The True Secret of Karate

In our everyday lives it seems like we can’t get what we want fast enough!  From eating or logging on to your computer, or driving… it never seems fast enough.  It seems like the red light goes on forever or the guy in front of you is just crawling along. We live in such a fast pace world that this is the norm. It’s the instant comfort, or instant success that we are all looking for and want.

When people come to the dojo for the first time to watch class, one of the questions is; how long will it take to make black belt, or to get good at karate?  So they get some what of a shock when I tell them it’s really a forever thing, a lifetime pursuit. Not really the answer they are looking for. Nothing instant here, just put in the time. So when they get frustrated because they can’t do the kicks or combos, or learn kata as fast as they would like, they drop out. They are so use to getting things fast and don’t really want to put in the time for training.  When really that is all they need. Time just doing and being in the dojo.  When really all you to do is just show up and try as hard as you can when you are there, and let time do it’s thing. Unless the body is tempered through daily training over a long period of time, strong techniques are almost impossible.

The way repetition of the basics makes them fast and strong. The repetition and  accumulation of days is what makes your karate strong. Still one of the hardest things about learning karate is the showing up  part.  “karate is easy, getting good is hard”JE

When you understand the concept on how it is a lifetime commitment and remember it’s the journey not the destination, you will stop caring about how long it takes and just do it.

So the secret of karate is time.  The daily training is what keeps the fire going.  Time is what will make your basics sharp and quick, it is what makes the grappling techniques work, and it challenges you in so many ways.  Time pushes you to grow mentally and physically, and time is what gives you a strong spirit.  No magic involved, just knowledge and time.

The recipe of karate: Train hard, repeat endless kata, practice bunkai, work for the perfection of your  techniques, never stop learning, and a lot of  time.

See you in the Dojo