Agreeably, one of the most well-known Martial Art in the world is Karate. It is a striking based fighting style. Relying on keen focus and a firm center of gravity, Karate teaches you how to strike correctly with the understanding of the reason behind the strike.
The Philosophy behind the Practice
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 or empty hand way.” It comes from the combination of “Kanji 漢字” Chinese characters; “kara”, meaning “empty” and “te” meaning “hand”. This traditional style derives from China but made its way to Japan. The physical aspects of this Japanese style are to seek the development of defense and counterattack movements. Empty hand can be referred to a practitioner’s ability to fight empty handed or without weapons, and yet holding onto nothing except the perfection of one’s self. In this sense, karate is not a martial arts so much as it is a training path to spiritual knowledge. In fact, a founder of one of the first schools of karate, Gichin Funakoshi, thought that practitioners would have to use their training at most once in their lives. Except for an instance where you must defend yourself to avoid personal harm, all other situations should be resolved nonviolently.
There are many traditional systems of Karate. It is a discipline form of Martial arts which focuses on hand strikes, kicks, blocks, elbows, knees, leg sweeps, Kata (pattern movements called forms), weapons, weapons disarm, and many exercises. Most Karate movements are ridged but strikes with a great amount of external force breaking or destroying whatever is in its path. It can be used to defend against one or more attackers and it has no limits.
Why study Kung Fu?
At Bei Shaolin Kung Fu Institute, we have a similar concept and philosophy as Karate. Kung Fu is also a training path to spiritual knowledge. In fact, when searching the origins behind Karate you find its roots date back to the Shaolin temple or more importantly, China. Mastering Kung Fu would require an unrelenting concentration of the mind, body, and spirit. As Kung Fu practitioners, one has to learn how to use his or her “Common Sense before Self-Defense” or as Bruce Lee once stated in the movie ‘Enter the Dragon’, “The Art of Fighting without Fighting”. True strength is not having the ability to cause harm but remaining calm and resolute in the face of adversity and yet having the ability to avoid confrontation.
Most martial arts are principally meant for fighting or as a sport which sometimes result in the participant getting hurt or hurting other participants in the act of training itself such as MMA or true Krav Maga. Shaolin Kung Fu is a comprehensive program which cultivates those who practice it physically, mentally, and spiritually while its benefits enrich the life and value of the practitioner.
Kung Fu covers everything when it comes down to training and getting a full body workout. It focuses on proper warm-ups, stretching, a series of exercises, and conditioning which targets the whole body. The curriculum consist of various hand strikes, kicks, blocks, elbows, knees, leg sweeps, shins, forearm strikes, throws, and grappling techniques while perfecting forms (pattern movements called ‘Xíngshi’), weapons (We teach over 18 different weapons), and weapon disarming skills.
The people of Memphis, Germantown, Cordova, Bartlett, Midtown, and the surrounding areas that make the decision to learn Kung Fu will also learn:
- Balance
- Concentration
- Discipline
- Respect
- Self-control
If you live in the greater Memphis and surrounding area, and are interested in taking a class with us then please feel free to contact us through phone or email. We look forward to working with you soon.