How to Teach Yourself the Basics of Karate

The philosophy behind karate is vast and complex. It stems from thousands of years of armed and unarmed combat. Techniques that were perfected hundreds of years ago are still being perfected over and over again by each new generation. Buddhism, Taoism, and the code of Bushido have all played parts in the development of the martial arts philosophy. Karate in its modern form was established around 400 years ago in Japan, with its roots mainly derived from Chinese Kung Fu. See Step 1 below to start teaching yourself the basics of this art form.

EditSteps

EditGetting in the Zone

Meditate. (5+ minutes) Clear your mind of all thoughts; concentrate on breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth; steady deep breaths and a clear mind will prepare you to learn Karate. There is no time limit, but meditating for at least 5 minutes should clear your thoughts enough to allow you to concentrate. And yes, meditating can definitely enhance your fighting skills!^[1]
- Forget school. Forget work. Forget family, problems, everything -- visualize them evaporating before your eyes. Once everything is gone, you should see an empty room, and in the center of the empty room, a ball of flame begins growing from the emptiness. This flame of firing strength and energy should represent anything you hope to achieve by training yourself in Karate. By the time you are done with your meditation, the room should be entirely engulfed by nothing but the flame.
Warm up. (10 minutes) Start off by running in place or around the block for about 5 minutes; plus about 5 minutes (or 20 reps each) of push-ups, sit-ups (or crunches), leg lifts, and reverse push-ups.
- Warming up is vital to your muscles' ability to do work. If you don't get them loose and ready before you start your training and stretching, then they will go on strike against you and even basic moves will be tough to execute properly.
Stretch. (15 minutes) Stretching all major muscle groups first is essential for a loose and limber body; get a book on stretching if you do not already know what stretching exercises to do. In Karate, stretching the legs is crucial to keep yourself injury-free.
- Stretching comes after warming up. When your muscles have heated up, that's when they'll be most receptive to stretching -- when stretching will be the safest and most effective.
Understand the philosophy behind karate. To the untrained observer, karate may look like its about showy displays of violence. In fact, it's the polar opposite. Karate is about peace and, what's more, peace of mind. In life conflict is unavoidable. When this happens, it should be handled swiftly and with power. The result is a natural confidence that has an air of humility.
- This is an art form that involves the mind and spirit as much as the body. All three must develop simultaneously for the practitioner to truly master this sport. While the body must remember how to move, the mind, in turn, must remember how to be still.
- All of the martial arts begin and end with courtesy. There is very little that is selfish about karate. It is believed that in your devotion there is reward.

EditMastering Stances, Balance, and Power

Get the basic stances down. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you wanna get to the fun stuff. Unfortunately, your kicks, strikes, and blocks will not be effective if you don't have your stance right. You wouldn't expect to be a great baseball if you held your bat the wrong way, would you? Nope. The basics are what truly make a great karateka (karate practitioner).
- There are different types of Karate. You'll find different stances are traditional depending on which type you're practicing. Most types of karate have some variation of the following three stances:^[2]
  - The natural, or walking stance (shizentai-dachi) is when your front foot is pointing forward, back foot is out at a 45-degree angle pointing behind you. Your feet are apart at a natural, or walking, width.
  - The front stance (zenkutsu-dachi) is^[2] like the natural stance, but your feet are further apart and your weight is mostly on your front leg.
  - Cat stance, or back stance (nekoashi-dachi). Your foot positioning is like the walking stance, but your weight is mostly on your back leg. Your front heel, if you so choose, may be raised.
Start with the ready stance. The stances above are fighting stances. However, at the beginning of any spar, you'll need to begin with the ready stance. You have three basic options:
- The ready stance in the Fukyugata series has the heels together and toes pointing outward at a 60-degree angle.
- The ready stance in the Pinan series has the feet at shoulder width, toes pointing outward at a 45-degree angle.
- The ready stance in the Naihanchi series has the feet directly together and parallel.
Be aware of your balance. Karate isn't exactly something drunk people would be good at, and for good reason -- it takes an immense ability to balance. That's part of the reason the stances are so important! They center your body, allowing you to be fluid while simultaneously strong. But that strength you feel in your stance can't disappear when you start kicking!
- Always think about your center gravity. If you spread your feet, you lower it, proving yourself stability and more bang for your attack. But if you lower it too much, you lose mobility and speed. When it comes to balance, there is a happy medium you need to find.
- While having balance is important, when you start having to defend yourself, you'll need to be able to shift that balance quite quickly as well. If you're in one stance too long, your opponent can easily attack you! Because of this, transitions between stances are important too.
Concentrate on your power and speed. There are plenty of people (read: gym rats) who lift hundreds and hundreds of pounds but yet would not excel at karate. It is not about muscle -- it's about power and speed.
- The two are highly connected. A longer route to your target will help you develop more speed and thus power. If you use your entire body, you will have more power behind your attack, and necessarily employ more speed. However, think of karate not as being able to move a large object, but being able to move a small object quickly and with detailed precision.

