Hidden Secrets of Karate?

Before I started karate, more than 10 years ago, I had heard and was curious about these so-called "hidden secrets of karate".
 
After a couple of years of training & having learned many moves & techniques, I began to wonder and question about what these "hidden secrets" were? A gedan barai is just a gedan barai - or so I thought.
 
More than ten years after starting, I still find myself learning many new things, as an experienced and seasoned black belt you'd think I would know everything there is to know about karate, especially some of the simpler things like shuto-uke?
 
Over the next 10 years I hope to discover much more about karate as I have done over the last ten.
 
If you're a 1st kyu Brown Belt say, and you're a little stuck in a rut about whether or not you should go for your Shodan exam and whether or not there's anything much more to learn, especially now that you've been training for the last 3-4 years.....
 
......well, if you can't answer the following two questions fully, you have a lot more to learn and should spend much more time devoted to all aspects of karate.
 
1)    Which part of the Seven components of a shuto-uke is the block and which part is the strike. How many blocks are contained within One shuto-uke?
 
2)    How many components are there involved in completing what is considered the First Move in Kihon Kata or Heian Shodan?. i.e. Hidari Gedan Barai in Zenkutsu Dachi (turn Left, Down Block in Front Stance).......and of all the 900+ moves in all the 26 or so kata in the Shotokan Canon, which is the hardest move to perform? - or do you think you know how to do the move I've just mentioned above correctly??
 
I would not consider myself an expert by any regard in karate, I write this only as an small incentive to some students who think they have mastered a many techniques and are disillusioned in that karate has not lived up to it's promise of a "better way of life" and further more, it is just superficial and nothing more than "what you see is what you get" - if that's the case, you couldn't be further from the truth and you have many wonders to discover!
 
Karate is many wonderful things, but it is NOT just about kicking, punching, blocking, striking and shouting. Don't give up and do make a point of questioning your sensei if you have a problem.
 
Click here for more "so-called" secrets.....
 

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page last updated on Thursday 07 April 2011