Karate is an unarmed form of combat that originated in Asia and uses hands and feet to deliver strikes against an opponent. While this may sound violent, it is more of a sport and it has gained tremendous popularity in North America for adults and youth alike. If you are looking for an extracurricular activity, karate may be just the thing you need. Below are reasons why joining a karate class should be considered.
1. Fitness
If you want to pursue an activity that is fun and allows you to improve or maintain your level of fitness, then taking karate classes is definitely for you. Classes usually consist of warm-ups, practicing moves, and sparring with a partner.
Moves typically consist of punches, kicks, and takedowns and all of these allow for a full-body workout that builds muscles and improves cardiovascular systems. Results received from karate classes for adults and youth are very noticeable, allowing for figures to be more toned and physically fit which is important at a time when obesity is at an all-time high.
2. Self-confidence
Self-confidence is an important trait to have because without it, you will always be expecting to fail and this will more often than not lead to failure. Learning karate will give you the opportunity to become more confident and self-assured and these abilities are definitely transferrable to other areas in life.
Karate consists of a merit-based belt system with white being the lowest and black being the highest level achievable. These belts represent the hard-work and progress that you put into the karate classes and progression through this system is measureable and will do wonders for your self-esteem.
3. Discipline
As you progress through the levels of karate classes, it may be easy to become arrogant about your combat abilities. However, some portions of the classes address how to be disciplined despite this and teaches to maintain a degree of self-control. Karate takes a significant amount of practice as you learn to perfect different moves and improve your power and stamina. As a result, you need to have focus and the drive to work on your abilities even outside of scheduled classes.
A lack of self-discipline will be evident when you demonstrate your abilities in class and this is usually enough to drive participants to hone their skills. In a world full of distractions it is difficult to concentrate on the task at hand sometimes. The occasional stillness and silence required to be successful in karate will allow for the development of mental focus and the ability to see an action through.
4. Self-defense
While it is common to think that you will never have to use your combat abilities learned in karate class in real-life situations, the reality is incidents happen and you being victimized is not outside the realm of possibility. People obviously do not intent to use karate skills in their everyday lives, but this is often the number one reason why people register for classes.
Not only will karate teach you moves effective in defending yourself, classes will challenge you to anticipate potential dangers and think about the best possible course of action. Sparring portions of karate classes give participants the opportunity to experience different situations that could present themselves in real life but in a non-life threatening atmosphere, allowing you to determine what may work and what may not in the given situation.
Karate classes do mostly focus on proper techniques based on the ancient art-form, however some organizations also teach methods more applicable for the street. This will allow you to adapt your technique with the end goal of avoiding a potentially harmful situation when out in the community.