Karate

My Karate journey.

What it means to me.

I have been a practitioner of Karate for a while now and it has become my second love. Initially I began as encouragement for my children (Daniela and Matthew) to take it up. We had a door knocker come with an offer to join the local Karate club (GKR (Go-Kan-Ryu)). The kids wanted to do it but were shy and unsure, until I offered to go along as well. The kids hated it from the first class but because I had outlaid the joining fees, I insisted that they had to do it until they were 10 years old. When they got to 10, I made it 12. At 12 they quit immediately. However, some 22+ years later I am still actively engaged in it.

I just love the discipline and the challenge involved. It has improved dexterity and coordination and undoubtedly provided many health benefits to me. In my younger day I suffered from chronic back pain, but since beginning Karate this is a rarity now. It provides confidence and builds self-esteem which has carried through to my working life. Grading to black belt is a crowning achievement for me. My only wish is that I should have started Karate sooner.

The real beauty of Karate is that it can be done at whatever pace you like, although the more you put in to it the easier it becomes. This means that age is no barrier.

Our club focuses on basics with the adage that if you have good basics this will follow through to any freestyle Karate. Although Karate is considered a Martial Art, I consider it to be an art form. Although you would think that this art form would be intuitive to folks, for 99% of the population it’s not. When you start Karate, you do not get any magical or mystical power; you just use your own power more efficiently.

Best of all I have met many fine folks and lifetime friends in my Karate journey. Hopefully I can continue for many years to come.

Gordon