The Great Team Spirit Qualities of Karate:
At first glance, most people would not qualify Karate as a team sport. Nothing could be further from the truth. This individualized sport and activity has great team building characteristics that go beyond the regular team sports.
Karate is trained on an individual level - every student individually learning the specific techniques taught. However, it is practiced within a group. A great deal of time is spent practicing basic techniques as a group. This is where great magic happens. The Karate instructor will not only challenge each student individually to perfect his or her technique but will also place great demands physically and mentally on the group as a whole. Many times the intensity and demand given by the instructor are so high and so challenging that an individual by him/herself would not be able to overcome. However, it is the group spirit , energy and camaraderie that has developed through persevering together through intense practice that will help the group to emerge as a strong team and overcome the demands. It is very common in military arts to push the individual so that those individuals emerge together as one unbreakable team. Karate as a military art is no different within this goal.
Many shy and introverted people find their way to Karate and enjoy practicing in a group without the need to communicate much with the other students. What is not visible at first is that training within such a group awakens team spirit within everybody. Even the most shy and introverted person will eventually open up and start voicing his or her exhaustion to the others while fighting through the great physical and mental demands. This happens automatically without any need from the instructor or the group to change the shy person into an extrovert. It happens naturally because training hard next to each other brings students together without the need of many words. Social barriers and communication anxiety are all broken down step by step as the group of students harmonizes itself by becoming a team. Once this team has been forged together through great mental and physically challenging demands great team spirit is developed and great friendships that last a life-time are formed. Shy and introverted people will automatically open up to their comrades and gain more and more confidence.
Not very well known to the public is that Karate as a sport also offers the players the opportunity to compete within a Kumite team or a Kata team.
Kumite can be described as free sparring against an opponent. The Kumite team event is a match between two teams with 3 (or 5) fighters each. Those fighters will face up against each other competing for victory for their team.
Competing in a Kata Team is where team spirit and team qualities are polished and refined to the maximum. A Kata Team consists of 3 students demonstrating a Karate form, called Kata with precise synchronicity. This is extremely difficult and requires much time to master. Katas are not only executed in different rhythms with fast and slow passages but also power and strength must be displayed with synchronicity. The 3 athletes must move as one, and at the highest level the team even synchronizes its breathing and spiritual energy.
At a second look Karate is indeed a very special team sport with a much greater goal than just playing together. It is a unique sport that requires the individual to harmonize their breathing, physical and mental focus with their teammates to accomplish their goal.
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Located in Natomas Sacramento California. We are Sacramento’s premier and best Karate and martial arts training facility for kids, children and adults. We teach traditional shotokan karate and self-defense in Sacramento. Our Karate school has affiliations with the Japan Karate Association (JKA) as well as ties to the ISKF (International Shotokan Karate Federation). We get you in shape and your child bully proofed. Shotokan Karate has a long history but has proven itself in the 21st century. Shotokan is the Karate style that made Lyoto Machida a MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) champion. Karate training is the perfect full body workout and that’s why we hope to see you soon at our Karate Dojo. We also offer private lessons, personal training, boot camps as well as athletic performance coaching. The high level of instructions and personal attention to every student sets our Karate school apart from all other martial arts places in the area.
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