gamesecosse

More about Karate

That previous marathon post started me thinking and I feel compelled to reiterate that last paragraph. It really became a rant. I've turned into yet another angry blogger...!
I would like to say to any young person thinking about starting karate, beware of egotistical old men at your chosen club. They are not as good as they believe they are.
There is a rare breed however; grand masters who have devoted their entire lives to karate, and descend directly from the Funakoshi or Harada lineage. These are not the people who I am referring to in this blog and I have the utmost respect for them. Although they do happen to be the people who the egotistical old men model themselves on.
After changing karate clubs, my training took a far more gritty, streetwise, and athletic theme, steering away from intense technical & philosophical workouts, although this was still present. With this change came new ideas and indeed different types of individuals to train with.
It is commonly known that the strength of Shotokai is in it's diversity, and this new club prompted me to start practicing 'my' Shotokai rather than the sensei's. I am after all, far taller and heavier than average, and can use this to my advantage.
Having said this, I, along with almost every other karateka in my style, must remember 'soft' karate. Only after years of training, I realised that my size and power can be combined with relaxation rather than brute force to achieve great results.
All of the above is fair enough, but it does not hide the fact that in it's element, karate is, believe it or not, an athletic activity. You actually need to be fit. Why do people not understand this!?
The brainwashed old men of above feel that they can start karate in their sixties, train for 5-10 years and then think of themselves as 70 year old grand masters. You would not take up football in your sixties and then expect to be able to keep up with the University under 19s squad! Why do you think karate is different!?
As you have probably deduced by now, the point is that this is very different from being a genuine 'soft karate' grand master, so to speak. They can perform amazing feats in their seventies, but not without 50+ years of blood, sweat and tears. Exactly how I train presently.
It sickens me to see these ridiculous men cruising up the grades, getting praised, etc when they can't even complete the warm up. Some believe they could defend themselves against a thug 50 years younger & faster. I would honestly hate to think what would happen...
I'm aware this post has not promoted the idea of older generations taking up new hobbies, or even sports and events for disabled individuals. For this I apologise, but there are separate competitions for disabled people within most sports. This is superb. Once again though, people seem to see karate differently...

posted by qmchaz64 @ 4:11 pm