Karate

"True karate is this: that in daily life one's mind and body be trained and developed in a spirit of humility, and that in critical times, one be devoted utterly to the cause of justice."
--Gichin Funakoshi

Karate can also be described as a martial art, or fighting method, involving a variety of techniques, including blocks, strikes, evasions, throws, and joint manipulations. Karate practice is divided into three aspects: kihon (basics), kata (forms), and kumite (sparring).

The word karate is a combination of two Japanese characters: kara, meaning empty, and te, meaning hand; thus, karate means "empty hand." Adding the suffix "-do" (pronounced "doe"), meaning "way," i.e., karate-do, implies karate as a total way of life that goes well beyond the self-defense applications. In traditional karate-do, we always keep in mind that the true opponent is oneself.

Shotokan founder Gichin Funakoshi has said that "mind and technique become one in true karate." We strive to make our physical techniques pure expressions of our mind's intention, and to improve our mind's focus by understanding the essence of the physical techniques. By polishing our karate practice we are polishing our own spirit or our own mentality. For example, eliminating weak and indecisive movements in our karate helps to eliminate weakness and indecision in our minds--and vice versa.

It is in this sense that karate becomes a way of life, as we try to become very strong but happy and peaceful people. As Tsutomu Ohshima, chief instructor or shihan of Shotokan Karate of America, has put it, "We must be strong enough to express our true minds to any opponent, anytime, in any circumstance. We must be calm enough to express ourselves humbly."

One of the unique features of karate training in SKA is what we call Special Training--a series of intensive practices during which we try our best to "face ourselves" and polish our mentality or spirit.

The following is a generic list of the belt test requirements of the UH-Shotokan Karate Club. Some variations are possible at the actual time of testing.


Yellow Belt (8th Kyu)

Kata	Sparring (Kumite)	Techniques (Kihon)	Stance, Hips Rotation
Heian Shodan	Three Steps of each attack	Stepping forward and backward	0 deg facing front=North; 90 deg facing East or West
Heian Nidan	Attack	Punch face, stomach	Front stance, hips 0 deg
	1. Punch face	Rising block / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg
	2. Punch stomach	Outside block / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg
	3. Front snap kick stomach	Inside block / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg
	Defense	Low level block / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg
	1. Rising block / reverse punch	Knife hand block	Back stance, hips 90 deg
	2. Outside block / reverse punch	Front snap kick stomach	Front stance, hips 0 deg
	3. Low level block / reverse punch	Side thrust kick stomach	Side stance, hips 90 deg

Green Belt (6th Kyu)

Kata	Sparring (Kumite)	Techniques (Kihon)	Stance, Hips Rotation
Heian Sandan	Three Steps of each attack	Stepping forward and backward	0 deg facing front=North; 90 deg facing East or West
Heian Yondan	Attack	Triple punch (face 1st, stomach 2nd and 3rd)	Front stance, hips 0 deg
	1. Punch face	Backfist / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 0 deg
	2. Punch stomach	Rising block / front leg front kick	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg
	3. Front snap kick stomach	Outside block / elbow strike	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 45 deg
	4. Side thrust kick stomach	Knife hand block / spear hand	Back stance, hips 90 deg / Front stance, hips 0 deg
	5. Roundhouse snap kick face	Low level block / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg
	Defense	Side thrust kick	Side stance, hips 90 deg
	1. Rising block / reverse punch	Front snap kick stomach / stepping punch stomach	Front stance, hips 0 deg / 0 deg
	2. Outside block / reverse punch	Roundhouse snap kick	Front-Side-Front stance, hips 0-90-0 deg
	3. Low level block / reverse punch	Double front kick stomach, face (rear leg 1st)	Front stance, hips 0 deg
	4. Outside block / reverse punch	Double roundhouse kick stomach, face (rear leg, 1st)	Front stance, hips 0 deg
	5. Inside block / reverse punch

Blue Belt (4th Kyu)

Kata	Sparring (Kumite)	Techniques (Kihon)	Stance, Hips Rotation
Heian Yondan	One Step of each attack and each defense	Stepping forward and backward	0 deg facing front=North; 90 deg facing East or West
Heian Godan	Attack
	1. Punch face	Triple punch (face 1st, stomach 2nd and 3rd)	Front stance, hips 0 deg
	2. Punch stomach	Rising block / front kick / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg / 0 deg
	3. Front snap kick stomach	Outside block / backfist / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg / 0 deg
	4. Side thrust kick stomach	Knife hand block / kick / spear hand	Back stance, hips 90 deg / Front stance 0 deg / 0 deg
	5. Roundhouse snap kick face	Double front kick (front leg 1st)	Front stance, hips 0 deg / 0 deg
	Defense	Double roundhouse kick (front leg 1st)	Front stance, hips 0 deg
	1. Rising block / reverse punch	Side thrust kick / roundhouse kick (front leg 1st)	Side stance, hips 90 deg / Front stance 0 deg
	2. Outside block / reverse punch
	3. Low level block / reverse punch
	4. Outside block / reverse punch
	5. Inside block / reverse punch

