82 Kmate: The EneryY Connectioncounting slowly to three. Then exhale, also to a countof three. Continue doing this for awhile-ten or twentybreaths. Dott't take in so much air that you feel uncom'fortable, or exhale so forcefully that you feel a strain'Try to keep your breathing regular and slow.

After a few moments, you'll find your anxiety isslipping away. No matter how hard _you concentrate

on

your stressfuf situation, you'lI be unable to remain tense'

if yo.rt fingers were cold, they'll warm up' If y9l-*tfsweating, you'll stop. If you had a headache, it will beginto fade. Your stomach will settl down.

Don't stop your fantasy. Continue to daydream' asyou breathe deeply. Your breathing will release what'ever tensiot yo.ti fantasy creates, instantly' The harmful

efiects of stress won't build up. You won't feel the needto repress your emotions.

nventuatiy,'with repea*ted practice, you'll-te ible toavoid a tension buildup during actual stresfful events.You'll learn to recognize the mildest signs of anxietywithin yourself, and you'll be" able to deal with them long

before they get out of hand.Through Lurut", you'll be much less likely to sufier

from theiccumulation of stress, or from the suppressionof emotions with which you feel uncomfortable. Believeit or not, it takes a great deal of energy to rePress ordeny those feelings. When you stoP using your energythis way, you'll find you have morgthan enough energyavailable to you for all yo:unr ffi activities.

It's important to keep in miad that when you'rereleasing tension through deep breathing techniques,you're iot eliminating stress. You're just lessening itsirarmful efiects and freeing your energy toward moreproductive goals.

A Karate APPetizcr 8'

Since suess triggers our chi, you can see why it's

necessary for a tataielst to be able to create at will a

,;;-;;lP;"re in t'i'-own bodv' That is what vou didduring the last exercise'*;;;;t

using his ability to fantasize' a karateist can

also create a stress ;;;;d;" by breathing rapidly andst utlowty. He can alrcrnate his breathing Pattern

to

create oi brrttt ofi as much energy as necessary'-- errort a, way the karate student can create

sFess is to

"";;;;;;*f "ti* *uneuvers during karate class' This

i, to:* he learns to use and deal with the most exreme

stress reaction of all-his fear'Of course, learning to create stress at will and

to deal

*iifr it efiectively tfkes time' Eventually a karate stu-dent can learn to create the subtlest sort of

a stress

r""oio". But this takes a lot of training'

r Unfortunately, some students are never able to develop

their imagirrurio"' u"ough to simulate stress conditions

successfully. They must "rety

9n real stress situations to

develop their karate skills' Other people get discouraged

because developinf ""-it*gi""tio^n that's strong enough

may take a long time'Someday ,oo" r f1u" to-begin using biefeedback

tech'

niques and equipment in karate classes' I think this will

shorten the time it takes to PreP-are a student to learn

to deal with stress' And it *itt-Ut an excellent devicefor people *t o nit unable to fantasize well enough

to

create a very strong stress resPonse' With bio'feedback

equipment, o ,.oJt""t will be able to detect the begin'

nings of his stresslie'po"", and he,will learn to amplify

and magnify his "tpLt" so that he can work with it'

Not every s$d;;h; has trouble in karate is unableto create "rtin.i"l-'t'e"'

Some students are continually

84 Karate: The EnergY Connectionunder too much stress, and no matter what they do theycan't deal with it. They're constantly anxious or fearfuland are really unable to perform because they can'tmanage to harness their energy, to control it in anyuseful way.

Bio-feedback will help this type of student too. He'llbe able to seize on those moments of lesser anxiety andlearn to make himself more calm. When he can deal withsome of his increased energy. he'll be better able to workwith it and to direct it into some productive goal.

Some students find they simply can't cope with theincreasing amounts of stress they must deal with in orderto progress in karate. Of course, this isn't supposed tohappen. Karate instructional systems are designed topripare students to handle each increasingly difficultlevel of training.

But no system, not eves in karate, works fort loo per-cent of the people roo Percent of the time. Some" studentsquit before they become accomplished enough to feel

"td "ppte.iate the larger benefits of the art. A good

teacher won't just let a student walk away, however.He'll encourage the studend to stay and build hisconfidence.

Afieiaflr/r g

Ttnp-fsrcdea/74oan &od/,

However you look at it, one of the most impoJtant things

in life-ii not the most important-is having a soundbody. We all want to be physically fit and healthy' Few

of us ate, at least to the extent we should be'

Karate can make you physically fit, if you -"tTt-ty"*t"ff to it. In fa.i, thire-is no single physical self'improvement Program that can match it' Karate is also

" pltt to better hJalth. It hetps improve some conditions

and makes you more resistant to others'From everything I've been able to discover' I can tell

you that karate rnay also be the best method of weight

cont ol yet inventea. e"a it is one of the few physicalactivities oPen to those with handicaps' From what I've

seen in mf classes, the worse your physical condition-

It

Karate: The Eneryy Connection

barring serious organic disease-the more you needkarate and the more it will help you.

I know you may be tempted to take some of thesestatements with a grain of salt. But I intend to show youexactly why they're true, in detail.

Components of Plrysieal Fitness

If you're like most people, you hear the words "physicalfitness" and cringe. You conjure up images of recruitsdressed in shorts and T-shirts doing jumping jacks onan athletic fietd. Nothing very appealing about that. I'llbe the first to admit it. I've done some jumping jacksin my day. Boring

Before the twentieth ,Sentury, physical fitness wassomething Americans never had to be concerned about.Our lives requir6d a great deal of physical exertion, andwe had what it took to live. We didn't have any choice.We plowed our fields and built our houses and huntedour food. We scrubbed our laundry and hauled ourpackages and beat our rugs.

Then came the automobile, the vacuum cleaner, tllewashing machine, the tractor. Technology and Americatook to each other. Society adapted to the machine age.Maybe we adapted too well for our own good.

