I love all martial arts, especially karate. There are many different types of martial arts and I tried several, kung fu, judo, jui jitsu, tai chi and more, but something just clicked when I attended my first karate class. Now that is just me, you may click with judo, kung fu, tai chi, etc.
I remember my first karate class and the first karate move we practiced, it was chokuzuki (straight punch), it felt so good, from that first martial arts class, I was hooked and 30 years later, I’m still hooked!
It never was just the fighting with me. After becoming addicted to the famous tv series, ‘Kung Fu’, with David Carradine, the martial arts moves were amazing, but it was the philosophy and way of life, that really got me hooked on the martial arts.
During that first karate class, we were watching the brown and black belts, everyone seemed to be in their own little world. The brown and black belts were throwing karate moves everywhere, kicks, punches, strikes, spins and jumps. I later discovered, they were practicing karate kata (forms) and they really were in their own little world!
The karate sensei (teacher), explained to us that kata is the soul of karatedo (the way of karate), and karate kata is a sequence of many different karate moves, strung together. Starting form the very basic Kihon Kata (basic form), up to the very advanced Unsu (cloud hands). He said the very advanced karate masters perform their kata, while practicing mushin (no mind), I cannot really remember the rest, but I remember him quoting old karate masters. It seemed so mystical and magical and something I wanted to explore more.
If you are considering starting martial arts, I would urge you to try a few different martial art styles, simply because, we are all different and what is enjoyable for one, is an absolute nightmare for others.
I hope something magical happens, as it did with my first karate class.
