What Karate Means To Me

I’ve always had an interest in karate from an early age, but I never acted upon it until I was 36 years of age. I was talking to my next door neighbour who was doing karate at the local high school, and so I decided to give it a try.

At first I thought karate was just about learning something new, gaining some self defence and increasing my fitness levels. Over time I have learned that what you see on the outside of karate is only a fraction of what karate actually means, if you take the time and make karate a guide to live by.

I’ve been to two other clubs so far, achieving different ranks and leaving for various reasons, and now, finding myself writing this essay in preparation for a black belt grading, I do know that my commitment to karate is very strong, and to have karate in my life is good for me.

I was bullied at school as a kid and had a very unstable childhood and upbringing, which left me with a lot of doubts about myself.

In that sense, karate has become a path of personal growth for, not only on the physical side, but on the spiritual side of my life.

I feel that my confidence and self belief have grown in different ways. I never used to like sparring, but now I look forward to the opportunity of taking risks and the challenge of always trying to improve in that area and get smarter at it. In business I find that I am able to stand up for myself with passive diplomacy and not feel so intimidated, especially when it comes to negotiation or backing myself to meet the demands of others.

I’ve learned to be easier on myself, that it’s ok to make a mistake. It’s ok to be where I’m at, knowing that karate is a continual path of learning and achieving along the way.

I find that I am taking more and more of what I learn from karate into my life outside the dojo. I like the fact that I am slowly dissolving things I learned from my past and replacing them with strengths learned from karate. In this sense I feel my character is growing in a positive direction. I feel I walk a bit taller, I feel stronger, but not coming from an angle of arrogance or ego, but from an angle of growing confidence and pride in myself.

I find that in everyday life there are always opportunities to practice these strengths on other people and in situations, therefore consolidating these strengths all the time, and definitely making karate a way of life.

Through karate I am making many changes within myself. I am learning about perseverance, to keep going when things get hard. I am learning about commitment to achieving goals, self respect, respect for others and confidence and self belief.

Karate has taught me many things and I look forward to learning many more.

Frank Dellevoet began training at karatedo on 2nd of September 2004, at age 9 years. He was graded to Shodan on 2nd of December, 2007, at age 43 years.