Why Karate is a Sport!

Sport- n. 1. Pastime, recreation 2. Physical activity, engaged in for pleasure.

"Let’s go Meagan you can do it!" As I enter the ring for my musical form, the cheers in the crowd grow louder. I know this from watching videos of myself, because I would never know from the real experience. I am so focused and in such a different world, that I do not hear a sound around me. 

While performing, everything in the outside world clears from my mind and I am focused on one thing, having fun. I have discovered that if I go out there and just have a blast, I succeed because I am doing exactly what I want to do. That there gives me the drive to keep doing better and better. Sports were made for pleasure, not to drive yourself crazy over winning. If you are having fun, the winning will come naturally.

I do not know how anyone can argue with me on whether karate is a sport or not. They say, "Well if it is, it cannot be that difficult. I mean what are a few stupid kicks and punches anyway?" Most people these days judge their knowledge of martial arts from what they have seen on old-fashioned films and television shows. They do not really understand what the new "sport-karate" is, and why so many people are interested in it these days. First of all, sport karate is a mixture of numerous things. The average kick and punch certainly are not the most exciting moves that are brought about in Karate. Karate takes a lot of mental and physical strength. 

People who compete in sport karate are usually very acrobatic and limber, like a gymnast, so they are able to make an average kick absolutely amazing by turning it into a high jumping spin kick! People have their own personal strengths and they must work with what is best for them. For example, I have a lot of balance and flexibility, so I do a lot of really high kicks, and I hold them in the air for show. What I mean by show is, fancy moves that look cool and are real eye candy! The difference between sport-karate and traditional martial arts is, traditional martial arts are moves someone would do on the street for self-defense. Sport-karate is mostly all show, and has a base of traditional martial arts, which is absolutely exciting for people to watch.

Just like every other Olympic sport out there, people in the martial arts take a lot of time practicing their forms until they are almost completely flawless. Dedication is the number one key to success! No matter how good you are, if u slack off and don’t practice you can easily go from number one down to the bottom.