It, wasn't until long after we'd become quite entrenchedin our sedentary way that its dangets became aPParent:heart disease, obesity, more rapid aging"xatmitic diseases,hardening of the arteries, and so ori. The medical pro-fession began promoting the value of exercise. Then thegovernment began pushing physical fitness. And the

Fine-tuning Yow BoiIY

schools started to upgrade their physical education prc'

O;t. Slowln Ameii-cans began to get concerned' Evi'i.r." ,tppottit g tJre benefits of exercise mounted'

Today, .o.tyoi. believes in physical fitness' It's becomeAmerican again. Everybody knows he should have it'Some peoptJ are even trying to get it' But hardly any-body realiy knows what it is. Even those who want itmost may be going after it the wrong way'

Physical fitn;ss tif.tt to development and maintenanceof the body in six specific areas: strength, endurance'speed, flexilility, balince, and coordination' For basic'all-around fitneis, everyone-no matter how inactive-should be in good shape in all these areas'

Most Americans, even those trying to sweat and groan

their way to fitness through various exercise Program,sand sports, are tragicdly 1ar from genuine' basic' all'

around fitness. UstiaUy, one or more areas have been

iot"ffy ignored. Take a closer look at the asPects ofphysical fitness and you'll see what I mean' , - _--,^-' i. st rngth is what you need to take your grocerresfrom the .iu, to the kitihen, oPen a stuck window' jo*Pacross a puddle, pull a stubborn weed from your garden'

f"g u t"iging briefcase to and from the office' We acquirerit?"grtt f,y

"conditioning our muscles, through exercise'

You'l-i want firm, well-toned muscles throughout your

entire body, not iust in your arms, but in your legs and

stomach as well.So any good fitness Program will exercise all the muscle

regions.'ilut it *ot't-it shouldn't-make you itto -amiscleman (or woman). Let's face it' Large' over&vel-oped muscles aren't airactive' And they usually don't

work very efficientlY, either.z. Endurance' or stamina, is what you need to perform

88 Korde: The Enetg Qonnectionany activity over a long petiod of time. You need en'durance to spend a full day on the job, even if you'resitting at a desk. You need it to stand on line at themovies, to mow your lawn, to shop, to go from yourbasement workshop to your bedroom on the second floorand back. You can increase your endurance by strength'ening your heart and exercising your lungs. An adequatefitness program must include some activity strenuousenough to raise your heart rate and make you breathemore oxygen into your lungs.

g. Speed, refers to reaction time and to how quicklyyou can move any part of your body, or any combinationof parts, or your whole body. You need speed to catcha dish that slips out of your hand, to keep up with anactive toddler, to run after your commuter train, toavoid a rear-end collision when the car in front o.f youstops suddenly. A fitness program should help you buildspeed by requiring you to increase the number of timesyou can properly perform complex movements within acertain time period.

4. Flexibilify, or suppleness, enables you to stretch fora book on the top shelf, bend down to tie a shoe, foldup to climb into a comPact car, twist around to seewhat's behind you. Even if you're not very limber tobegin with, you can increase your suppleness by prac'ticing bending and stretching.

g. Balance, or a sense of equilibrium, is what keepsyou on your feet. It prevents you from falling if youtrip over a loose piece of carpet while you rg,going upthe stairs. It allows you to remain stea@'fuhile you'reon a tall ladder rescuing your cat from a tree. It keepsyou out of another passenger's lap if the plane you'reon hits an air pocket while you're in the aisle. A physical

Fitu-ttn$ng Yow BoiIY 89fitness routine will help you develop a better sense ofequilibrium by requiring you to maintain a precariousposition for a brief period 9f time.

6. Coorilination,& skill, is what you need to perform

any set of complex actions with precision, grace, andefficiency. Without coordination you can't button your

coat or write your name. You can't ride a bike' Whenyou're not very well coordinated, you look dumsy and

ieel uncomfortabte. Coordination is a product of balance'

flexibility, speed, and srength.nut wirat does fitness mean in real life? How can you

tell if you're PhYsicallY fit?Fitness isn'[ the same for everyone' It's relative' For

one ilhing, fitness depends on your age. If you're twenty'five years old, physiial fitness isn't the same for you asit is if you're sixty. Physical fitness also depends on yoursbx. Fiiness doesn't mean the same thing for women as

it does for men.Another thing fitness depends on is your ,general

health. If you'vJnever been iick, then fitness is differentfor you than if you've just had surgery, or if you havean organic illnesi, or if'you're handicapped in some- way'

Anlther thing fitness is relative to is how you're built'Fitness for a tail Person isn't exactly the same as fitnessfor someone shorter. If you have a slender frame' thenfitness isn't the same for you as it is for someone withmore bulk.

Remember, we're talking about what it means to bephysically fit in real life. That's what karate is all about

Iedini with life. For most people, life is unrelatedto deep knee bends.

Physical fitness means being capable of doing all the

things your normal, everyday life requires of you plus

g0 Karate: The EnergY Cormection

a little extra-without exhausting yourself' In otherwords, fitness is relative to need' Physical fitness means

that you have enough strength, enough endurancg

"no.rgi flexibility, enough speed, enough balance' and

etro.r[h coordination to see you through an averagday, ivith some reserve capability to bring you throughminor emergencies.

Let's stari with daily needs' What determines them?

First of all, your job-what you do all day long' If you'rea lineman for the telephone comPany, fitness means one

thing. If you're a bo-okkeeper, it- means another' Andstill

"another if you make your living selling real estate'and yet anothei if you sell umbrellas.in a departmentrr*". If you're a housewife with a toddler' fitness isn'tthe same for you as it would be if you had three grownchildren.

How you get to and ,from your j9b is almost as im'

portant "t *I" work itself when you're considering your

'firrr.r, needs. If you ride a commuter train or bus' yourneeds are difierent than if you walk a mile to the officeeach day, or drive, or take the subway'

Your daily needs don't merely consist of how you get

to your job and what you do once-you're there' They

atso inctude what you do in your leisure time' So when

y""'t thinking of fitness, fou hayg 19 think of your lifestyle and your special likes and dislikes as well'

If you Lnjoy particiPating in- weekend sPorts' thnfitness isn't the ,"*" f* you as fitness for someone witha more relaxed life style- If you like to see a movie orplay bridge on weekday evenings, 'l"t

fitness doesn't

mean the same trti"g f; you as"it does for;Hf'ersonwho only goes out on Saturday nights' If you spend-thoseSaturday iigtttt dancing in a discotheque, then fitness

Fine-tuning Vow BoitY 91

isn't the same for you as it is for a Person who prefers,h.,t.",.t. What kind of a place do you 8! home-.to

"i*",ft. band packs uP or thi curtain falls? If you live

in u nf,n-noor walkup, yo* needs are difierent than ifvou live in aranch house.'-K;;; i" t"i"a that your daily routine isn't supposed,o.*liur.rr, you. If yo.r'i. dragging thlough most of -youri"yt-""a drained'by bedtime-an$ 1ou're not sick-then you're in poor shape. This isn't fitness'

Remember, fitness alsi includes a reservoir of suength'

stamina, and all those other cornPonents I described'Since life hardly ever goes according to a master plan'

yorr o.u., can dn when you're-going to have to Put out

I U,rt" extra. you shouldbe abli to do it safely, withoutdangerous sffain.

