Karate-Do - "Way of the Empty Hand" (English)
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- Geschrieben von Elena Niersberger
Karate or better: karate-do, “the way of the empty hand”, is an art of self-defence in which the arms and legs are systematically trained and an enemy attacking can be controlled by a demonstration of strength like that of using actual weapons.
Karate-do comes from Japan, “the land of the rising sun”, but today it´s a worldwide martial art with millions followers. Children, adults and even seniors can exercise it.
The essence of karate techniques is “kime”. The meaning of kime is an explosive attack the target using the best technique and maximum power and the shortest time possible. Long ago, there was the expression “ikken hissatsu”, meaning “to kill with one blow”.
But to assume from this that killing is the objectice is incorrect! Deciding who is the winner and who is the loser is not the ultimative objective. Karate-do is a martial art for the development of character through training. So karate-do is not only practiced as a fighting technique.
And Karate-do is exercise through which the karateka (follower of karate-do) masters all body movements, such as striking, kicking, jumping, balancing and so on.
Becoming a true karateka is possible only when one attains perfection in these two aspects, the one is spiritual, the other physical.
In sports karate, contests are held for the purpose of determining the ability of the participants. The techniques of karate-do are well controlled according to the karateka´s will power. To become a victor, one must first overcome his own self. All the great masters of karate-do pointed out that karate-do begins and ends with the bow of respect.
In competitions there are two disciplines: “Kumite” and “kata”. “Kumite” is an single combat, “Kata” are predetermined series of blocking, evading and countering techniques against single or multiple attackers. The assessment is possibly like with the art gymnastics. Both disciplines also take place in the team.