| I love all martial arts, especially karate. There are | | | | discovered, they were practicing karate kata |
| many different types of martial arts and I tried | | | | (forms) and they really were in their own little |
| several, kung fu, judo, jui jitsu, tai chi and more, | | | | world! |
| but something just clicked when I attended my | | | | The karate sensei (teacher), explained to us that |
| first karate class. Now that is just me, you may | | | | kata is the soul of karatedo (the way of karate), |
| click with judo, kung fu, tai chi, etc. | | | | and karate kata is a sequence of many different |
| I remember my first karate class and the first | | | | karate moves, strung together. Starting form the |
| karate move we practiced, it was chokuzuki | | | | very basic Kihon Kata (basic form), up to the |
| (straight punch), it felt so good, from that first | | | | very advanced Unsu (cloud hands). He said the |
| martial arts class, I was hooked and 30 years | | | | very advanced karate masters perform their |
| later, I'm still hooked! | | | | kata, while practicing mushin (no mind), I cannot |
| It never was just the fighting with me. After | | | | really remember the rest, but I remember him |
| becoming addicted to the famous tv series, 'Kung | | | | quoting old karate masters. It seemed so mystical |
| Fu', with David Carradine, the martial arts moves | | | | and magical and something I wanted to explore |
| were amazing, but it was the philosophy and way | | | | more. |
| of life, that really got me hooked on the martial | | | | If you are considering starting martial arts, I |
| arts. | | | | would urge you to try a few different martial art |
| During that first karate class, we were watching | | | | styles, simply because, we are all different and |
| the brown and black belts, everyone seemed to | | | | what is enjoyable for one, is an absolute |
| be in their own little world. The brown and black | | | | nightmare for others. |
| belts were throwing karate moves everywhere, | | | | I hope something magical happens, as it did with |
| kicks, punches, strikes, spins and jumps. I later | | | | my first karate class. |