‘A live Introductory Karate Class’

To help in solving queries raised about Karate and how one can do it during the time of pandemic; a live introductory Karate class was conducted for the viewers of I-CAN Conversations. When everyone is inside and surrounded by the four walls, physical and mental fitness somehow takes a toll. This Karate session was organized to demonstrate how Karate can help maintain physical, emotional, mental as well as spiritual health during these times as well as after it. Also, helping the people build resilience.

Understanding that the audience belongs to different level of fitness, age groups, and backgrounds and of course different spaces within which people are attending the session, Mr. Kyoshi Rahul urged the audience to be very careful while doing the acts at home and also to keep listening to the body and not to overstretch as well because we need to listen to our bodies to avoid getting any kind of injuries. So listen to your body and stay fit and stay healthy.

The live Karate session was divided into four major parts: the first part was warm up and stretching, an essential element in every Karate class or even any physical activity. The second part was around certain basic actions and also sometimes involved a combination of basic as well as complex actions. The third part was about free-hand skill training exercises which are also a part of regular Karate classes. There are many different variations of these exercises that one can do but the exercises were limited to few random exercises, keeping in mind the diversified audience. The last part of the session was meditation and it was done for around 15-20 minutes. There was no religious connection to meditation; it was just a part of Buddhist way of Karate as mentioned by the speaker. It’s just about one’s own self.

The live session thus began giving the audience a tip about the surface and the mat to practice on. Giving commands in Japanese, Mr. Rahul also practiced along with the viewers. New-shan-ree-go was one of the commands given for jumping jacks. The warm up session included jumps, jumping jacks, rolling on feet and toes, knee as well as stretching the calves, sides and back. It was advised to do all the exercises at least 5 times unless specified. With every exercise, breathe out the negativity in you and let it all go.

After an energizing workout, Mr. Rahul went to the second part which is the basic steps along with some modifications. Rather than going into detail of the initial stance before the fight, Mr. Rahul talked about some stances so as to utilize the time efficiently. The first step included the commands to breathe out while taking your hands down, right leg back with weight equally distributed kick upward with your right leg. The audience was advised to be careful of where they were standing and stabilize your body posture to avoid any slip. The same procedure was repeated for the other leg. Knee kick, front snap kick, combination of back leg with a straight kick and front leg with a knee kick, block, kick punches and stomach level punch snap kick were some of the stances taught to attack the top, middle and lower part of the body. A quick relaxation session was conducted with some quick jumps and deep breaths to calm down the body.

Combination as well as some rudimentary steps concluded the part two. Push-ups with different variations were done to strengthen the upper body during the part three of the session. This was followed by crunches, combinations of burpees, squats, high jumps were the exercises done to strengthen the hands, core as well as upper body. A minute was then taken to settle and calm down the body with a sip of water and move forward to the last part which is the meditation. There are different forms of meditation such as sleeping meditation, walking meditation etc. However, the focus was paid on one kind which is the sleep meditation. A soothing music was played while the body was being loosened up to set the flow for meditation. Along with the body stretches and few deep breaths, meditation was done. With eyes closed, chin down and hands forming a circle focus was shifted on the breathing sequence. Six to eight counts of deep breaths were done to calm down the body or the heavy flow of blood in the body.

In conclusion, Mr. Rahul thanked the audience for joining him on his birthday and working out with him on a Sunday afternoon. It was special for him as people were involved with him doing something which was his passion. He ended with a positive note saying that today when people are suffering and need us, let’s step forward and help them in whatever way possible.

Key highlights of the Session:

• Karate helps maintain physical, emotional, mental as well as spiritual health during these times as well as after it. It also helps in building resilience.
• The live Karate session was divided into four major parts: the first part was warm up and stretching. The second part was around certain basic actions and also sometimes involved a combination of basic as well as complex actions. The third part was about free-hand skill training exercises. The last part of the session was meditation and was done for around 15-20 minutes.
• There are different forms of meditation such as sleeping meditation, walking meditation etc. However, the focus was paid on one kind which is the sleep meditation. A soothing music was played while the body was being loosened up to set the flow for meditation.
• Listen to your body and stay fit and stay healthy.