Learning Karate can be difficult. Memorizing those forms, figuring out those techniques,bringing them to a state of intuition, it can be hard.
Recently, I came across a great device for helping the beginning karate student, and even the advanced karate student, learn faster.
The device is the Karate Puzzle, which is on a German Karate site karate-kampfkunst.de.
The Karate Puzzle is a unique but simple little trick, where you simply have to put the form movements in the right order. Sounds easy, but you’ll find your mind envisioning the moves from a unique perspective, and the more times you envision a form, the better you will get at that form.
This is because every time you envision it, you practice it.
An interesting trick that I have been using for decades, and which aligns perfectly with the concept of the Karate puzzle, is to do the form on the other side.
In truth, this is an old method, and many people have come across it, which merely goes to show how effective it is.
If you start your karate kata with a step to the left…start with a step to the right, use the other arm for the block, and simply do an opposite side version of the kata.
And it only makes sense, for if you have somebody attack you, you must be able to do the technique on both sides. Most people practice their kata on both sides, so why not just do the whole form that way?
But, I don’t stop there. I do the form backwards. Which means that I do the last move, then the next to last move, all the way until i reach the first move.
And, I make sure that I don’t just do the technique, I the actual motion in reverse.
It is a weird feeling, makes you feel like a martial arts vacuum cleaner, but the effects on the mind are pretty incredible. You simply learn faster, and you get a deeper understanding of the motion involved.
You become intuitive with body motion itself, not just Karate, or taekwondo, or whatever martial art you are doing.
So make sure you do the karate puzzle, and make sure you back it up with physical practice of the sort I am describing here. Guaranteed, learning Karate is going to be fun, fast, and easy!
This article was contributed Al Case at Monster Martial Arts.
(http://monstermartialarts.com)
