To start this article I would like teach to those people who don’t know about the topic. Karate is a martial art born in Okinawa (Japan), his name Karate-Do meaning “way of the empty hand” or “Way of the hand in the emptiness”. -Concept what in my opinion it have more meaning since this means that it is the step to go in the air towards a point and not the path of a hand without anything in it.- Into the same exist different styles but the first created or “base styles” were the Shoto-Kan, Shito-Ryu, Goju-Ryu and wado-Ryu, all of them with differences between each other, however they are following the same line; each is made up of several organizations that practice it.

The karate is divided in levels, which are identified by the belt color, these are: 10th kyu (white), 9th kyu (light blue), 8th kyu (yellow), 7th kyu (orange), 6th kyu (purple), 5th kyu (green), 4th kyu (blue), 3rd, 2nd and 1st kyu (brown) and Sho Dan (1st Dan of black belt). Each one more relevant and more demanding than the previous one. It should be noticed that depending on the organization these colors might change although the variance is not much, for example, in some organizations there is not purple belt but the 6th kyu is represented for the green belt and the 5th and 4th kyu are represented for the blue belt.

This beautiful martial art isn’t just a sport, this is a lifestyle. - I remember that my sensei (teacher) always told us that, but I must admit that I did not understand this until I was older when I began share this feelings of adopt to karate like my lifestyle. This teaches you many personal and spiritual values.-

Going a little deeper into what are the styles, I will talk about the Shindo Jinen-Ryu style -which is the one I practice.- whose meaning is "pious, natural style, empty-handed way" and was created by Yasuhiro Konishi approximately in the 20s, style that highlights the traditional Japanese values of discipline, constant attendance, etiquette and hard work. It incorporates elements of karate, aikido, jiu-jitsu and kendo into its curriculum, and also emphasizes philosophy and education.

Nowadays I’m black belt (2nd Dan) in the style mentioned before and believe me, it wasn’t easy get here but I can assure you that it was worth all the effort made to meet this goal, each step and stumble I gave me and teach me something new to continue my journey and always see success in the future. I got my black belt when I was 13 years old. Normally people don’t know about the existence of the next levels (there are 10 levels) and that each one carries greater maturity and responsibility than the previous one, is that the true path of karate begins there.

Currently, karate has had a great impact on the world of sports since this was not previously considered a sport but a discipline. In 2016 the assembly of the International Olympic Committee unanimously approved the inclusion of the same for the next Olympic Games where the Spanish Antonio Espinós, president of the International Karate Federation, said after the inclusion of his sport in the program of the Olympic Games. Tokyo 2020 which is "a very important step" for which they have fought "many years" and which will have "a huge influence in the future" of their federation.

To finish this article I would like to share the principles of karate, called "Dojo Kun". Just as the colors for each level vary by organization, the Dojo Kun do as well. Next I will show you the Dojo Kun of the organization to which I belong.

Thank you very much for having read me, I hope you liked my publication and tell me in the comments if you have any suggestions, tip or any experience within this discipline that you want to share, all are appreciated. See you in the next post.