Eléments essentiels à la compréhension du karaté

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Karate fascinates with its exotic and mysterious character and the power that it seems to promise. Karate consists, of course, of effective fighting techniques that have been proven over decades, and which resist critical analysis. But above all, karate is thought-provoking and influences our personality and our relation to others.

In an attempt to understand this martial art, it is essential to recall some of the key concepts:

— The history of Okinawa and this small Pacific island’s relations with China and Japan helps us understand the evolution of Te towards karate and the genesis of the styles.
— Physics helps us to recognise the importance of the right gest, the advantage of kime, the role of twisting the hips or a strike perpendicular to the body’s axis.
— Anatomy reveals the secrets of the sensitive or vital points.
— Physiology allows us to optimise our training regimes so that we can hone our bodies and improve our technique.
— Finally, the need to understand ourselves leads to encounters with other people, another culture, and other belief systems such

as Shintoism, Buddhism and Zen. These remind us of universal values such as loyalty, integrity, bravery, respect, courtesy and self-control.

You will have grasped that the aim of this pages is not to describe techniques or katas, but to understand and explain the fundamental principles on which they are based.

Naturally, it is not possible to explain everything, because karate takes many forms and differs depending on the style and teacher. However, regardless of the path you follow, karate is primarily an encounter with yourself. It encourages us to reflect and improve ourselves. And, whereas it is true that karate is useful in combat, above all it helps us to tackle life.