What kind of unexpected situation should you beoiep"red to handle? That depends to some extent on

how

Lilil;;aly are' A irinor emergencv lor a {3ckworker could be a major crisis for a magazine editor

;;b no more physically active ofi the job than on'You don't have to L" u t"ptt*an to be fit' but you'vegot to be able to stretch without hurting yourself'-

By this dme, you've probab{ figured out whether

yooit" n, according to ygot needs' If you're-like mostAmericans, *y grrJtt is that you can make it throughthe day withoui feeling worn out' but with little tospare. iJnless you develop a reserve' you're not fit'

Fitness isn't only relaiive to need' however' It's also

relative to what yoo *"tt'' If you can survive an hour'iont ,rr",.r, of hard tennis, bul you d like to be able

to

;;" for two ho,rrs, then you may be as fit as you need

to be, but you're not as fit as you want to be' If you'veU."r, Arinittg to the station every day' but you'd like

to

Fitle-hming Yow BoilY 9'92 Karate: TIu Energy Connectionbe able to ride your bike instead, perhaps you're as fitas you need to be, but not as fit as you'd like to be.

Of course, everybody wants something difierent. Butmost people want-at the minimum-to be fit for theirneeds. I can guarantee you that karate, if you stick toit, will develop the reserve that is the difference betweenbeing fit and unfit. And if your other fitness wants aren'tway out of line with your age and general health, karatecan probably help you there too-if you make thecommitment.

Karate can help you realize physical fitness to themaximum extent possible, given your sex, build, generalhealth, and age. But even more important, karate canhelp you maintain that fitness against the ravages oftime. How often have you said to yourself, "I'm just notas young as I used to be"? If you haven't felt that wayfrom time to time, then"'you certainly know people whohave. This realization usually srikes you when you'retrying to do something that once was very easy, and youdiscover, to your surprise, that it's become very difficult.

You already know that your body declines with age,and so do your physical abilities. That's a fact. Youprobably don't like to think about it too much. Noneof us does, so we forget that it's not enough simply tobecome physically fit. We also have to maintaiz ourfitness by increasing our level of activity.

Keeping active, exercising your body, helps counteractthe efiects of time. That's also a fact-one too manypeople ignore. If you don't do anything to keep yourself,fit, then your condition will deteriorate very ruffiy.You will no longer be fit for your needs. Much soonerthan you want to, you'll have to change your life style

so that it requires less of you. You'll be forcing yourselfto look, feel, and act old long before it's time'

There's no way you can stop the aging process, butyou can slow it'down. Through karate, you can livemore actively, more vitally, more productively, and more

youthfully for more Years.

YornWay to Fitness

You can choose from any number of activities thatwill make you more fit than you already are' But youcan't choose a better one than karate.

Why? Because more than any other activity I canthink of-and I've tried a great many of them-karatecan make you truly fit. To be fit all over, you've got togive every single part of your body some work to do'So you need an activity that requires you to use every-

thing you've got. All Your Parts.That's what exercise means: using all your parts' Only

by moving everything can you get total exercise' Karate

is the totil exercir.. it, forms-the ftafos-touch you allover, and they touch you deeply. That means they afiect

your insides as well as your outside' They make "t1:fyo,rr internal muscles as well as your external ones' The

hatas don'tjust get the outside of your body into shape'

They exer.it" tt. muscles inside your abdomen andback, which support your intetnal organs'

Maybe you didtt't even know that the muscles deep

within you could be exercised. These muscles are very

difficult to exercise. It's almost impossible to move most

of them voluntarily-unless somebody teaches you how'

9594

Thesemuscle

Katate: The EnergY Connection

which are made uP mostly of smoothcan be exercised only by breathing in

Fine-tuning Yow BodY

certain ways.It is worth rePeating: ProPer breathing is crucial in

karate. You can'ido a kata accurately if you don't breathethe way you should. It's as much a Part of the form ashow you move your arms and legs. If you're only goingthrough the external motions, you're not Practicingkaratel Only someone who doesn't know much aboutit will think you're a karateist.

Through ttre katas, we learn to increase or decreaseour respiiation rate, control the amount of air we inhale

and thi manner in which we exhale' These variousbreathing Patterns create internal Pressure against our

various otg"tt and cause our internal musculature tomove, to bI exercised. You should have gotten some ideaof what this pressure feels like when you tried out thetechniques I described earlier.

Theie's no other activity that develops your bodymore completely than karate. That's because the katas

make you hooe your body in every direction it can pos'sibly go. This mlans you've got to move-to exercise-

"n.ryi',ittg. You've got to use every single muscle SouP

in each "ttd

eoety part of your body, inside and out'

Take your urm, tot example. The karate forms don'tjust exeicise the muscles in your upPer arm, or theinuscles in your forearm. They don't just require use ofyour wrist, or your shoulders, or the back of your arln'or ttre front. When you do a kata, you're exercising the

whole arm. When you get finished, there won't be agg-

thing an arm can do that your arm-hasn't done"A{youkeeiup your karate, your arms will be fit, your legs willbe ht, your entire body will be fit-it witl be able to dowhat you ask it to, and more.

Why PickKatate?

