Easy Learn Basic 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.

- Getting 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.

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.

- Mastering 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 player if you held your bat the wrong way, would you? Nope. The basics are what truly make a great karateka (karate practitioner).

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:

- Mastering 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.

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.

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.