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KARATE

Karate (Japanese, “empty hand”), martial art of unarmed self-defense in which directed or focused blows of the hands and feet, accompanied by special breathing and shouts, are dealt from poised positions. More than a method of combat, karate emphasizes self-discipline, positive attitude, and high moral purpose. It is taught professionally at different levels, and under different Asian names, as a self-defense skill, a competitive sport, and a free-style exercise.

Karate students, dressed in the traditional garment, called gi, practice sparring. Besides being a method of self-defense, karate is also a form of exercise, a competitive sport, and a mental discipline.

The art of karate is more than 1000 years old and originated in eastern Asia, first as monastic training and later as a defense method used by Chinese peasants against armed bandits. During the 17th century it became highly developed as an art on the island of Okinawa, Japan. In 1922 karate was introduced to the Japanese public by an Okinawan, Funakoshi Gichin, and the art is today chiefly associated with Japan. It was introduced into the U.S. after World War II. Many types, including Korean (tae kwon do) and Chinese styles, are taught in the U.S.

Karate is related to judo and jujutsu, but stresses techniques for striking, with lethal kicks and punches, rather than wrestling or throwing an opponent. The three elements of speed, strength, and technique are vital to karate expertise. Constant alertness and a keen sense of timing and surprise are also requisites.

Great attention is given to knowing the most vulnerable points of the human body, which may be attacked by the hands, elbows, knees, or feet. These areas include the face, neck, solar plexus, spinal column, groin, and kidneys. In ordinary karate competitions or exhibitions, only the area of the body above the waist is allowed as a target, and all blows are to be pulled.

The karate trainee toughens hands and feet by driving them into containers of sand, rice, or gravel and by striking sandbags and special punching boards. Constant exercises are important for limbering up and for strengthening the muscles of the body. Deep-breathing exercises are also useful because exhalation and sudden shouts accompany the directed blows, particularly the final or so-called killing blows. Such breathing and cries help the rhythm of the karate attack, focus more force in each blow or block, and psychologically invigorate a person while disconcerting the opponent.

The language of karate is chiefly Japanese. A karate training hall or gym is called a dojo, and the white, pajamalike garment worn in all training is called the gi. More than 200 specific Japanese terms are used for the various blows and moves that are employed in formal exercises called kata.

Degrees of achievement are formally recognized in karate training, each represented by a cloth belt of a particular color worn around the gi, the usual colors being, in ascending order, white, green, purple, brown, and black. Qualifications for belts differ from school to school, depending upon the style and standard of karate taught. The black belt, or dan, signifies the highest proficiency in karate and, like the other belts, is itself qualified by degrees of honor or skill, the highest dan being the ninth or tenth degree.

1. Answer the following questions:

1. What is it “karate”?

2. What does karate emphasize?

3. When and where did karate appear at first?

4. What country is the art “karate” associated with?

5. Does karate stress techniques for striking rather than wrestling and throwing an opponent?

6. In karate what points is great attention given to?

7. How does the karate trainee toughen hands and feet?

8. Why are deep-breathing exercises very useful in karate?

9. What is the language of karate?

10. How can you recognize the degree of achievement in karate?

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 1015