I've been telling you that karate is by far the bestphvsical fitness program you can find' But you may

irt-i'"t irt"t"', ,o*"rliittg elie that will serve you iust as

well. All right then, let's do some comParisons'Tennis. As a game and a sPort, tennis is deservedly

oooular. It also has obvious piysical fitness benefits' If

ffi;;; it"q"."rry enough-and hard enough' you'llirr.r""r.'both your stamina and your coordination'- ;";; just as obviously, tennis-is not a total exercise'It does a lot for certain arm and leg muscles' but leavesother muscles, along with many torso muscles' unexer-

cised. Besides, to play tennis, you need a Partner' a

.o,rrr, and equipment. you can do karate at home' alone'

*iifr"", aqy'sp-ecial equipment o-r clothing'"-iiyo"'t.'a iennis ptuyet, by the w.ay' you mly wPt

,o,tt" up karate ttot^ottiy for-its physical fitness benefits'but also^ for its ability to improve your hand-to-ey.ecoordination. Karate can make you a better tenn$

;i;;;;:-i" fact, karate can improve your performance in

almost any sPort.*--iogg;"g' *itt girr" you- good springy muscle tissue in

y""t"i.d-iust the kind lou $'ant' But you'll lave tohr,a soi.e other way to develop and exercise the rest

of your bodY.--Vf"rry peopte feel that j"qg1"g t: lot only good

for

their bodies, but good' for t[lithittas as ryell' since itis merrtutty undemanding' But tension exPerts

are now

;;;il;t"l in order to #come trulv diverted' vou needsomething else to concentrate on' .Karate' because

it;A;-tt*-tomething from your mind' is a genuinediversion.

96 Korate: The FnetgY CormectionBiqcling. Once you get yourself into shape, you can

really enjoy bicycling. And it will help you stay in shape,by giving your circulatory system a good workout. Likejogging, bicycling is also excellent for leg development.-But,

also, like jogging, it doesn't do much for your othermuscles.

Karate exercises and develops all your muscles. Amongother things, it builds strength and endurance. So, ifyou're an inveterate bicycle rider, karate can make thisactivity even more enjoyable for you.

Swimming is good for your legs, terrific for your arms,and excellent for your heart and lungs. If there wereno such thing as karate, I'd say that swimming was thebest physical fitness activity around.

But swimming, good as it is, isn't total exercise, sinceit does nothing for the internal musculaturg or organs.And, of course, it tequires a pool. If you're fond ofswimming, stick with it-but take up karatg too. You'llsoon find you can swim faster and for longer distances.

Weight tifting will make your muscles huge, but itwon't necessarily make them strong. You get strengthfrom well-conditioned muscles; size doesn't count. More'over, large muscles give you extra Pounds to tote around.Unless your heart can coPe with the added weight,you're in danger-as much danger as you'd be in if , itwere pure fat. Speaking of fat, that's what those musclesyou get from lifting weights will turn to if you don'tmaintain them.

Isometrics are supPosed to get you into shape in aminute and a half a day, without any other exercigpSound too good to be true? It is.

When you do an isometric exercise, you tense onemuscle against another. Or you contract your muscle

Fine-tuning Yow BoiIY 91against something else, like a wall or a piece of furniture'The muscle, meeting total resistance' doesn't move(hence the name isomeric-still or static).

You're supposed. to hold this position for about sixseconds-with nearly (but not all) of your strength. Butif you push too hard, you can hurt joints, ligaments,and tendons-or tear a muscle. Also, isometrics doesn'tallow blood to flow freely into muscle tissue, so it doesn'tdevelop much. And it can be performed with only a fewmuscle groups.

I'm not saying that isometrics has no place in a fitnessprogram-it does. But you've got to understand theprinciple-and know your own body-before you canuse iC properly. Even then, you can't tely entirell onisometrics for fitness.

Calisthenics are a type of isotonic exercise. In iso'tonics, you pit opposing muscles against each other, butboth muscles are moving. Each provides the other withsome resistance. This allows for motion and exercise'The idea of a contracted muscle in motion is also ex'pressed in the phrase "dynamic tension," the old CharlesAtlas label for isotonics.

Useful as they are, isotonic movements cannot exercise

your body as completely or efficiently as can one Per-formance ol a karate kata.

Team sports (soccer, basketball, volleyball, football'etc.). Rare is the American who hasn't dabbled in oneor more of these at one time or another. They provideactive pleasurable hobbies for many.

But no team sport equals karate when it comes tophysical fitness binefits. None of them exercises yourZrilrt muscular system, or your internal musculature'Besides, you shouldn't rely on a team sPort for physical

98 Kmate: The En*gy Connectionfitness, since it requires so much space and so many otherpeople. You probably won't do it regularly enough toget all the physical fitness benefits it can provide.

If you enjoy team sports, you will benefit from karate.It will give you the energy, the strengrh, the agility, thecoordination you need to play your chosen sport at yourmaximum capability.

I want to emphasize here that I am not putting downany one of these activities-with the possible exceptionof weight lifting. They're all, in their various ways,valuable, pleasurable, or both. I'm just trying to showyou that for building physical fitness, rlrere's nothingthat equals karate.

How is it that karate makes you physically fit whilemore traditional Western activities fail? Karate exercisesmore muscles and muscle groups than any other type ofexercise you can do, and benefits your interrpl systemsas well-your organs, ligaments, joints, nerves, and bloodvessels. You got some idea of how this happened whenyou tried out the karatelike techniques and breathingroutines I described earlier.

A karate-developed body is substantial, both insideand out. This all-over fitness is achieved through theh,atas. I've already told you what t}ae katas are, but Iwant to stress again what a complete exercise they pro,vide. It's really difficult for anyone to appreciate thetruth in what I'm saying unless they learn a kata or two.And if I'm doing what I hope to be doing with this book,you'll be finding that out for yourself.

But let's get back to specifics. Let's see how karatedevelops you in each of the six physical fitness ar6=f.'described earlier. And let's see what this developmentcan mean for you.

Fine-tuning Yow Body

Strength, Endtur ance, Spee d,, Coor d,inati,on,Balance, Flexibility

Strength. You may have by now changed your originalidea of what strength is. You know that karate can makeyou many times more powerful than you already are. Thesecret is in the concept of soft and hard. First of all, acombination of soft and hard tedrniques conditions andtones the muscles far more efiectively than hard exercisealone. So in karate, you build better muscles-the rawmaterial of strength.

