Health & Fitness
Physical Fitness and Stamina thru Karate
Karate is a great way to improve physical fitness and stamina. Its many payoffs include a lot of health improvement. This article from Health Fitness Revolution mentions 10 martial arts health benefits. Half of their 10 benefits relate to physical fitness and stamina. Those are: total body workout, improved cardiovascular health, weight loss, improved reflexes and muscle tone. At…
Read MoreBuilding Awareness of Surroundings
The physical training of karate has many benefits. Awareness of surroundings is important for self defense. That is the ability to move around and among people and objects. And for martial artists that includes doing techniques in crowded or unusual places. AWARENESS OF SURROUNDINGS AND PEOPLE A basic level of awareness of surroundings and people…
Read MoreSpatial Awareness in Karate
Karate and other martial arts help the practitioner improve many physical skills. Martial artists improve their awareness of how their body moves in relation to objects and other people. Their own body motions become more smooth and fluid. In addition, our style of Ryukyu Kempo helps students learn more about natural body motion. They apply…
Read MoreTraditions for a Dojo New Year
The New Year in Japan is a time of renewal and celebration, just like in other countries. At our dojo, we enjoy special traditions for entering a dojo new year together. Our traditions come from Japanese culture and martial arts. LAST CLASS BEFORE A DOJO NEW YEAR One way that we celebrate a dojo new…
Read MoreKarate Builds Self Defense Abilities
All traditional Okinawan karate builds self defense abilities in many ways. Karate in the way we train at our dojo teaches a high level of self defense. With skill, that expands into life protection. Meaning you can protect others as well as your self. We teach those skills in both adults’ classes and kids’ classes.…
Read MoreTraditional Martial Arts vs. Sport Karate
Originally, and I mean way back, traditional martial arts took their place as the only fighting art. Their usefulness had to do with protecting one’s self, family and community. The martial arts evolved into art forms for people to learn a tradition of life protection while improving their lives. More recently, some martial arts branched…
Read MoreThe Okinawan Sweet Potato
The Okinawan sweet potato was one of the few things that I missed out on when we visited Okinawa. There, purple sweet potatoes are a part of the culture in the cooler months of autumn and winter. Small trucks with ovens on the back go around selling fresh roasted sweet potatoes. I hear they are…
Read MoreKids’ Karate Builds Physical Skills Part 2
Welcome to Part 2, my second blog about how kids’ karate builds physical skills. You can read Part 1 here. Karate kids learn and apply practical physical abilities. Children who don’t take martial arts will be hard-pressed to learn the karate-specific benefits like those gained in our kids’ karate programs. These skills help them in…
Read MoreKids’ Karate Builds Physical Skills Part 1
Welcome to Part 1 of my pair of short blogs about the physical skills learned in karate. We will specifically focus on those skills as they affect children. Martial arts training is a fun way for kids to successfully practice and develop physical skills. In addition to the regular developmentally appropriate skills that children learn,…
Read MoreGreat Dojo Mystery Musings
In my nearly 20 years of dojo involvement, I have seen some strange things. The ones that have continued, been reinforced or grown over the years are each a dojo mystery. They are just strange little things that make me wonder. THE SPARRING GLOVE MYSTERY Why do we have seven extra right hand sparring gloves…
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