EditMastering the Moves

Work on your punching and blocking. (15 minutes) There are a few essential punches you will need to learn to attack effectively. The straight punch, upper-cut, knife-hand, spear-hand, elbow strike, and backfist, namely. Practice them in order and alternate hands.
- Blocking is just as important! Practice blocking as though these were the punches you were being attacked with. Experiment with combinations and counter attacks. Defend, attack, defend, attack...etc.
- For the record, your first two knuckles are the strongest knuckles on your hand. They can be lined up with your forearm bones (radius and ulna) to increase strength. The most common mistakes are when people have a crooked fist, punch too high or punch with their shoulder.
Practice kicking. (15 minutes) Ten repetitions of any kick will suffice in strengthening your legs. Focus beyond the target for maximum power, but practice the flow of motion to gain graceful fluidity in your movements; like a swan; power will follow.
- There are five basic karate kicks:^[3]
- The front snap kick. Basically, think of your foot swinging out in front of you like you're snapping a towel. In natural stance, you draw up your back foot, bend at the knee, and snap (hence the name) your leg out in front of you and draw it immediately back to where it was.
- The side snap kick. The same as the front snap kick...only to the side.
- The side trust kick. Lift your kicking foot to your opposite knee, kick, and roll your hip forward. In the snap kicks, your torso stays upright. In trust kicks, your torso falls more in line with your kicking leg, coming down to power your kicking leg upward.
  - The guy in the gif above is doing a trust kick. See how his torso comes down?
- The back trust kick. Like the side trust kick, but you're looking behind you and kicking in the same direction as you're looking.
- The round kick. In cat stance, pull your kicking leg up toward the same elbow. Swing your hips forward and pivot, creating the "round" in the round kick. Then snap it back as quickly as possible.
Start sparring. (15+ minutes) Find someone to practice with, and use all of your techniques to fight them for 15 to 30 minutes. Sparring will help you increase your stamina and ability to throw combinations and defend yourself against multiple attacks or multiple attackers, once you've mastered certain blocking and attacking techniques.
Practice all kata (literally, "practice form") over and over. Focus on one kata in particular for that session. Once you have it, you can move on. It's important to focus on lower level kata as well as higher level to refine and improve.
- Be sure to revisit it once you do have it! After you master several, piece them together and work on increasingly difficult combinations as the days progress.

EditVideo

EditTips

When stretching, stretch everything; even your neck, back, stomach, arms and hands... concentrate especially on your largest muscles - the legs.
When attacking - look for your opponent's weaknesses and strengths. Give your opponent a false sense of security by faking an attack they will use their momentum to block, then attack them using your own power and cunning to lay your opponent out for the count.
When punching, stay relaxed until just before you hit your target. Bruce Lee says, "Relaxation is essential for faster and more powerful punching. Let your lead punch shoot out loosely and easily; do not tighten up or clench your fist until the moment of impact. All punches should end with a snap several inches behind the target. Thus, you punch through the opponent instead of at him."
Do not try the difficult level at first. Always start with easy introduction. First be thorough with the basics then start practicing the difficult ones.
When fighting/sparring, maintain eye contact with your opponent at all times.
Practice everything you know so much that when a real fight comes you don't have to think, just do. Use a training dummy after every warm up to fight with...
Be confident when sparring. During training with someone, focus on punching and kicking.
Never under-estimate, or over-estimate an opponent. The more you're sure you can defeat/be defeated by them, the less/more likely that outcome will occur.
When kicking: straight kicks may use the ball of the foot or the heel, keep your toes back or they might be damaged; side kicks always use the blade of your foot or the heel; ax kicks always strike with the heel (but this is an uncommon kick for most); round-house kicks may strike with the shin, top or ball of the foot. Round kicks with the shin may be particularly effective.
Know that it takes hard work, and that you will not become a 'karate master' overnight.
Always stay calm and peaceful in a fight, respect your opponent, and never underestimate them, for they can defeat you much easier if you do so.
You may want to try meditating at the beginning of the workout. This way your mind will be clear and ready to workout without getting your body warmed up and then have it cool down while you sit motionless meditating.
Make sure you have good and strong control over your lower body.
Remember karate is about peace not violence. It may seem like violence but it's mostly about defense!
Be sure to replace any of your worn or damaged martial arts sparring gear. Your safety should come first in all of your karate studies.
Attack your opponent on his weak part many times so he will get tired and its easy to beat him.
When sparring: when attacked - 1. Strike them before they strike you; this may negate or impair their attack, cause them damage and expend a minimum of your energy. 2. If this is not possible, move, change the distance and/or move off the line of attack ready for a counter-attack. 3. Block. Blocking need not occur with the hands and it is very unwise to block medium to low kicks with the hands. this leaves the head unguarded and vulnerable. Blocking kicks with the hands (especially open hands is not smart unless you are an expert). The best defense is not being where you can be hit.
Take pride in your appearance! Be sure to keep a fresh supply of karate uniforms on hand.
If you are interested in martial arts, go and train!
Start a gymnastics club so you will know how to do cool flips to add into your karate moves!

EditWarnings

When blocking a kick or punch from a sparring opponent, always remember to clench your fist tightly or you may break your own hand on their kick.
Remember your sparring partner is real, not a punching bag. Safety gear is advised and always be careful.
Always stretch, and stretch everything. Pulling a muscle or snapping a tendon is excruciatingly painful!

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EditSources and Citations

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