Every Karate-ka (Karate practitioner), is looking for ways to become good at Karate by taking the shortest path to proficiency possible. Regardless of whether your thing is Kata, sparring competitions, or self-defense, there are many things involved in becoming a great Karate-ka in general. First, it requires a lot of work and dedication. Your body and brain both need a certain time to absorb all the techniques…10,000 hours it is said!
That’s right, regardless of how often, and how hard you practice, TIME is one of the most important component to become a great Karate-ka. Now practicing for 10,000 hours is a very long time. From the start, you should make sure you don’t learn too many things too fast, accumulating errors that eventually will prevent you from moving further up later on. The main thing that I have seen being neglected over and over is Basics / Kihon!
Beginner / white belts practising basics
Based on my observation over the years, it seems that the longer and harder one works on Kihon / basic exercises at the very start, the better the chances of reaching a high level in Karate in general. Ideally, the average person would need to be doing this for about 3 years, at a couple of classes a week. This is a big sacrifice to make while watching everyone else practising more interesting things. Also each person has their own boredom threshold!
The number 3 was not just picked at random. I personally went through 3 years of basics before I start learning any Kata! And funny enough, it was not even from my own choice. I was just lucky to start in a Dojo where they have this rule, but as rough as it sounds, a good group of buddies all learning together did the trick. It’s only many years down the road that I started realizing the positive impact that this had on my Karate.
The one thing to remember is that it is very hard to go back to practising basics once you have been practising many Katas and done many more interesting things. This is why the best approach is to do the core work at the beginning, as it should be.
To all new Karate-ka, beware! You have a choice to make, and that choice will greatly influence where your Karate is going to be 10 years down the road..
Do you only see Karate as a hobby / fun social / exercise activity, or are you serious about it, and also seeking solid knowledge with constant improvement?
Decision time!
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