January 14, 2010
Karate
It seems normal to me to at least mention and give a few details here about the martial art that I practice . As i have stated in my previous post that is Karate. The style of karate that I practice is shotokan. I’m not saying that this is the best style. We will discuss about other styles. But first. What is karate?
Well…Karate is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Island of Okinawa. this is a mix of a indigenous martial art called TE (hand) and chinese kempo. Karate is mainly a striking martial art using punches, kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, head strikes open hand strikes and some grappling technique, throwing techniques and vital point strikes . Basicaally, anything goes as long as it puts down your enemy fast.
The name Karate means Empty hand , Open hand or Chinese hand, depending on the Kanji used.
Over the years many styles of karate developed. The founder is hard to pin point. Karate derives from Chinese martial arts and has evolved with time so it’s hard to say when Karate was born. I can tell you that some Shotokan kata are thought to have their origins in chinese kung fu. For example the Tekki katas are thought to be derived from Praying Mantice style kung fu, while the katas Jion, Jitte and Ji’in are thought to have their origins in Tiger style. I know. Too bad no one kept records 
.
The styles of karate recognized by the World Union of Karate -do Organizations recognizes the following styles of karate :
-Goju-ryu
-Shito-ryu
-Shotokan-ryu
-Wado-ryu
-Shorin-ryu
-Uechi-ryu
-Kyokushinkay
-Budokan
Still, there are many more styles of karate spread out. Think of it this way. For example , the shook founder had 12 students. Some of them broke away from the organization and created their one styles to better adapt to their own vision of karate really is. And karate is : Self defense. That’s why this martial art was created. For one to defend himself.
Karate is present in pop. culture, movies , video games and so one. For example :
In video games :
Ryu from the Street Fighter series uses Kyokushin karate
Jin Kazama from Tekken uses Kyokushin
Chuck Norris, Jean Claude van Damme , Wesley Snipes and Michael Jai White are Shotokan practitioners.
Sonny Chiba, Richard Norton , Cynthia Luster are Goju-ryu practitioners.
Dolph Lundgren , Sean Connery, Glen Murphy practice Kyokushin,
Fumio Demura : Shito-ryu
Exercise
Ok…Exercise for loss gain and a healthier life. I think you’ve heard that like a gazillion times by now. But what exactly does EXERCISE mean. Well..almost anything . Walking, running, sports, gymnastics anything that gets you moving and your heart rate up. Choose one.
Let’s say : You are an average person that works from 9 to 5 standing at his computer all day. You get up in the morning, make yourself a coffee , you don’t have any breakfast because you’re not hungry, go to work, sit in front of your computer or at your office doing paperwork all day,eat at your lunch brake, get in the car (public transportation or w/e), you get home, turn on the TV, you watch a little TV,surf the net, have dinner, watch TV again and go to sleep.
I’m not the one to tell what’s good living or what’s not. But I can tell you one thing. If you want to loose weight and get in shape : THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG!!!!
Try this instead :
You get up in the morning, drink some water, make yourself a cup of coffee (the coffee part is not an advice but I know some of us will not have it any other way 
) , eat breakfast, do a couple of pushups , pullups , crunches, gymnastics or something like that, pack yourself some healthy food , go to work , after work do some exercise (gym membership, playing sports, running ,skating,roller bladeing anything) , get home, have a shower, spend some time with you’re spouse, girlfriend, children and you’ll find yourself loosing weight and feeling better about yourself in no time.
I make it my business to exercise 4 times/ week at least 2-3 hours per session. It really makes me feel good. Exercise to feel better. Study after study have shown that exercise combats depression drastically.
But anyway. What one does with his own time is his/hers own business and no one elses. I’m just going to give you a small list of exercises you can do. No big deal. You can do them after work a few times a week or several times a week. First I’m going to tell you what I have chosen as my exercise program. You can choose anything.
4 times a week I go to a local gym to practice…Karate. Actually it’s not called a GYM, it’ s called a DOJO. Karate in my opinion is good training for loosing weight and getting in shape. It is good CARDIO , good interval training, very useful and highly enjoyable. I practice Shotokan karate mixed with some Kempo and kickboxing.
The session starts with a warmup (stretching basically and some running). Then one hour we practice kata (in Japanese this means FORM) . The katas are choreographed patterns of movements and techniques which are practiced usually solo,without a partner. Then we start sparring , or Kumite, practiced with a partner (opponent). I’ll get in the details later in some other post. Well..this is what I do. But there are many other Martial Arts out there. Just find yourself a gym with an instructor that teaches martial arts. Anything works.
Something else you can do after work is JOGGING. That’s good cardio. There are plenty of places where one can jog. Be sure you do it for more than 20 minutes. Don’t slack off now.
CYCLING is also a good way to loose weight and exercise. But do it with intensity. Don’t just sit on your bike. I remember as a kid I used to go for very long bike trips. There’s nothing like mountain biking I can tell you that 
.
SKATING, ROLLER BLADEING can be a very fun activity also. SWIMMING , playing SOCCER, BASKETBALL, TENNIS ,JUMPROPE, whatever you like, just get up from your chair and do it.
To loose weight you need a good cardiovascular exercise. What cardio does is lift your heart rate up and keeps it there for sometime. You need to do cardio for at least 20 -30 minutes for it to be effective but once you get the hang of it numbers and statistics and studies on the subject count less. All that matters is HAVING FUN doing it. The minutes will fly by so quickly believe me
Oh..but..what is a good cardio exercise? All of those i mentioned above : martial arts, jogging, sports etc… Here’s a video you can watch on what is or what isn’t good cardio :
If you are wondering who the guy in the video is check out this free website on bodybuilding and fitness : SCOOBY. In my opinion this is a Non – bullshit site full with good information and advice.
