Karate evokes visions of constant motion, decisive movements, eternal wisdom and dedicated training. Try not to think of the Karate you see in movies, often it is enhanced and changed to suit the theme of the movie. One thing is true though, it is a physical art form, and it does take dedicated training. What are the physical benefits at Keswick Karate? Let’s take a look at some of them.
Strength and Flexibility
Karate develops both muscle strength and endurance. The training develops power as well. The blocking, striking and body weight exercises help students learn to work through the burns of lactic acid build-ups and to process the build-ups easier. Eventually you will increase strength and endurance by training longer and gradually harder, giving you the muscle and accompanying strength.
Physical strength increases through training and strengthening the tendons from exercises such as pull-ups, crunches, push-ups, stances, kicks and punches.
Speed
You need basic conditioning before you can add speed to your movements. Over time and training you will develop or condition yourself in flexibility, agility and strength to reach a certain level of skill and fitness. Once this level is attained, you can start more specialized exercises to develop speed. Refinement is part of the training too. Training creates a gradual increase in skill and strength.
Agility and Improved Reflexes
Agility, quickness and speed, as well as reaction time, are essential elements of Karate. They determine the quality of your movements and their execution (completion.) Agility is a skill where you are able to change your body’s position quickly and accurately, no matter the speed. It is not measured by how fast you execute the move, but depends on your muscular strength, training and timing.
Co-ordination
By making you stronger and more flexible, Karate training will increase co-ordination. Moves are introduced and instructed well. You learn how to move your body efficiently and this develops balance.
Karate develops strength and body awareness, this helps create co-ordination and makes you less susceptible to injury.
Improved Cardiovascular Health
The only way to have a healthy cardiovascular system is to take part in physical activities that create some stress on your heart. Such activities include biking, walking, Karate and other martial arts, and swimming. Try to have about 30 minutes every day or at least most days during the week.
Muscle Tone
By participating in Karate, you will increase the amount of your body’s muscle mass. Metabolic demand will also increase with more muscle mass. You will burn more calories, preventing obesity and encouraging weight loss.
Karate is a full-body workout. All muscle groups are used in a single class, and you burn a good amount of calories. A single, one-hour Karate session can burn about 500 calories.
As you can see, Keswick Karate has many physical benefits. They begin as soon as you start your first class. To achieve all these benefits, you will need to put in a lot of hard work, but one thing is for sure, Karate can be beneficial for the whole family.