has changed over the centuries from a military/combat system Ju to a system with a more holistic people orientation. In other words the practical application of what was taught has gone from learning how to effectively kill your opponent to how to defend yourself or your loved ones. Over the centuries you can see a change in whom and what was taught. The who being fit young men being trained to go into battle, and the what were the skills to effectively achieve this, in at times a very violent society. The saying kill or be killed rank very true.
As society become more civilised and stable a more Do approach to karate can be seen. This is very evident after World War II with many people being taught and then spreading their knowledge around the world, with varying levels of success, in my opinion those styles that have kept to a more traditional training syllabus have continued the very essence of karate.
What does karate mean to me, well over 35 years that I have been training that has changed, from wanting to be able to kick and punch thus the ability to fight and defend myself to watching and teaching my students effective skills to not only fight but to make the most of themselves, to be confident, humble and willing human beings in this increasingly violent society, to have the ability to look out of the box to explore new understandings for what we all are trying to achieve which is and will always be the strength of character to know when to fight and when to walk away, and that to walk is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.
So to me what is karate, a journey of learning, as a Master once said we all start out as a rough diamond and overtime as our skill set increases we become smooth and polished, but always being open to new ideas. Different is not wrong It’s just different.
