Karate

Karate is far more than just a style of fighting. It is a way to understand oneself and the world. The word Karate can be understood in English as “empty hand.” Empty hand has two meanings within the discipline. 1) Referring to a practitioner’s ability to fight empty handed or without weapons. 2) Empty hand is interpreted as containing Japanese Zen principles. In this regard, the empty hand refers to a person holding onto nothing except the perfection of one’s self and art of the style. By being like a quiet valley where every sound can be heard a person can remove the selfishness and wickedness within themselves and become an exemplary and spiritually fulfilled individual.

In this sense karate is not a martial arts so much as it is a training path to mental, physical, and spiritual knowledge. In fact, a founder of one of the first schools of karate, Gichin Funakoshi, our founders first and main karate Sensei, thought that practitioners would have to use their training at most only once in their lives. Except for an instance where you must defend yourself or your family to avoid personal harm, all other situations should be resolved nonviolently.