Brown Belt (3rd Kyu)

Kata	Sparring (Kumite)	Techniques (Kihon)	Stance, Hips Rotation
Heian Godan	One Step of each attack and each defense	Stepping forward and backward	0 deg facing front=North; 90 deg facing East or West
Tekki Shodan	Attack
	1. Punch face	Triple punch (face 1st, stomach 2nd and 3rd)	Front stance, hips 0 deg
	2. Punch stomach	Rising block / front kick / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg / 0 deg
	3. Front snap kick stomach	Outside block / elbow strike / backfist / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / Side stance, hips 90 deg / Front stance, hips 0 deg / 0 deg
	4. Side thrust kick stomach	Inside block / lead hand punch / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg / 0 deg
	5. Roundhouse snap kick face	Knife hand block / kick / spear hand	Back stance, hips 90 deg / Front stance 0 deg
	Defense	Double front kick stomach, face (front leg 1st)	Front stance, hips 0 deg / 0 deg
	1. Rising block / reverse punch	Double roundhouse kick stomach, face (front leg 1st)	Front stance, hips 0 deg / 0 deg
	2. Outside block / reverse punch	Front kick stomach / roundhouse kick face	Front stance, hips 0 deg / 0 deg
	3. Low level block / reverse punch	Side snap kick / side thrust kick from side stance	Side stance, hips 90 deg / 90 deg
	4. Outside block / reverse punch
	5. Inside block / reverse punch

Brown Belt (1st Kyu)

Kata	Sparring (Kumite)	Techniques (Kihon)	Stance, Hips Rotation
One of:	One Step of each attack and each defense	Stepping forward and backward	0 deg facing front=North; 90 deg facing East or West
Bassai Dai	Attack	Same as 3rd Kyu, but improvement
Kanku Dai	1. Punch face
Enpi	2. Punch stomach	Triple punch (face 1st, stomach 2nd and 3rd)	Front stance, hips 0 deg
Jion	3. Front snap kick stomach	Rising block / front kick / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg / 0 deg
	4. Side thrust kick stomach	Outside block / elbow strike / backfist / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / Side stance, hips 90 deg / Front stance, hips 0 deg / 0 deg
	5. Roundhouse snap kick face	Inside block / lead hand punch / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg / 0 deg
	Defense	Knife hand block / kick / spear hand	Back stance, hips 90 deg / Front stance, hips 0 deg
	1. Rising block / reverse punch	Double front kick stomach, face (front leg 1st)	Front stance, hips 0 deg / 0 deg
	2. Outside block / reverse punch	Double roundhouse kick stomach, face (front leg 1st)	Front stance, hips 0 deg / 0 deg
	3. Low level block / reverse punch	Front kick stomach / roundhouse kick face	Front stance, hips 0 deg / 0 deg
	4. Outside block / reverse punch	Side snap kick / side thrust kick from side stance	Side stance, hips 90 deg / 90 deg
	5. Inside block / reverse punch

Black Belt (Sho Dan)

Kata	Sparring (Kumite)	Techniques (Kihon)	Stance, Hips Rotation
Tekki Shodan	One step semi free sparring	Stepping forward and backward	0 deg facing front=North; 90 deg facing East or West
One of:	Attack
Bassai Dai	1. Punch face
Kanku Dai	2. Punch stomach	Triple punch (face 1st, stomach 2nd and 3rd)	Front stance, hips 0 deg
Enpi	3. Front snap kick stomach	Rising block / front kick / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg / 0 deg
Jion	4. Side thrust kick stomach	Outside block / elbow strike / vertical backfist / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / Side stance, hips 90 deg / 0 deg / Front stance, hips 0 deg
	5. Roundhouse snap kick face	Knife hand block / kick / spear hand	Back stance, hips 90 deg / Front stance, hips 0 deg
	Defense	Inside block / lead hand jab punch / reverse punch	Front stance, hips 45 deg / 0 deg / 0 deg
	1. Rising block / reverse punch	Front snap kick stomach / front snap kick face	Front stance, hips 0 deg / 0 deg
	2. Outside block / reverse punch	Double roundhouse kick stomach, face (front leg 1st)	Front stance, hips 0 deg / 0 deg
	3. Low level block / reverse punch	Double side thrust kick	Side stance, hips 90 deg / 90 deg
	4. Outside block / reverse punch	Front leg roundhouse kick stomach / same leg side thrust kick stomach / stepping and punching face	Front stance, hips 0 deg / Side stance, hips 90 deg / Front stance, hips 0 deg
	5. Inside block / reverse punch
	Free sparring

What Is Karate?