Wednesday, 28 March 2018

Game Changer - Karate.

Kumite training is usually an intense practice that trains athlete’s to endure, test their mental strength in and out of the training area (Dojo). Speed, timing, focus and execution of techniques are one of the most important elements that students have to master in the art of K. The grueling tournament training trains men and women to be the best in the art. Only the strong volunteer to take part in the competition, watching Kenya prison/Kenya police in their small precision team of Kata, Kumite training, challenging karate by practicing hard and attempting to grasp its concepts.

A game changer, turning men into sharp razor “worrier” karateka’s with zeal to excel in the upcoming Kenya Open Karate tournament. The first step is forty minutes of warm up exercise just a check-up for them to prove they want to be part of the team representing them in the prestigious Kenya Open tournament. As exhaustion sets in, the demand gets harder yet forty minutes isn’t over, the class form a circle and begin to spar, no one escape the agony of muscle fatigue each athlete is expected to complete two rounds of Kumite. You got to have the Brain, Focus and a great Heart, to turn opponent’s weakness into one’s strength. The essence of mastering a technique that can deliver this stun lies in “Bushido” a union of body and mind, conditioning the two to break barriers of human achievement lie in the power of the mind, The two must connect mind and body so that the mind does not function in isolation and there can be a physical reaction in unison with the order given by the mind.  

In an often quoted passage Gichin Funakoshi (founder) described the state of the mind to which the Karate-ka should aspire. He used the image of a mirror: “As a mirror’s polished surface reflects whatever stands before it, and a quiet valley carries even small sounds, so must the student of karate renders their mind empty of selfishness and wickedness in an effort to appropriately react to anything they might encounter. This is the meaning of Kara in Karate.” 

No athlete accept to be winded in sparring as this will prove they need to work on their body conditioning,  After two hours of vigorous workout, training cames to an end. A reflection of this, will be tested in the upcoming championship.


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