IOGKF

Newsletter

June 2009

The benefits of Traditional Karate Training

Jendryx Fernandez, Tampa Family Martial Arts, USA

Dear, reader

Hello, my name is Jendryx Fernandez and I’m 16 years old and a Karate practitioner. I started doing Karate when I just turned 13 years old. Back then I had some fights in school that now I’m not proud of. But ever since I started doing karate my life has changed for the better. Now I have more control and a better understanding of the concept of fighting. Well in karate I have found refuge for anything I do. It reinforces my school work and I notice that on my grades. Now I have more respect for my elders, family members, and get along better with friends. I’m grateful for having such great people to train with like Sensei Bob Bolton and Sensei Michael Han. Karate has been one of the best things that has happened to me. I’ve seen improvement in many areas of my life. I like going to karate class because I get to learn so much, and have much fun doing so.

This year I would really like to go to the Gasshuku over in Canada because to tell the truth I’ve never been to one in my whole life. I’ve heard from my sensei that it’s the best kind of training that any person can receive. I’m hoping to go to this one, and I know that it will change my life because I’ll know that much more with every second that I train. Karate has inspired me to become a language translator so I can travel over to Japan sometimes and go to Higaonna sensei’s dojo and talk to him about the art and his experience. I know for sure that this will change my life. This would be big for me it’s a life changing moment. This is like going into the adulthood side of karate, and not everybody gets to train with a person who is as skilled as sensei Higaonna.

My theory is the more you learn about yourself and your surroundings, the better you can help in preventing. For example with many fights, they are pretty preventable and avoidable to a point. I’ve learned that sometimes the better man walks away from what everybody calls a ‘dumb fight’. Wow sometimes I amaze myself by thinking back and recognizing what I knew then and what I know now. I really believe that in karate you never stop learning, and that your journey starts to begin after black belt. Actually karate has helped me see the world in a different perspective, as if it was calmer and more laid back. I’ve noticed that I can think and relate everything in my life I do to karate. Since I saw the first Goju-ryu Kata video and Randori sessions I had a feeling that I was going to enjoy and relate to this. Karate has showed me much self control because when I was younger I use to be an obese kid, so other kids use to pick on me, but I started to learn more of the style, I found that all that name calling was all to get attention for other people. So fighting was my second option after seeking help in a non-violent way from school administrators.

That’s when I learned my first life changing lesson after that day. Well my second life lesson was to learn the meaning of the word “karate ” which means self-defense. And I have also learned that not everybody knows the meaning of those words. I have also gotten a few word of inspiration from other people too. Karate has helped us to unify more my family because now I understand why my parents say, it’s not to hurt me at all. And I have more control over all the situations that happen in my life. In this letter I’d like to say that karate is one of the most life changing things that’s happened to me in my whole life. Also would like to have a chance to train with one of the most respectful people in karate. And karate has really changed my life in every imaginable way like school, home, outside with friends, and most importantly, I now know that I belong to the Karate Dojo family. Thanks for reading this and giving me a chance to do this one in a life-time event. And I hope to pass this experience to someone else some day. Really thank you for letting me train with Sensei Higaonna.