But well-conditioned muscles aren't the only factorin strength. Knowing what to do with those muscles isalso part of what makes you strong. In karatg you learnthat your strength will be more eftective if you combinethe hard and soft than it will be if you simply come onhard, with'all the force you can muster.

In other words, as a karateist, you would not forceopen a stuck door and find yourself rushing }eadlonginto the house at breakneck speed, carried unwillinglyalong by your own momentum. You'd just open the door,period.

By combining the hard and the soft approaches, youwould: (a) direct your strength (by using only the musclesneeded to achieve a tas$, and (b) control your srength(by timing your actions to end with the application ofsEengrh).

Endurance. You'll remember I said earlier that theway to increase your stamina is by exercising your heartand lungs. Since breathing is such an integral part ofkarate, it's pretty obvious that while you're doing thehatas, you're also giving your lungr a good workout. But

100 Kmate: The Energy Connectionyou're doing more than that. You're also learning breathcontrol. Learn the katas and you learn when to fill yourlungs with air, how much air to fill them with, how fastto take the air in, how long to hold it, and how fast tolet out how much of it. That about says it all. Thet'e'snothing else that does all this for you and your lungs.

How does karate help your heart? Well, the activityof the katas makes your heart beat faster. That meansyour heart is getting exercise. When you regularly in'ffease your heart rate through activity, you end up witha lower resting pulse rate+vidence that the exerciseis actually making your heart stronger and capable ofbearing a greater load.

In karate, you steadily increase your endurance bysteadily increasing the intensity with which you performthe katas.

Speed, means more than just being able to niove outquittty. It also means'being able to move any singlepart of your body fast. It means fast reflexes and quickreaction time.

Karate develops speed in all these wa1n. At first, youlearn to do the fratas slowly, but after a short while, you'llpick up speed. You'll be amazed how fast you can actuallymove. You'll find that your reflexes have increased andyour reaction time decreased-without your seeming tomake any special efiort toward that end.

By the time you can do a kata quickln you will haveachieved a degree of mind/body unity. You won't needto think consciously of what you want your body to do.And when you're not thinking, you can move mo;aa',quickly. You don't slow yourself down. You maintainyour speed until you don't need it anymore, until thevery end of your movement. In other words. a karateist

Fbu-uming Yow BoilY 101doesn't ride his brakes. He only puts them on when he

wants to stoP.Let me give you an example. Suppose I showed you a

box marked t5o lbs. and asked you to pick it up' Yourfirst reaction would probably be, "Oh, I can't do that"'But let's say I convinced You to try.

You'd bend down and put your hands on the box,thinking something like this: "That's a heavy box' Noone is gtittg to help me pick it up. Even if I manage it,I won'ibe ible to go very far with it. And I'll probablyhurt my hands and strain my arms. Besides, I'm prob'ably not strong enough to pick it up."

Ii you then iried to pick uP the box, you'd be unlikelyto give it your best efiort. You'd make a show, of course-.o.-t to yourself. But you'd hold back, at least a little'Do you see how your thoughts can make you ride thebrakes?

Now imagine what would happen if I showed you lhesame box-6nty this time with a 75 lbs' sign on it' Youwouldn't be worried about hurting yourself' You'd have

no reason to Put the brakes on too soon' You'd lift thebox-perhaps with a bit of a struggle-but you'd lift it'since you know You can raise 75 lbs.

My point here: karate will teach you how to use your."p""iii"t to their fullest, when you have to' You'llbecome capable of pulling out all the stops'

Coord,inatiorz is skill in moving your body' The morecomplex the movement, the more coordination you need'

One of the most important benefits of karate is that itwill improve your coordination. It will make you moregracefoi and iess clumsy. You become-more coordinated

ty performing the katas, which involve breathing and*oiit g at the same dme, sometimes in patterns that are

102 Ka.rate: Tlle Energy Connection

quite complex. In fact, karate teaches you to Performvery complex motions automatically.

Balance is what gives you the ability to be mobile. Asyou walk or run, you are first in balance, then you stePout and ofi-balance yourself, then you recapture yourbalance once again. To the degree that you can controlthis balance/ofi-balance process, you will be able tomove confidently and with agility.

How can karate help you here? By teaching you theart of dynamic balance. Dynamic balance is what enablesyou to maintain stability even while you're in motion.

When you perform a kata, you're in constant motion.You learn how to shift your weight from one position toanother. You learn how to feel comfortable when bothfeet aren't on the ground. You learn how to move. Andyou learn how to remain steady-even under adversecircumstances.

Flexibili,ty.If you hav a supple body, you can moveit easily in all directions. You can bend and twist andstretch, without straining your muscles or pulling onyour joints.

You develop suppleness by moving. The object of thehatas is to move every part of your body as far as it canpossibly go in every conceivable direction. Karate willmake your body more elastic, more resilient, and morecapable of moving any way you want it to.

Fitncss Tlww'ghKarate

What can fitness do for you besides making you func'tion better-by giving you the strength, stamina, flexi'bility, etc., you need to live your daily life? Well, it can

Fine-hrning Your BoiIY 10talso make you feel better. And that oPens uP new possi-bilities for satisfying activity.

When you're fit, you feel more energetic' You wantto do more, you want to experience more, you want to

try new things-and because you've been developingyour body through karate, you're able to do many things

you never thought possible before.Karate will tiach you to use all your faculties to the

maximum. Even your vision, hearing, and other senses

will become sharper through karate training' It's all apart of developing your awareness. It's a way of turning

|ourself on t; a whole new life. That's what karatedoes-teaches you to turn on all your systems and teepthem operating as close to their youthful peak aspossible. If you begin karate when you're youn& youwilt prolong your youth. If you start wlten you're older,yot-, *itt reiapture much of the youthful vitality you'velost.

How fast are you going to notice the efiects of karate?

As soon as you begin karate, you will start to improveyour fitness level.

-But that doesn't mean you'll noticethe change immediatelY.

If you;re in pretty good shape to begin with, then asmalf improvement i; your fitness level won't makemuch of i change in how you function and feel' So theinitial efiect of kntate will be more subtle than it willbe for someone who's in really bad condition' If you'rerun down and out of shape, then that initial improvg;ment is going to make y-ou feel very different' You'llnotice wiitrin a few weeks that your body is becomingmore capable and more fit. And you'll also start feelingInor. .rr^.rg.tic. Karate really works fastest for those who

need it the most.

