Growing Up In Karate

by Cassie Jackson, Cho Dan Bo

People may ask why I joined karate. I was about eight years old when I first started in Sinsinawa, where the Dubuque Karate Club was sponsoring an outreach program. I thought that learning karate would be fun and something different. I was right! I loved going to class right from the beginning. At that time, parents were allowed to stay and watch. My mom noticed that one of my biggest challenges was ending up with the correct foot placement at the end of a technique, so we worked out a signal. After each technique, I would glance at my mom and she would signal if I had to switch feet. (This is probably why parents aren’t allowed to watch anymore!) It worked out great and in no time I was doing it on my own! I had no idea then that karate would be such an important part of my life ten years later.

When I first started karate, I was terribly shy and did not have much self-confidence. I rarely talked to strangers and I never wanted to take my first test. I still don’t talk much, but it isn’t from a lack of self-confidence. Karate has helped me in so many ways that I can’t even imagine what my life would be like if I hadn’t decided to join all those years ago. Now, when people ask me why I take karate, the answer is not just that it’s fun and different – it’s much more than that. So many aspects of my life have been affected by Karate that I couldn’t give a person a direct and simple answer.

There are the physical benefits from practicing karate. It tests and strengthens my endurance. Whether its just one-steps, forms, bag work, or Master Schmitt’s grueling warm-up of what seems to be a thousand jump sidekicks; we should all be putting one hundred percent into everything that we do, and I do my best and try to improve each time. After a couple of times of almost falling down from exhaustion, we start to learn how to breathe correctly. And this starts to make you think of the control you have over your body.

Karate also helps us grow mentally. At the beginning and end of class, we take a few moments to meditate and release all the anxieties and stress from the day. Then we have to concentrate on our breathing, our stances, where we are putting our techniques, and other things. After some time, not only did my concentration improve in karate, but it also improved in school. So whatever is learned in karate, it can be taken and used in the other aspects of our life.

However, one of the most important parts of karate, to me, is the people. The people in karate are a second family to me. Everyone is so welcoming and I can always find someone with a smile on his or her face. We come together at least twice a week and spend time together learning and doing what we love to do. There are always new people coming, and you know that each one is a potential lifelong friend. I know so many great people that I will surely remember the rest of my life.

Karate has helped me; it is shaping what I hope will become a successful future in both karate and in the real world. I will pay the price if it’s worth having, but I can’t really put a price on karate. If you think about everything that can be achieved from it: physical strength, mental stability, spiritual growth, the friends you meet, the family you keep, and the life you make – it’s priceless.