Fighting is a skill that everyone should have but endeavour never to use
Absolutely not! Karate is for people of any age, not just children. Every week I teach karate to many adults wanting to learn self-defence skills, get fit and stay fit without the tedium of going to the gym, build confidence … Continued
So what’s with all the different coloured belts? This concept was introduced to karate around 1935. The idea was taken from judo and originates back to 1883. Before then, karateka either had a black or white belt. The coloured belt system is a good … Continued
When karate came to Europe from Japan, it was very much a martial art for young men. Kumite among students was often full contact and with just thinly padded gloves designed to protect the knuckles, not your opponent’s face. The … Continued
Karate training is a combination of both a cardiovascular and strength workout. Nutritionally, you need the right amount of good carbohydrates, proteins and fats for progression. But how much food and when? Well there’s no one size fits all answer … Continued
Regular practice is essential to progress through the belts. For home practice, there are some (limited) online video tutorials at https://loughtonkarateclub.co.uk/tutorials/. Alternatively, these are the YouTube links for the katas in our syllabus: Orange Belt, Pinan Nidan – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjEHXPd3I2I Green Belt, Pinan Sandan – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0cVH1JYwIw Blue … Continued
The newspapers are full of horrifying stories recently concerning violent street attacks. If it isn’t bad enough that terrorist attacks in cities are more frequent, now the latest trend seems to be acid and moped attacks. But why is this … Continued
Karate is an ancient form of combat developed in Japan with underlying principles of self discovery and self-improvement. The ultimate aim of karate training was to aspire to live by a set of core beliefs and values including courage, loyalty, … Continued
This weekend, The Times newspaper wrote an article ‘Jihadist attacks prompt rush to learn self-defence’. Several martial arts instructors who run self-defence courses commented that they get more enquiries after acts of terrorism especially when the terrorists use knives and … Continued
Karate is fairly unique in that we need good cardiovascular fitness, strength and flexibility for our training sessions. As a result of the demands we place on our body, especially high kicking, we often experience muscle soreness. Some karateka like to … Continued
1. You only train for competitions/sport karate. 2. You never practice elbows or low kicks. 3. Weapons training involves lots of twirling. 4. You have lots of medals and trophies, some just for turning up. 5. You’re awarded a black belt … Continued