Fittc-tuning Y ou'r BoiIY n5104 Karate: The Energy ConnectiottMany people think that physical fitness means better

health. Actually, fitness gives you a generally healthyfeeling, contributes to your sense of physical well-being,and probably extends your life, but it doesn't guaranteeimmunity from organic disease. But because karate makesyou physically fit inside and out, and because it alsogives you a safe way to handle stress, karate-more thanany other activity I know of-can raise your resistanceto many diseases. Sometimes health problems even dis'appear after taking up karate.

Many students have told me how their health hasimproved since they began karate. The health improve-ments they mention fall mainly into four difierent areas:

r. stress-related diseases such as ulcers and hypertensions. back problems, especially lower back difficulties and

disc problems

3. respiratory diseasesbuch as asthma

4. psychosomatic illnesses.

Actually these categories overlap, because stress can causeor contribute to asthma, back pain, or psychosomaticailments. Once you learn how to use stress safely as atrigger for your chi, yott naturally lower the possibilityof becoming ill from it.

I want to tell you about some exPeriences of mystudents, who feel karate has made them healthier.

A case in point is George Y. George is fifty-one yearsold and a highly competitive businessman who battleshis way through New York City's garment center everyday. George started taking karate because his son h"-.'"'n''California took it up and told George he ought to tryit. George had been coming to class for three monthsbefore he came into my office to tell me his story.

George said, "I think you've goi a cure for high bloodpressure here."' "Go on," I said. I'd heard this from other PeoPle be-fore, but I didn't want to spoil the story for George'

"My doctor's been worried about my climbing bloodpressure for five years. Last year he told me that if myir"rr.rr" kept going up the way- it-has been, I had maybeanother t*lo or three years before I'd have to startmedication."

"I can already guess what's happened," I told George'"You went to the doctor and your blood pressure's down"'

"Yep. For the first time in six years. We were bothreally surprised, let me tell you."

"How &t yoo be sure it's karate?" I asked' "Could beany one of a hundred difierent things that's caused thechange."

"N-o. I sat with the doctor for fotty-five minutesyesterday and together we figured out that the onlyihing that's difierint about my life now is the karate'I eai the same, sleep the same, work even harder andworry even more. No, it's the karate all right"'

Another of my students, Al W., is a thirty-twoyear'oldphotographe, *ho has suffered from asthma ever sinceir" *ut a child. When Al first came to the school a yearago, he told me about his asthma and asked me if Ittought he could have an attack during karate class' He

was u little concerned because he'd tried to get involvedin other activities from time to time and sometimesthey'd triggered. a serious bout of wheezing'

I told ei tnat I couldn't promise anything, but I feltthat he wasn't likely to have any difficulty with karate'since learning how to breathe properly is such a vitalpart of ttre siilt. I also told him I'd seen karate have a

106 Karale: The Eneryy Connectianbeneficial efiect on several asthmatic children, and I sawno reason why it might not benefit him as well.

Turns out that karate has helped Al tremendously.fle hasn't experienced a single attack since he began."In fact, I'm convinced I'm cured," he told me.

It seems that karate has truly worked wonders for AlW. And I've seen other asthmatics who've improvedafter taking up karate.

But, if you are not in generally good health, pleasecheck with your doctor before beginning karate. And ifhe gives you the go-ahead, do not exPect it to be a cure-all.Karate might help you, but the important thing is thatyou enjoy it without hurting yourself.

At the very least, karate will make you more physicallyfit. But there's also the possibility that you'll get otherhealth benefits from it as well.

BypassingHanilicap: ,

Karate is one of the few physical activities that isopen to handicapped people. You should keep in mindthat karate is designed not only to minimize your liabili'ties, but also to turn those liabilities into assets.

The karate katas ate very versatile. They can bemodified to suit your particular needs. There are aninfinite variety of moves in karate. Your teacher canemphasize those that lend themselves best to your specialabilities.

He'll be doing that anywaY, whether you're handL''-'"capped or not. In a sense, everyone is handicapped tosome degree, because everyone has weak points as wellas strong. If you are handicapped, you have nearly as

Fine-tuning Your BoiIY 107

many assets as a nonhandicapped Person' The maindifierence is that your weaknesses are more visible'

A nonhandicapped Person can hide his weaknesses'rre may not everi

-b"

"*ut. of them' But once he begins

karate, he has to deal with them' He's got to ferret them

out and work on them, the same way a handicappedperson must. Neither of you may- be able to c'hangeyour weaknesses, but you can both learn to comPensate'

So if you have a handicap, don't rule out karate' You*uy *.il be able to become very proficient and toenjoy it.

Wei,ght Control fm Life

There's hardly a Person in America who isn't worried

about being overweight+r doesn't know someone who

is. If you'rJ not overweight, then yoyr .sPouse ls: -ot Y-our*otn.r, or your best friend, or somebody else {airly. close,o yoo. If you don't know anyone who thinks he's toofat now, then you surely know someone who worriesabout becoming too fat in the future'

Diet clubs abbund all over the country. The diet-food

industry comes out with something new every month o-r

so. Even diet doctors and diet pills are popular' though

it's common knowledge that diet pills are very dangerous'

Fad diets keep appJaring new ones every year' And

p."pf. teep trying ih.*, iven though they know they'reuseliss or dangerous or both.

Hardly uny di.t, work, though' Very few of the Pioplein America who lose weight manage to keep it-ofi overa period of five ye:rs. Only r Percent keep it oft f9t ttly.L* If you're one of those

-people who've uied and

I08 Kmate: The EnetgY Contuctisrtfailed

110 Karate: The Energy Conruction

when you've eaten enough. Usually that's longbefore your second helping and often before dessert.

7. Karate teaches you discipline. Many people find thatthey overeat in spite of themselves. They simplydon't know how to change a bad habit. The disci-pline you learn from the katas will generalize toother areas of your life. You'll find you just naturallyhave more self-control than you've ever experiencedbefore. You can apply it to your eating habits orto anything else.

In this chapter, I've shown you how karate can helpyour "outs16s"-your body. If doing something goodfor your body is your main reason for taking karate, that'sfine. I think it's the most beneficial physical activitythere is.

But remember, karatB moves from the outside in.There isn't any way karate can affect your exteriorwithout also afiecting the internal you-the way youthink, feel, and behave-because in karate, you unifyyour body and your mind. It's virtually impossible toimprove yourself physically without increasing yourmental fitness as well.

ffiAfiefalten 6

futart"n4*tg QaanTTtertral ?oarent,

Although karate is a discipline that you acquire throughyour body, you don't become a karateist in body only'i\ot if you make a true commitment to the art. Whenyo.r -uitet the katas, you inevitably and unconsciously-whether you try to or not-undergo profound mentalchanges tLat can dramatically alter your entire approadrto life.

The knowledge that you get in your karate class willeventually generalize to all other asPects of your life'You will become a karateist in the way you speak, theway you think, the way you feel, and the way you act'noi only while you're Practicing the kotas, but all thetime-no matter what you're doing, where you're doingit, and who you're doing it with.111

112

\

Karate: The Energy Contuction

FromOutsiile to Inside

The goal of most Western physical activities is simple:to perfect the execution of that activity. But karate'spurpose is very difterent. Of course, initially, you mustacquire the necessary skill. You must perfect the activity

-master the katas. But that's only the beginning. Look

at the goal of the katas, and you'll see what I mean. It'sa twofold goal:

l. To teach you (through bodily movements) a flexible,practical philosophy of lifeTo unify your body and your mind (through mindand breath control), thereby ensuring that youincorporate the principles of that philosophy intoyour total being and make them truly your own.

I

More than any other physical activity, karate signifi-cantly afiects your mental processes and influences theway you live your life. ^I don't know one person who hastruly committed himself or herself to karate who has notexperienced deep, lasting mental changes.

In what ways can karate change you? It can clarifyyour thinking, increase your awareness, lead you towardemotional maturity, broaden your attitudes, and improveyour way of dealing with other people.

HLow much will it change you? That depends. Karateworks on mental fitness just as it does on physical fitness:the worse shape you're in to start, the more spectacularthe change.

Ma*imizing Yow Mental Powers 11'

BecomingAware

Just as your body gets stronger with exercise, so doesyo"ur mind. The katas rcquire as much.mental efiort asphysical eftort, so they provide your mind with healthylxircise. You can actually increase your intellectualcapabilities through karate. You can learn to think more

logically and more clearlY.)h"'kotot teach you to summon and direct yow chi

toward mental tasks, as well as toward physical tasks'This means that you'll be better able to clear your mind

of extraneous thoughts, you'll be better able to con'centrate, and better able to remember important facts'

Of course, your mind doesn't only get stronger withexercise. It gets more flexible, too, and therefore morecapable of sJving difficult problems.If you've got a mind

that bends, you'li be able to toss out an old approach ifit doesn't work. You'll be more willing to try a newtack, even if no one's traveled that route before'

I can think of several students who feel they've "gottensmarter" through karate. One good example is Lestel B'

Les was just b"eginning his senior year of high schoolwhen I met him. f-es tria never done very well in school'"I barely made it from kindergarten to first grade"' heonce toid me, only half joking. "And I've just beensqueaking by ever since."

About three months after Les started karate, I hap'pened to run into his father. He told me that Les hadLro,lght home his initial rePort card of the year' Forthe first time in his scholastii history, he was passing inevery subject. He couldn't understand it'

I iold him that learning karate wasn't very difierent

r14(

Karate: The Eneryy Connection

from learning anything else. It required mental efiortand discipline. In the process, the student learned howto apply himself to any learning task.

"I think karate has turned on Les's mind in a way it'snever been turned on before," I told his father. 'Andhe doesn't click himself off when he leaves karate class.So he's more tuned in to what his teachers are saying."

When you learn karate, you don't only learn it withyour body and your intellect, you learn it with youremotions as well. Karate is designed to teach you totranslate your emotions into a physical action. Whenyou perform a kata, you summon and intensify emotionsat will, by using fantasy and breath control.

When you're practicing karate, you're purposefullyexercising your emotions. You're not only exparrdingyour capacity to feel deep*ly, but you're also developinga greater ability to identify your feelings and to detectsubtle changes of emotion. You're becoming more aware.

Over the months, this awareness will become greaterand greater. It will begin to generalize to all the otheraspects of your life. You will become a more consciousperson, whether you try to or not, whether you want toor not. And this awareness will continue to grow for aslong as you study karate.

As time passes, you should come closer and closer toalways knowing exactly how you're feeling what mixtureof emotions you're experiencing, at any given moment.You'll also probably be closer to knowing your precisefeelings and attitudes when you have to make decisions-all sorts of decisions, little and big.

Karate will help you get more deeply in touch withyour beliefs, your feeling;s, your ideas, and your opinions.

Maximizing You,r Mentotr Powers 115

It will teach you new things about your tastes and appe',i1"r, yorr strengths and weaknesses, your talents andlimitaiions. You;ll very likely become more self-aware'better able to recognize your needs and administer tothem.

I've seen many people who are afraid of becomingmore aware of ttremselies. They're afraid of what they'll

find out. But most people who take the chance discover

that nothing terrible happens' In fact, their fears areworse than any reality.

Perhaps you have some fears about awareness' Perhaps

you're u'ft"ia to experience your own Powerful emotions

L".u.rr. you think- you'll lose control if you really letyour feefings surface. Actually, an emotion that is re'

pressed ot ii"d down is potentially more dangerous orirpsetting than one that is fully recognized and accepted'

d.pt ttfr emotions don't atrophy or go away' Whenyori on.r.ontrol yourself, you don't kill your emotions'Th"y ur" being constantly exercised-against lhe re-sistance you impose. So they get strongr, although your

"*u."rr... doesri't. Then, maybe, one day all hell breaks

loose, and you've no idea what's happened * -h-o* ':handle it. The emotion has overwhelmed you and forced

you out of control.Remaining unaware may seem like a safe way to live'

but it's really no way to deal with yourself or the rest

of the world. Unaware people are far more aulnerablethan they realize. The|'re- more likely to sufier theau*ugi"g physical efiecis of stress diseases' and they're*ot iitby to sufier mental breakdowns as well'

The shell most people surround themselves withreally isn't as safe ani piotective as it seems' To developyour awareness' you riust take some risks' by moving

116 Karate: The Energy Connection

out of the shell. In the long run, your own awareness isthe best protection you can possibly have. And throughit comes your greatest opportunity for satisfaction in life.

This doesn't mean that once you become aware, theonly thing you'll care about is you. In a karate class,you're working with other people and their emotions atthe same time you're dealing with your own. This shouldnot only make you more sensitive to others, but it shouldalso teach you something about how you relate to therest of the world. Since you don't live in a vacuum,genuine self-awareness must include awareness of othersand awareness of yourself in relationship to your environ-ment. This will contribute to your adaptability and helpmake it possible for you to anticipate and deal withchange.

Today, an increasing number of people are-feelingdissatisfied with the wa),''their lives are going. More andmore people are visiting psychiatrists, psychologists, andcounselors because they feel they need help. More andmore people are buying more and more books on psycho-therapy, in hopes that by reading them they'll be betterable to help themselves. Most professionals agree thatbefore a person can efiectively change himself or his life,he must become more aware. Helping you to buildawareness is one of karate's most valuable gifts.

David V. is a good example. When he started takingkarate, he was a thirty-five-year-old accountant who'djust been made senior Partner in a medium'size, highlyrespected accounting firm. Except for a founding partner,David was the youngest senior Partner in the firm'sfifty-year history.

David didn't realize that he had his doubts aboutaccounting until he became senior Partner. Then he

Maximizing Your Mentol Powers 117

noticed. that everyone else seemed more excited over his

success than he did. He was working longer hours'spending less time with the family, less time outdoors'and more time sitting in a chair.

A friend suggestedbavid come to karate classes withhim. It would bi good exercise and a nice diversion fromin. pup., work. bavid gave it u !ry' FIe wasn't wildlyenthusiastic at first, but, incouraged by his friend to keep

it up, David eventually was hooked' As the months wentby,'David began to ieel increasingly resentful towardtri. ;oU-not ihe work, necessarily, but the sedentary'indoor life he was forced to live'

"I'm not so sure I want to be an accountant at all any-

more," David once told me'"But you're very successful at it," I said'"Yes, and that'i nice. I like having enough-money

to buy what I need and most of what I want' What Idon't iike is having to spend ten or twelve hours a day

Joirrg something i aottt enjoy'- -Come to think of it'

thati what I've been doing for fifteen years"'It wasn't until six *ottihs later that David told me

he d bougtrt a half-interest in a nursery' "I'd been getting

Drettv fr[ndly with the owners," David said' "I took up

ffi;"t"g u, u t obuy a couple of months after I startedturu,.. .,r;nd I found oot thut one Partner-the olderone-was retiring to Florida' I ofiered to buy him out'and they both agreed."

"What about the accounting business?" I asked'"I resigned." David was smiling broadly' "My parents

were in an uProar, and it was a low-blow to my wifelsprestige too. but rlaly, she,-didn't take it terribly hard'iV" .u'tt get along on a smaller income for a little while'

"But the most important thing is the way I feel' I

119

Karate: Thc EnergY ConnectionMaximizing Yow Mental' Powers

r18

finally found out what I wanted, figured out how to get

fr, "tia I'm enjoying my life a hundred percent more

because of it."I asked David if he thought taking karate had helped

him make the big decision' \-- rcn, there's no doubt about it"' he said' "That's when

I first became aware that I was unhappy with the account-

i"S naa. If I hadn't started karate' I might stilll: ett::eiJ *"y1" I wouldn't have found out I hated it untili;il;ii got to be chairman of the board' By then' itwould probablY have been too late'' -'tuiur.

helped me know myself better"'

Build'ing S elf 'E ste e rn

When you become more mentally discipliried and

more aware through kaiate, you discover discipline and

"*"ra".rr ur. .upubilities that you-and nearly everyone

elre-"lreudy have' You are forced to awaken these inner

resources to learn ku'u'", which in turn exercises and

exPands them' Belief in YourselfThe same goes for self'confidence'

is one of the ,,to'ii*po'tant inner resources any indi-

vidual has. Unfortt"t""ty, it's often very elusive' But

karate can helP You develoP it'Ironically, wherryou began karate' you may

notice that

whatever confidence you thought -you had is shaken'

That's because, i,' -ti'utt

clasl where there is actual

physical contact, ,ot' to*t face to face not only withi.rir- rHfft U,,t ui* with your. fear' Looking

yourself

souarelv in the eye tftit way is the first steP towarddeveloPing real self'confidence'

As you Progress in karate' you not only increase your

skill, but you also develop a greater and greater ability

to perform under '*t* d"atiutty yott fecome more and

;ri;;;;;";- This increasing confidence is not super-

ficial. In karate, there,s no way to escaPe the reality of

il ;;ns-'whether you want to or not' whether

you try to or not, y"" *iff experience a gut-level change

in the way you t"tt-"fot't yourself' Your self-esteem will

gro*, uff..t'ing everYthing You do'

once you t uo" u"ootJ positive self-image' you don't

have to fool yourself about your capabilities' You'Il be

betrer able to "ouf,ru*-"tA accePt Loth your lll""Stttt

il;;; limitations. your self-iompassion will grow'

You'll begin to firc yourself' desPite Your human frailties'

Self-worth is not fased uPon external actrievements' It

comes from withi"' ;;;;ti;ily speaking' a sense tl :tl'f:

esteem gives you the freedom to try many new things

because it lessens yot" t"ut of failure' You'll begin to see

that your ir,,'i"Jit-tulo" u' a human being doesn't

decrease with each failure or increase- with each success'

When you feel;t;;;;;"'lourself' you are less likely

to feel threatened by change' You- become more oPen

to new ia.u,. wr'J'i * fu positive about yourself'you're ulro *o'"'it*tly to feei pbsitive about

other

people and about life' You're more able to experience

positive "*o"o"', ii* i"t and pleasure and satisfaction

"tll,l"tesrcem is the prilne- cause of neurotic be'

havior, which i' to*ioitio"^uod desuuctive' and is almost

always triggered iy"t"gu'iu" "111""t like anger' hos'

tility, anxiety, frustratio"' dtp""ion' and despair' These

emotions u'uoUf-a'ise when you feel threatened by